"21 Jump Street" (1987) TV series 1987-1991

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Creators:

Stephen J. Cannell
Patrick Hasburgh

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

12 April 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Too cool for school.

Plot:

The cases of an undercover police unit composed of young looking officers specializing in youth crime.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Undercover | Address As Title | Detective | Teen

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Steven Williams	...	Captain Adam Fuller / ... (92 episodes, 1987-1991)
Holly Robinson Peete	...	Officer Judy Hoffs (90 episodes, 1987-1991)
Peter DeLuise	...	Officer Doug Penhall (84 episodes, 1987-1990)
Dustin Nguyen	...	Officer Harry Truman Ioki (71 episodes, 1987-1990)
Johnny Depp	...	Officer Tom Hanson (69 episodes, 1987-1990)
Sal Jenco	...	Sal "Blowfish" Banducci / ... (39 episodes, 1987-1990)

Runtime:

60 min (103 episodes) | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:15 (some episodes) | UK:PG (some episodes) | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

New Westminster Secondary School, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Ioki's real name was Vinh Van Tran.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Throughout the first season Hansen repeatedly says "tail" when his mouth obviously says "ass." This was a post-production change in response to network censorship, who thought the word "ass" was inappropriate.

Quotes:

Off. Doug Penhall: They're gonna have fireworks, free hot dogs. Even Sprinkles the clown!
Off. Tom Hanson #2: Sprinkles? Really?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Tom's Rhinoplasty (#1.11)" (1998)

Launching pad for teen stars; one of the better early Fox shows.

This was one of the first Fox hour-long dramas, and Fox definitely wore its heart on its sleeve. Like WB now, Fox wanted to lure in a teenage audience with its good-looking young stars. Luckily for those stars, 21 Jump Street was a rather good vehicle, and stood on its own merits.

Kind of like a Mod Squad for the 80s, the "teens" in 21 Jump Street were cops. Hip cops. They would infiltrate schools, drug rings, gangs, wherever teenagers were in trouble... unlike the Mod Squad, though, the storylines were always passable, and quite often excellent. Almost every episode touched upon subjects that were taboo for the big 3 networks (and still are)- AIDS, statutory rape, drug use, abortion, child abuse- and presented it in a moralistic way, but without being maudlin.

The show kind of faltered in its last few seasons; Johnny Depp was becoming a star, and execs started pushing other "stars" into the spotlight, hoping for cash rewards and spin-offs. Richard Greico was most heavily promoted, to an audience that didn't really care. He became a teen-age heartthrob for a while, but never achieved the momentum to carry his career skyward. With this pushing of the stars, the storylines took a back seat to character preening. The end result was faltering ratings, and cancellation.

Until it became an actors' showcase, though, 21 Jump Street was probably the best drama on TV.