Starsky & Hutch

Starsky & Hutch is a 1970s crime drama about two police detectives and partners, classic buddy cops. The show has themes of partnership, hurt/comfort, and homoerotic undertones strong enough that even the actors and mainstream critics noticed; the fandom takes these elements and runs with them.
Many of its fans came to this fandom by way of Star Trek: TOS, one of the other handfuls of media fandom at the time. See Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch.
While the fandom has been active since its beginning, interest increased in the 1990s when TNT began running reruns of the show on television. 
Another bump in fannish interest was due to 2004 comedy movie starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. This movie wasn't particularly popular with original fans, but it did bring new fans into the fandom. 
==Show Synopsis==
Detective Sergeant David Starsky and Kenneth Hutchinson are cops in Bay City, working Homicide, often doing undercover work. Rounding out the main cast were Captain Dobey and their informant and friend Huggy Bear.
Riding around in Starsky's red Torino, Starsky and Hutch are the most conspicuous undercover cops you’ll ever meet. Many episodes had darker elements amid the comedic tones, and it was often said to be the most graphic and realistic show of its time due to the issues it dealt with—racism, rape, and drug abuse (Hutch got hooked on heroin in one episode, "The Fix"). The women of the show didn't last long, almost always ending up getting attacked, killed, or scared away by the gritty reality of the job; sometimes all three.
The main emotional focus of the show was the relationship of the two leads, with many of the stories centering around the love, the devotion, the caring between these two partners and best friends (and possibly more). David Soul appeared as a guest on Merv Griffin's talk show multiple times throughout the 1970s, and in one episode, of which there is existing video, Merv reads an article from TV Guide which refers to Starsky & Hutch as "Television's most violent show." David replies that they "have a right to say that, but my opinion of the show is that it's a love story... it's a love story between two men who happen to be cops." Similarly, in a TV Guide interview, August 13, 1977: "'Starsky & Hutch' is listed as a 'crime drama'," says David, "but in my opinion the show is a love story between two men." David continues, "...who could be anything... could be bricklayers or attorneys or doctors, or... anything."
In 2004, the show was remade as a movie starring the comedy duo of Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, a pastiche playing mostly on the camp '70s aspects of the TV show. Many fans disregard this movie as any sort of canon or of particular interest, but they appreciate the interest it created for the fandom; the TV show was released on DVD along with the movie's release, helping it gain exposure among a new generation of fans.
==Popular Episodes==
Episodes that are fan favorites or which have a lot of impact on fan discussion and fanfic include: 
* The Fix (Hutch is kidnapped by bad guys and addicted to heroin. Starsky comes to his aid.)
* Shootout (Starsky is shot during a hostage situation, and Hutch comes to his aid.)
* A Coffin For Starsky (Starsky is injected with slow-acting but lethal poison. The partners search for the antidote.)
* Gillian (Hutch's girlfriend is secretly a prostitute, Starsky attempts to help, leading to an emotionally-charged confrontation between the friends.)
* Bloodbath (Starsky is kidnapped by a cult. Hutch comes to his aid.)
* Survival (Hutch is trapped under his car after a murder attempt, and Starsky rushes to find him.)
* Starsky's Lady (Starsky's fiancee is mortally wounded by an ex-con with a vendetta against Starsky.)
* Death in a Different Place (Starsky's mentor, John Blaine, is murdered and revealed to have been a closeted gay man. An early serious depiction of homosexuality on primetime TV.)
* The Plague I & II (Hutch falls victim to a plague epidemic sweeping the city, Starsky works to save him.)
* Hutchinson for Murder One (Hutch is framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife Vanessa, Starsky rescues him and they go on the lam.)
* Partners (Hutch fakes amnesia and then eggs Starsky into telling him several stories about their friendship to help him "remember.")
* The Game (Hutch dares Starsky to prove his ability to track criminals down by playing a game of hide-and-seek with him throughout the city, and eludes Starsky so determinedly that Starsky cannot raise him when things go dangerously wrong.)
* Targets Without A Badge I, II, & III (Starsky and Hutch quit the police force over the tragic mishandling of a major case, and work to solve the case on their own.)
* Starsky vs. Hutch (Boundaries are crossed regarding a woman, and the two cops have their most serious fight in the series.)
* Sweet Revenge (The last episode aired—Starsky is shot by a corrupt and powerful industry leader's hitmen, and it appears unlikely that he will survive. The episode is a jumping-off point for many speculative fannish what-ifs.
==Characters==
See more at: :Category:Starsky & Hutch Characters
* David Starsky
* Kenneth Hutchinson
* Captain Dobey
* Huggy Bear
==Pairings==
Almost all fiction that involves a pairing is Starsky/Hutch.
==Starsky & Hutch RPF==
Not very common! See Starsky & Hutch RPF.
==The Fourth Season: Rifts and Opportunities==
The fourth season. Some fans hate it. Some fans love it. And for many of the same reasons.
Many fans felt this last season was full of tension, somewhat uncomfortable to watch, and had a lot of implications to those who saw slash. The show itself was filmed in a different style with film techniques that made it stand out from the first three season. The characters appeared tense and moody. And then there was Hutch's Mustache.
The fourth season, for all these reasons, was also an incubator for a lot of fanworks! 
Regarding the controversial episode, "Starsky vs. Hutch": 
Most theories about the tone of season 4, in both discussion and fanfiction, incorporate, to some extent, Hutch's disillusionment with police work, which he confesses in "Targets Without A Badge Part I" (sometimes this attitude is extended to Starsky as well). In several interpretations of the partnership's rough patch, the episode "Starsky vs Hutch" is portrayed as a last straw that causes things to come to a head before "Sweet Revenge." Slash fans often interpret their tension as UST or domestic strife, while gen fans lean towards non-sexual sources of interpersonal tension hinted at in the series, such as frustration and insecurity about the strength of their partnership in the face of increasing strain from their jobs, or fear that their affection and loyalty is an exploitable vulnerability. Most, but not all, fans concur that Hutch's demeanor is more strongly and negatively affected than Starsky's.
For more, see The Fourth Season of Starsky & Hutch.
==Common Tropes==
* Hurt/Comfort
* drug addiction
* Post Sweet Revenge
* Angst
* Smarm
* Case Fics
* Episode Tags
* Missing Scenes
* Whump
* Starsky's Torino and Hutch's car, "The Squash"
* Starsky's junk food and Hutch's health food
* Hutch's Mustache
* Hutch's greenhouse
* Starsky's memorable red long johns
File:Hooked.jpg|art by Suzan Lovett portrays Starsky's red long johns
==Starsky and Hutch Fanon==
Popular topics of fanon speculation include (needs more examples):
* Common assumptions about their lives:
** Starsky is the child of poor Brooklyn Jews, and his extended family was large, eccentric, tight-knit, loving and happy.
** When young, Starsky was a troublemaker at best and a teen gang member and juvenile delinquent at worst, until John Blaine straightened him out.
** Starsky's father was a police officer who was killed by the mob (in a conversation about him in the episode "The Set-Up," it was revealed that Starsky's father was murdered, and that mobster Joe Durniak stood for everything Mr. Starsky fought against.) Other theories include the idea that Starsky's father was an old friend of Durniak's who was killed for not joining the mob too or for not paying protection money, or that Starsky's father was in fact a mobster who was killed by a rival family.
** Starsky's military experience: in canon, he only references having been "in the army," but it is widely presumed that he Served in Combat during the Vietnam War, and suffered great emotional anguish and trauma there. See also Starsky's Military Background.
** Hutch had well-to-do parents, ranging from suburban middle-class to obscenely wealthy country estate dwellers.
** Hutch's family was unsupportive, stifling, and dull, ranging from merely somewhat cold and demanding to outright emotionally or physically abusive, and he had a somewhat lonely and friendless youth, of varying severity.
** Hutch's parents and his ex-wife Vanessa pressured Hutch to have a lucrative career, and disapprove of his decision to become a police officer, sometimes disowning or disinheriting him.
** Hutch's schooling: He canonically went to college ("The Omaha Tiger"), and fanonically studied pre-med or pre-law, or dropped out of law school or medical school.
** Canonically, it appears that the writers had one idea for Hutch's past or present marriages in the pilot and another later in the series. Fanonically, the question of how many wives Hutch has had (and what their names and personalities are) has excited nearly as much fanwank as Watson's marital history.
** Starsky's longtime girlfriend and almost-fiancee Terry Roberts and Hutch's short-term but serious girlfriend Gillian Ingram (both deceased in the same episode they are introduced) were the (female) loves of Starsky and Hutch's lives, in both gen and slash fanfics and interpretations.
* Perpetual speculation, controversies, and theories:
** The emotional ramifications of the numerous traumas and tragedies the two cops suffered in canon, but which were never followed up on due to the Reset Button.
** Pre-series era: the development of Starsky and Hutch's early friendship with each other and John Colby at the academy, their time as rookies before being partnered, and their early partnership as detectives.
** The aftereffects of Hutch's brief forced heroin addiction in "The Fix." Hutch often develops a phobia of needles and a powerful aversion to opiates and narcotic painkillers, resulting in heightened angst in fics where he is injured or hospitalized. He is almost always extremely guilty and ashamed for giving his kidnappers the location of his girlfriend under duress and of his begging and threatening Starsky to give him more heroin. Sometimes, sequels to "The Fix" depict Hutch as struggling with lingering cravings or even falling off the wagon again; or have someone discover his secret and try to blackmail or discredit him and Starsky.
** Depictions of Starsky's homophobia prior to the episode "Death in a Different Place" and his process of dispelling it.
** Starsky's stormy relationship with his petty-criminal younger brother Nicky and Hutch's stormy relationship with his ex-wife Vanessa.
** Explorations or explanations for why Hutch slept with Kira in "Starsky vs. Hutch" and how he got Starsky's forgiveness, often apologyfic or Partner Betrayal.
** Many, many, many theories abound regarding the motives behind Hutch's often belittling and abrasive treatment of Starsky, phrased at least as early as S and H #8 (1980): "why does “The Golden Boy” (Hutch) play those “prove you love me games” with “The Street Kid” (Starsky)?"
** Many, many fanfic explanations abound regarding the characters' bickering and tense relationship in season 4 (also see meta section above).
==Its History as a Closed Fandom, as an Old Fandom==
For all its longevity, the fandom itself had, at least in the print-era (1995 and before), a relatively small footprint in the bigger world of fandom. Its zines were rarely advertised in the adzines, and its fans tended to be a pretty tight congregation.
One of the reasons behind this may have been because this fandom was one in which there was very little contact, if any, with TPTB. Unlike Star Trek, there were no large cons featuring actors and other official creators. Fannish interests, then, tended to fold in on themselves and become very insular.
In 1990, a fan wrote: 
A fan in 1992 wrote: 
In early 1993, a fan wrote of the recent tensions in SH fandom: 
A fan in 2001 commented, and erroneously mentioned a password protected fiction site: 
Another reason for the fandom's slight step out of the bigger fannish world was that it, along with The Professionals, was the first to step into the pool that was slash. Fans had watched this subject play out in Star Trek, a fandom that unlike Starsky & Hutch, had the varying support of TPTB. Perhaps, too, discussion and fiction featuring two characters in the distant future was easier to get one's head around than two cops who "lived" in present day. In any case, there was a lot of underground fiction, some of which morphed into zines, and much which did not: 
In 2002, fans discussed an article called Kirk, Honey. It's Me, Spock!. Some of their comments: {{NQuote2|user=Betty Plotnick|quote= I'm sorry... Kirk/Spock and Starsky/Hutch? What year do we think this is? They couldn't mention Smallville or LotR or West Wing or Harry Potter. No, it had to be the antediluvian slash fandoms, the ones without a significant internet presence or much influx of new blood. -- Betty Plotnick
|child={{NQuote|user=carraway54|quote= It's odd but unsurprising that writers explaining slash to the larger culture prefer to concentrate on older fandoms. It strikes me as a way for the culture to distance itself from slash. They're maintaining order by identifying as slashy only texts or types of media that they'd be rather embarrassed to admit they enjoy. Starsky & Hutch, these days, is the kind of show aired on daytime TNN. William Shatner shifted from being an actor to being a punchline years ago. Most of these articles also mention Holmes & Watson which, to somebody not involved in fandom and many people who are, seems not just absurd but absurdist. -- carraway54
|child= 
 
==Starsky & Hutch and Hurt/Comfort==
The show spawned a great deal of hurt/comfort attention due to having several episodes that heavily featured canonical hurt/comfort scenes and storylines, and the closeness of the two main characters. 
Get em stories that highlighted the main characters' friendship were the most prevalent type of story in early fandom, with influential stories such as "Mojave Crossing" and cross-pollination with Star Trek spawning an enduring tradition of hurt/comfort.
Issue #2 (April 1986) of the zine The Who Do We Trust Times had a TOTM that elicited several comments about the appeal of the hurt/comfort stories in the show and its fanfiction:The Who Do We Trust Times #2, April 1986
==Starsky & Hutch Fandom and Slash==
The Starsky and Hutch fandom is ongoing and has managed to sustain itself for more than thirty years. In the '80s and '90s, SH fandom never got as big as Trek (and S/H, never got as big as K/S), but it was a major fandom with an extensive zine culture. Most stories in the fandom are slash or friendship-related gen; though het subplots are not rare, 99% of fics are firmly focused on the relationship between Starsky and Hutch.
In 1984, a fan wrote of the transitions and growing pains the four major slash fandoms of the time were experiencing: 
In 1985, a fan wrote a tongue-in-cheek history of the fandom for The Paul Muni Special program book. An excerpt: 
Not all slash fans saw the slash -- from The Divine Adoratrice in 1997: 
===Tensions Between Gen and Slash===
Because of the close relationship between the show's main two characters, slash developed quickly in the fandom. 
The first gen fanzine, Zebra Three was published in the fall of 1977, with the first slash zine appearing a few years later.
What was even more ironic is that while several contributors to the S&H letterzine bemoaned the rising tide of slash and worried that it would overrun their fandom, for the first few years of the letterzine's existence only one slash zine, Forever Autumn, was published.
In 1982, a fan commented on the arrival of the first published S/H fiction, but also expressed her fears, as well as hopes that if trouble were coming, she hoped it would hit someone elses' fandom instead of Starsky & Hutch: 
A 1990 fan clash was over some of the fanworks in the zine, Bonaventure. One point of conflict was the frontispiece by Suzan Lovett that was reprinted as the cover of Frienz #27 where it generated some controversy due to some fans' belief it went over the line between gen and slash. One fan stated it "reeks of slash" and is "disgusting."comment from Frienz #26, for more see the issues Frienz #25 and Frienz #27 See for more on this fanart. Some fans also removed the slash (which was extremely mild and certainly non-explicit) from the zine so that they could read it without being offended. See this section at Bonaventure for more that topic.
In 1997, a fan asked another fan if gen fanfic for S&H had the emotional impact that the S/H stories had: 
In 2000, April Valentine described the difficulties facing early Starsky & Hutch slash fans: 
In 2001, a fan was perplexed that the zine she'd bought on eBay had had the slash fics removed. Flamingo speculated as to why this had been done and of the zine's origins: 
In spite of slash fandom's perseverance, the legacy of caution regarding openly discussing slash fan fiction continued in the fandom. Early mailing lists were not well advertised and a few required sponsorship in order to join along with dire warnings about publicly discussing the lists' existence. See VenicePlace and The Pits. Only with increasing online exposure of all types of slash fan fiction in the late 1990s to early 2000s were Starsky & Hutch fans emboldened to more openly make their presence known in the online world.
Today, Starsky & Hutch gen and slash fans are significantly more tolerant of each other. However, there are still gen only mailing lists that exclude any discussion of slash (SHGFanFic and Hutchfans).
====Tensions Between Gen and Slash: Further Reading====
* Forever Autumn, Code 7 #1 and Trace Elements (1980, 1981, 1982), three early slash zines
* Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn, story by Pamela Dale and its inclusion in Ten-Thirteen #1 (1981)
* The Boxer, story by Jane Aumerle and its inclusion in Ten-Thirteen #2 (1981)
* The Kiss in the Alley Debate, discussion (1981 onwards)
* many, many discussions in S and H, the first Starsky & Hutch letterzine (1979-1983)
* Pushin' the Odds, zine edited by Leslie Fish, the zine with the clunky presentation meant to thwart non-slash fans (1983)
* General Thoughts on "/" (Homosexual) Zines-Stories essay by [S L] (1988)
* Examples of Some Tensions Between Gen and Slash Fans: "Mixed" Zines, discussion (1990) 
* GARBAGE LIKE THAT HAS NO PLACE IN FANDOM, essay by Nanci Casad (1997)
==The Fandom of Nice?==
Starsky & Hutch fandom has always seen itself as friendly and welcoming to newcomers. One of its early online communities VenicePlace is centered around fans becoming virtual tenants in a fictional apartment complex that just happened to also be the home of the show's two main characters. New members were welcomed and an informal mentoring took place.
However, some fans paint a different picture. Certainly in its early days Starsky and Hutch fandom was small and most members knew each other. The pages of the S and H letterzine show a robust - if at times sharp and caustic - debate on a variety of issues, including the presence of slash in their fandom, the relative quality of fanzines and the role that reviews should play in fandom. After the letterzine folded in 1983, fandom lacked a central place to meet and greet although several letterzines did try to fill the gap.
It is not surprising then the arrival of the internet was welcomed by many fans as a means to reconnect as well as a means to recruit new members. Perhaps this may have been the reason that many Starsky & Hutch mailing lists felt uncomfortable with their fellow fans expressing differing or critical views about the show, the writing or fan culture. Contrast the fan fiction review policy of the The Pits (mailing list) with that of LoveofmeandtheeThe mailing list currently has an "opt-in" approach to writing feedback - both via private mail or online: (Mailing List FAQ, accessed Jan 15, 2011) and one can see how the latter tried to shift the discourse into the more positive territory.
When a fan in 1999 wrote and posted a sequel to The Thousandth Man to The Pits mailing list without permission from the story's original author, there was much discussion. One fan, Flamingo, explained: 
Participation in The Pits began slowing down in the mid 2000s and by 2005, some fans felt that "cult of nice" had held sway for so long that it had become the norm. Many felt that there was a reluctance to say anything bad about any story and believed they ran the risk of being publicly reprimanded "for daring to suggest that a story was not perfect in it's entirety." As one fan put it, the general consensus was that all writing was "a gift from "the gods" and not to be judged or seen wanting. Negative words were going to scare all the writers away! So negative words weren't allowed. (Or were very strongly discouraged)." If any stories were to be critiqued, it had to be done in private conversations and email.Morgan Dawn's personal notes and remembrances taken from multiple mailing lists in 2005, including Loveofmeandthee and VenicePlace.
==The Fandom of Content Restrictions?==
The vast majority of fic in the fandom has traditionally been those that feature happy endings, and in the case of slash, Starsky and Hutch together, exclusive and forever.
There is very little RPF. There is very little BDSM. 
In fact, the fiction had the reputation of being so "safe" that a fan decided to publish a series of zines that included pointedly "unsafe" stories. See Dangerous Lives, Dangerous Visions.
 
In 2000, editor of Dangerous Lives, Dangerous Visions, explained how this non-edgy culture lost some people in the fandom:
In 2002, Flamingo, publisher of Dangerous Lives, Dangerous Visions, wrote: 
== Contact with The Powers That Be==
The fandom had no or very, very little contact with the stars, writers, or producers of the show. 
Conventions were all fan-run and did not have celebrity guests.
The controversy regarding the zine Code 7 stirred up discussion about possible contact, but the only fall-out from that ended up to be perception rather than reality: In 2001, a fan wrote: 
At one point, a fan proposed putting together a zine of appreciation and sending it to the actors, but there is no record of any reaction from TPTB about it.
In 1979, a zined alluded to sending her zine to TPTB, but no other mention is made of this action. See the editorial for Dirtball Dispatch.
==A Fandom of Less Feedback?==
In 2001, a Pros fan who'd written in that fandom complained to a mailing list that the Starsky & Hutch fandom (specifically S/H fandom) was very ungenerous with its feedback. Another fan, Flamingo, replied: 
==Transition to the Internet==
In 1990, a fan brought up, for the first time in a Starsky & Hutch letterzine, the Internet: Her question went ignored.
 
Flamingo has been instrumental in getting older zine fiction online and encouraging earlier members of the fandom to make more use of the internet. Despite frequently declaring herself hopeless at using sites like livejournal, she ran a panel at SHareCon 2010 that covered web resources for SH fandom.
===New Fans and New Perspectives on Fandom===
Starsky & Hutch fandom still has the ability to pull in some new, younger fans. In October 2014, one fan whose profile lists her birth year as 1992 wrote a lengthy reflection, entitled Reading a 1977 Zine in 2014: Zebra Three #1, about the experience of buying an old copy of the first ever Starsky & Hutch zine, her appreciation for the long documented history of Starsky & Hutch fandom, and the contrasts between fandom during the show's era and fandom in the internet era. 
A fan in 2001 missed the passion of pre-internet fandom, and the passion of the desperate: 
In 2002, a fan responded to another fan's complaint that too much fiction in this fandom was only available as zines, hence a "gate-keeping, elitist" fandom culture. She said: 
====Some Sample Very Early Websites====
These are not only a glimpse as early S&H fandom, but also of late 1990s website design and graphics. 
* BUC252
* ZebraCon
* Starsky & Hutch's House on the 'Net 
* Tooki's Tree House
* Green Stamps
* Cindy's Page
* The Starsky & Hutch Story Archive
* GLYN DAVIES' Starsky & Hutch PAGE
==The Consequences of a Small Fandom and Competition==
Starsky & Hutch, while a long-lived fandom, has never been very large. Some fans feel that its smallness is one of its charms; fans tended to congregate in the same areas, tended to be familiar with each other. That same smallness could also be a source of tension. 
In 2001, when the fans who were behind the Starsky & Hutch Virtual Season created a new mailing list, and made the announcement on an existing list, there was much discussion. The mod of the original list, Flamingo wrote: 
==Fan Comments==
===1985===
 
 
 
===1995===
===2007===
In 2007, Flamingo had a three-page thank you in the very last ZebraCon program book. It stated her appreciation of the fans she felt had been especially supportive and influential in Starsky & Hutch fandom and listed many fannish activities and accomplishments, historical and contemporary.
				
===2009===
==Fanworks==
===Fanzines/Fic ===
====A Fandom of Early Drawerfic====
According to Paula Smith in 1985, no other fandom had as much drawerfic as this show, with the exception of The Professionals. -- from Paula Smith in The Paul Muni Special program book I would include Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek in this statement.
See Starsky & Hutch Drawerfic for some examples.
==== Zines====
* For all Starsky & Hutch gen zines published, see :Category:Starsky & Hutch Gen Zines.
* For all Starsky & Hutch slash zines published, see :Category: Starsky & Hutch Slash Zines.
* For all non-fiction Starsky & Hutch zines, see :Category:Starsky & Hutch Zines
* Another list—at the bottom, it includes all multifandom zines that have Starsky & Hutch content: :List of Starsky & Hutch Fanzines.
* For articles on individual stories on Fanlore, see :Category:Starsky & Hutch Fanfiction
 
=====Proposed Zines That Were Never Published=====
For a complete list of Starsky & Hutch zines proposed but not published, see Proposed Zines. 
Below is a list of winkles in a fan's eye that never got off the ground, each one a story in itself!
* Assignment: Dave Starsky (SH, became instead a story in The Striped Tomato)
* Beginners (1990, slash, "dealing with beginnings of any kind. First car, first apartment, first time SH met, at, loved, etc.", Cheryl Maier)
* The Best Days of Our Lives (gen, "by Evelyn Farris, a novella. It picks up at the end of Sweet Revenge". Available in Spring 1986.")
* Changeling (multimedia (first issue Starsky & Hutch), second issue was to feature (Hill Street Blues), 1985, het or gen, 1984, edited by Roberta L. Brown and Marie Antoine, "heart-stopping action, gut-wrenching drama & pulse-throbbing romance, with each issue emphasizing a different fandom")
* City of Angels (1981, anthology by Deb Walsh)
* A Couple of Aces (slash, fiction anthology, was planned to be out for ZebraCon #6)
* Dragons (2003, from Devious Developments, slash, "Movieverse!!! Starsky & Hutch movie is out and funny and we loved it.... SO, we're scoping for movie universe Starsky and Hutch stories (slashy as all get out more than welcome) for a new zine to be titled DRAGONS - if you've seen the movie, you know why......") 
* Flesh Wound (gen or slash, 1990, C. Hunter)
* The Generic Zine (1982, slash, fandom unknown but it was proposed in Hanky Panky so possibly Starsky & Hutch, publisher was Pacific Fruit Express)
* Invincible (2005, still listed in the works in 2007, gen, "a Starsky/Hutch series of stories", Agent With Style)
* It's Us, the Good Guys (1991, slash, Extortion Press)
* L.A. Blues (1990, J. Silverstein, fiction)
* Late Bloomer (1980s, slash)
* Made for Each Other (slash, 2000, multi-media Slash zine, AngelWings Press)
* Off the Cuff (1982, light bondage, slash, "I need stories, poetry, artwork, and so forth. The theme? Heh heh heh. Bondage, ladies. And let me make it perfectly clear right from the outset that I’m not interested in S&M or anything approaching it. I’ll take serious stories, playful stories, humorous stories, whatever… but don’t give me S&H hurting each other. Ok? No whips, chains, tit clamps… you get the idea. I think bondage is a game Starsky and Hutch would enjoy occasionally, and I’d like to get stories with that attitude. This will be a very limited print run, and quite cheap, as well. I don’t want to offend anyone, and there are plenty of fans who just can’t handle the concept at all.")
* Once More With Feeling (1992, from 10-13 Enterprises, "The theme is to be what they do best — policework. The fiction can be straight or slash, of any length, crossover universe or mainstream, but it must be primarily concerned with the job they do and how they do it. I'm not asking for police-procedurals. We don't need to know the ins and outs of departmental practice. The provisional deadline — October '92, but that can be flexible. I will even rewrite the cat-and-dog story...for it. Unless I get a better idea, anyway. New writers will be given encouragement. Artists -- if you are willing to illustrate specifically or generically, let me know.")
* Partners in Crime (1995, Otter Limits Press, multifandom)
* Soapy Scenes (1981, gen, Marion Hale and Perky Bills)
* Stormfront (2004, Agent With Style, a novel by Marianne)
* Sun, Sea, Sand, and Ants (1993, gen, to have been a supplement to Frienz, "We've had enough bad news, let's have some FUN. Summer themed stories. Vignettes, humor, poems, episode fill-ins. Starsky baseball stories: this guy loves baseball, coached Little League, has a card collection. He's a fan (Hey, no wonder we like him.) Or, Hutch, and a sunburn. How 'bout midnight, moonlite swim and crab? Or, that first post-SF summer. Or, something HOT... LA and a record heat wave? Or a picnic where ALL goes wrong. I'd like it to be a copy ready zine made available to all interested S&H fen. I will gladly help with story ideas, or typing for those who cannot. This will be OUR zine. For FUN. Write on... No graphic sex please.")
* Synergy (1994, "Looking for romantic or erotic, gentle, "feel good" stories that contain hurt/comfort and lots of warmth and humor. First time stories are the editor's favorite! Cross-universe are also fine, as long as the main story is about Starsky & Hutch. Anything will be considered except death stories. Poetry and artwork is also needed and can be erotic or subtle. Length of story is not an issue, however, if you are writing a novella I will consider publishing separately. This is one of editor's favorite fandom and all submissions of stories, poetry and artwork will be gone over with a fine tooth comb to insure a high-quality zine!" ANOTHER DESCRIPTION: 1995, multi-media, slash, Kari Masoner, "Multi-media "/" zine. Looking for romantic, "feel good" stories, especially first time stories. No death or vindictive stories, but intense and passionate - yes!")
* Trekkers of the Night ("Star Trek, Starsky and Hutch, K/S, S/H, sf and Gothic material, fiction and art," 1981)
* We Have a Dream (1996, "adult," three stories by Lisa LoCicero and Barbara Johnson, plus other fiction, art and poems")
===Fanart===
Like other early fandoms, most S&H fanartists did illustrations and covers for zines, as well as some standalone art destined for art shows at conventions. Early(-ish) artists includ Suzan Lovett, Connie Faddis, Warren Oddsson, Jean Kluge, and Jean C..
In 2009, a new online fanart archive opened: Still Life, to gather online S&H gen and slash art in one place. It went offline sometime in 2013.
*Starsky and Hutch Digital Dreams CD - "a treasure-trove of over 600MB of goodies which begin with 100 original wallpapers featuring the spectacular digital art of Jade"
Sample art gallery of Starsky & Hutch art, showing a variety of styles and subjects:
File:Code7art6.jpg |from Code 7 #1, the artist is not identified; all of the contributors to the first issue of this zine were anonymous
File:Sh softness too by maureen.jpg|Softness Too, by Maureen B. Not all Starsky & Hutch fanart was published in fanzines. This drawing was sold as an art print at various fan conventions.
File:Thousandth.jpg|L'chayim, Suzan Lovett, illo from The Thousandth Man (1985). It won a 1986 Huggy Award.
File:058asm.jpg|Strangers, Connie Faddis, illo from Graven Images (1981). In 2014, this drawing was featured in a anonymous review which can be read here.
File:Promises_interior_by_paulie_gilmore.jpeg| ever-popular hurt/comfort by Paulie Gilmore, illo from Promises to Keep
File:Goliath_int3.jpg|Interior illustration from The Goliath by Suzan Lovett (1986), a somewhat rare example of an author who illustrates many of her own stories.
File:Sh_letterzine_10_backcover.jpg| Starsky's most popular...asset is featured on the back cover of S and H #10 (1980), by Connie Faddis, this may be a primitive precursor to subject-specific fanvids
File:Sh1inside.jpg|a portrait of Hutch by an unknown artist, interior art from S and H #1. letterzine art often was not credited by the publisher
File: Sandh27art1.jpg|portrait of Starsky from S and H #26, Jean C.. Another example of fanart that appears in letterzines. Since letterzines were often small digest sized, art was inserted into the text as can be seen in the edges of this drawing.
File:Nightight2art8.jpg| illustration for the slash story White Feather, by J. Jones. The image is unusual because the center focus is not Starsky & Hutch, but rather a detailed portrait of a female OC. Most fan art focuses on the main characters. (More details at Nightlight #2.)
File:pits2insidehuggy.jpg|Art focusing on the other regularly appearing characters was less popular in fandom. This drawing of Huggy Bear appeared inside The Pits #2. Art by Signe Landon.
File:Sandh23degabriele2.jpg|Another regular character was Captain Dobey. This sparse ink sketch interior art by Betty de Gabriele shows Dobey in a reflective and somber mood and appeared inside S and H #23 .
File:Nightlife1art6.jpg|erotic slash fanart by Merle Decker from the zine Nightlight, notably features Starsky's bullet scars
File:Daybydayart2.jpg|another example of erotic Starsky & Hutch art. The drawing shows Starsky & Hutch in various sexual positions. However, by placing these images around the exterior, the artist showcases the emotional core of their relationship. Art from Day by Day, art by TACS. Note: Marked as sexually explicit; minimized.
File:Sandh16insidegregfranklin2.jpg|The Torino is subjected to some humorous reimagining by Greg Franklin, from S and H #16
File:Fix1art3.jpg|art by SVE from The Fix #1 (1987), showing a less realistic style reminiscent of a newspaper cartoon
File:Collectedshfrontispiece.jpg|An example of a frontispiece, intended to set the general mood or theme of the zine, such as passionate romance for The Collected Starsky and Hutch Stories of Alexis Rogers
File:Strange justice interior by Jean C.jpg|half of a two-page spread by Jean C. for the story "Kindred Spirits" from the zine Strange Justice. A reviewer comments "...the eyes in particular are breathtaking. She does that better than anybody else; cleaving through the surface expressions of her subjects by lett[ing] their eyes speak."
File:Scales 2.jpeg|Color art in the early years was often limited to fanzine covers, if at all. This drawing was the rare exception and is from Scales of Justice an intricately illustrated fanzine published in 1985. The method used to produce the drawing was silk screening and was quite expensive. As a result only 250 copies of the zine were printed, making it one of the sought after - and expensive - fanzines in the fandom. Artist: Connie Faddis.
File:Dance with devil interior by patt.jpeg|Interior color fan art did not re-appear inside zines until the early 2000s. By then the popularity of fanzines had begun to wane as more fans took to the Internet. Art from Dance with the Devil, artist: Patt
File:Dangerous cover 2.jpg|This drawing by Merle Decker uses pencil to create a soft and reflective feeling. It was used for the cover of Dangerous Lives, Dangerous Visions #2 which was published in 2003.
File:Darksidesh.jpg|Because Starsky & Hutch fandom began long before the computer digital age, photo-manip art is a relatively new addition to the fandom. This novel was a slavefic AU with BDSM themes. Cover of Dark Side of the Moon (Starsky & Hutch zine), art by Suzan Lovett. Starsky & Hutch fanfic was deeply rooted in the "now," keeping the number of AU stories few. For an earlier example of photo-manip art in the fandom, see the cover of The Fix #22 with art by Virgina Sky, published in 2002.
File:Evol1.jpg|In later years, a few artists began experimenting with oil paintings. This painting is by Lorraine Brevig and is part of a set of matching covers for the two-volume Evolution published in 2004. The cover of part one won a 2005 SCREWZ Award for "Starsky & Hutch: Best Artwork: Cover."
=== Vids and Vidding ===
Two Starsky & Hutch fans, Diana Barbour and Kendra HunterCredit is also given to Terry Adams for coming up with the concept, with Diana and Kendra doing the hands on editing. Additonal credit for song choice and clip selection also went to Melanie R and Carole Huffman. are credited for making some, if not the, earliest songvids set to live TV footage.The first songvid, Both Sides Now, was made by Kandy Fong, a Star Trek fan who put music to a slideshow in 1980. At Sharecon 2000, Flamingo put together a vid show of the history of Starsky & Hutch vidding. Below are excerpts from the booklet accompanying the songtape Flamingo later made available to fans.
====How Place and Time Shape The Early Vids: 1970s/1980s====
Flamingo begins by offering the reader some background on the fandom and the limited technology and limited source material available when the first Starsky & Hutch vids were being made:
Flamingo goes on to describe how these limits shaped the format of the earliest vids:
====As Technology Improves, So Do The Vids: 1980s====
The advent of flying eraseheads meant that vidders could insert clips with less tape distortion and vidders began telling more complex stories with mutiple parts and punchlines. It also mean fans could start visually exploring the concept of slash in Starsky & Hutch fandom:
====The 1990s: Song Choice Helps Drives Vidding Forward====
In her booklet, Flamingo points to several musical selections that vidders used to illustrate the relationship between Starsky & Hucth. Music by the rock group Air Supply was a favorite and she points to April Valentine's vid "Just As I Am" as a vid that uses the music particularly well. Gay themed music also helped slash fans visually create their version of Starsky and Hutch, with Megan Kent using the music of Romonovsky & Phillips in "(Don't Use Your) Penis For A Brain." Her vid set to the Indigo Girls "Secure Yourself To Heaven" is "considered by many to be one of the best of all SH vids—excellent use of black screen, and incorporates a frame-by-frame slowdown (not just an advance) of a scene. Most VCRs can no longer do this effect in this way." Flamingo's "Starsky & Hutch Historical Vids," accessed April 16, 2011. German vidders Elk M and IrisS produced a 45-minute long songtape, much of which was Starsky and Hutch content.
====Vidding: 2000 and Beyond====
 
In her booklet, Flamingo reports that the first Starsky & Hutch computer vids were made by C.A.R. and were shown at the Connexions 2001 vid show.
====Overall Trends In Starsky & Hutch Vidding====
Flamingo argues that because Starsky & Hutch fans focused on the intense bonds between Starsky & Hutch, "...it was rarely that a sad vid was made. SH may have the smallest percentage of melancholy vids." Notable exceptions are Linda Brandt's 1980s vid "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?." Flamingo describes this as "Possibly the first altered reality vid — very early story vid — early use of black fade — at the time it was shocking to suggest that things might not work out for the guys."
In the mid 1990s, Morgan Dawn made "Don't You Need" a vid set to a Melissa Etheridge song that had both men questioning each other's commitment to one another and ending with the implication that perhaps their reconciliation may have come too late. "I remember at the time there was little support for stories - or vids -- that focused on the real challenges facing any couple - let alone a closeted gay couple serving on the police force. This surprised me because many of the earliest Starsky & Hutch fan stories had offered a more complex and "meaty" characterization of the Starsky & Hutch relationship. But by the time I found the fandom, sweetness and light and loving kindness was what was on the menu. I think that's why I made "Don't You Need" and "Testify" and why I wrote my short story "Snapshots." I wanted to broaden the characters - and the reader/viewer's - horizons."Morgan Dawn's personal notes, accessed April 17, 2011. For further discussion of these vids go to Morgan Dawn.
====Vidding: Additional Reading====
* list of SH vidding journals/communities
* Early Starsky & Hutch Vids - VCR Era
* Master List of Starsky & Hutch Vids from the 2000s (updated through 2010)
==Lending Libraries==
The S&H Lending Library, started around 1990 by Linda L Cabrillo, was a collection of out-of-print zines assembled by Linda and many other SH fans to make these zines available to those who had never had an opportunity to see them. Their intention was to ensure that this classic fiction would not be lost to the fandom. The library was run by different SH fans over the years. The library hosted both gen and slash fan fiction. Zines were always presented uncut, uncensored, and unedited.The Starsky & Hutch Lending Library, last updated January 16, 2007 As fans migrated to the Internet, many zine stories (slash and gen) became available online at the S & H Archive and the S&H Lending Library went on hiatus in 2007. In 2010, a few fans stepped in to informally fill the gap by offering to loan and/or copy out of print fanzines on an individual one-to-one basis. Discussions on whether - and how - to resume the S&H Lending Library have been ongoing.
==Conventions ==
Starting in 1979, Zebracon was for years the main Starsky & Hutch fan run convention. As more and more fans migrated to other fandoms, Zebracon branched out into other 'partnership' cop/spy/science fiction shows, but Starsky & Hutch remained an important focus.
 
* Dobey Con - UK in the 1980s
* The Paul Muni Special‎ - held once in the US in 1985 (celebrating the 10th anniversary of the show)
* Reunion Con, also known as the "Starsky & Hutch Fifteen Anniversary convention" - held once in 1990 (celebrating the 15th anniversary of the show)
* Zedcon - a UK convention held 1997-2001
* Bay City Bash - a UK gathering of gen and slash fans in 2002
* VegaSH Con - 2010, held in the US
* SHarecon - gen and slash - US convention that started officially in 2000 and is still ongoing
* Cabrillo Con - gen - US event that started 2005 and is still ongoing
* ZebraCon -- gen and slash -- early cons were all SH, later cons were SH and Pros
* Southern Con-Federacy -- S&H con held in Troy, Alabama, 1980-1983.
Numerous small informal gatherings have taken place worldwide over the years, including Starsky & Hutch London Fanday, TomatOZ (Australia 1982) and Ten Years On (UK 1985).
==Awards==
* Torino Awards
* Paula Wilshe Awards
* SlaSHies
* Encore Awards 
==Archives:==
* Bay City Library (gen)
* Dave & Ken's Diner Automated Slash Archive
* David Soul Appreciation Team mailing list
* Me and Thee Archive (gen, slash)
* by Kassidy Rae (features a slash archive)
* Starsky and Hutch Archive, Flamingo's first archive (gen, slash)
* Starsky and Hutch Archive, Flamingo's second archive (gen, slash)
* SH Fanfiction Card Catalog (not an archive but an index, now offline and not archived)
* The Starsky and Hutch Fiction Den (Striped Tomato's gen archive)
* Starsky & Hutch Slash Fiction (indexed by author)
* Tagging Bay City (not an archive but a list of tagged S&H fic)
* Zebra Three B.L.T., archive for Brit, TibbieB, and Linda B.
* List of S&H fansites on GeoCities (includes small fic archives)
* Starsky NHutch: Discussion list for the TV show Starsky and Hutch - a restricted Yahoo! Group
==Mailing Lists and Communities==
* Loveofmeandthee - gen and slash mailing list (2000–present)
* Hutchfans - gen only mailing list
* Paul Michael Glaser Appreciation Team (2004- 2019)
* The Pits (mailing list) - gen and slash mailing list (1999–present)
* SHGFanFic - gen only mailing list
* VenicePlace - first slash only mailing list) (1996–present)
* Zebra3 - first gen only mailing list, Flamingo was the owner
* Meandtheelegacy (2004-2019)
*starsky_hutch, a LiveJournal site, founded January 1, 2004 by Kimberly FDR
* Starsky and Hutch Friends (gen only, 2005-present)
* Starsky & Hutch Fanfiction (mailing list) - public Yahoo! group (2004 - 2019)
* Starsky & Hutch (mailing list) - Yahoo! group for German-speaking fans (2003 - 2019)
* Starsky Hutch Mailing List - public Yahoo! group (1999 - 2019)
* Starsky-N-Hutch-Fic - Yahoo! Group for discussing Starsky & Hutch Fan Fiction (1999 - 2019)
* Starsky and Hutch Christian Friends - restricted Yahoo! Group (2007 - 2019)
* Starsky and Hutch Playmates - Yahoo! Group (2002-2012)
* Starsky n Hutch: A place to visit - Public Yahoo! Group (1998 - 2019)
* StarskynHutchfans - Public Yahoo! Group (2003 - 2019)
* Starskynhutchclubhouse - restricted Yahoo! Group (1999 - 2019)
* Starsky & Hutch Fangroup - Public Yahoo! Group (2003 - 2019)
* Starsky & Hutch -- BloodPromises - restricted Yahoo! Group (2004 - 2019)
* StoriesofStarskyandHutch - restricted Yahoo! Group (2002- 2019)
* Topanga - for the David Soul Appreciation Group (mid 1990's - ?)
* Zebra 3 Come In - a public Yahoo! group (2001 - 2019)
==Episode Reviews by Fans==
* For twenty-three humorous episode reviews written by Rebelcat and Elizabeth Helena, see .
* For reflections/reviews of every episode, with many notes on the filming, atmosphere, environment, social issues, and analysis of both the leads and one-shot characters, as well as 29 "Character Studies" and auxiliary posts about various facets of the show and its internal universe, see The Ollie Report.
* See 
==Meta==
* :Category:Starsky & Hutch Meta 
* Characterization questions (2002)
* (2017)
* (November 15, 2020)
* (2021)
* Hutch's Greenhouse; archive link by Daisy Morgan (November 2020)
* SH Fandom Before Computers by Flamingo (unknown date)
==Resources==
* ao3feed-starsky-hutch, a ao3feed tumblr-blog
* Green Stamps: The Starsky & Hutch Page, a very early resource page
* A Starsky and Hutch Canon Compendium (exceptionally detailed lists of all manner of trivia)
* - UK fans, also hosts of the 2002 Bay City Bash in the UK
* Blue's Starsky & Hutch Resources (timeline, episode guide, facts etc)
* Black Bean Soup's Episode List/summaries (with a focus on partnership and h/c moments, canon details, and priceless scenes)(WayBack Machine link)
* Episode transcripts (incomplete, in-progress project last updated 12/2008)
* (A web site devoted to Starsky & Hutch, Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, with video captures, clips, fanvids, links and more)
* SH LJ Community
*The Starsky & Hutch Roundup (a biweekly S&H fandom net newsletter on Livejournal) (inactive)
* SH Screengrabs (offline)
* 
==See also==
* Timeline of Starsky & Hutch Fandom
* Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Starsky & HutchCategory:Police Procedural