From September 1975 to August 1979, Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul starred in the wildly popular buddy-cop television drama Starsky & Hutch as detectives Dave Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson.  Not only did they trounce criminals on the seamy streets of Bay City every week, more importantly, they looked good doing it.  They had the clothes, they had the hair and they had the car: Starsky's beloved red and white striped Ford Gran Torino. 

Starsky & Hutch presented a groundbreaking portrayal of cops - they didn't always follow the rules, using unorthodox methods to solve the toughest of crimes. Perhaps most unorthodox was the detectives' association with Huggy Bear, an ultra hip, jive talking, streetwise informant played by Antonio Fargas, who walked the fine line between crooked and righteous.  The relationship between the two detectives was unique in that they didn't take themselves too seriously and shared a sense of humor that was notably absent from such earlier police dramas as Dragnet and Adam-12.  The fresh mix of gritty crime drama and occasional tongue-in-cheek moments propelled Starsky & Hutch to extremely high ratings over its entire run. Although it went off the air in 1979, the show still maintains a large following.

In 1998, producers Alan Riche and Tony Ludwig hit upon the idea to remake the hit cop drama - as a feature film comedy.  "I was a fan of the show," Riche recalls.  "I thought it had heart and soul, and it was very much of the time - it wasn't fluff.  I always liked the relationship between Starsky and Hutch and felt that it could translate into a movie relationship.  It's classic movie yin-yang: you've got crazy and intense Starsky and more laconic, laid back Hutch.  Each has value in terms of their own persona, but put them together and one plus one equals three - you really enjoy hanging out with these guys."

The producers soon found that the show's creator William Blinn held the motion picture rights.  Blinn had been contacted in the past to bring the show to the big screen but had never been inclined to do it.  "It wasn't until I met with Alan and Tony that it seemed to take on some reality," he says.  "Their enthusiasm really turned me around."  Blinn felt they had a fresh perspective and was eager to work with them. 

Riche and Ludwig went into partnership with Blinn and took the project to Warner Bros. Pictures, where producer Akiva Goldsman became involved.  "The funny thing about Starsky & Hutch is that like a lot of the TV shows from when I was a child, it evoked a set of memories that are different than what you might feel today if you watched the show," muses Goldsman.  "Whatever Starsky & Hutch engendered in our imagination when we were kids was sufficiently delicious that you look back on it and you think, 'Wow, they were kind of funny and serious at the same time and they were really kind of cool.'  There's a genuineness to their friendship, which we're definitely screwing around with in a good way in this movie." 

When Ben Stiller heard that Warner Bros. Pictures owned the rights to the iconic TV show, he made it known that he wanted the chance to play Detective Dave Starsky, and along with his producing partner Stuart Cornfeld, quickly became a welcome addition to the project.  "I used to play Starsky & Hutch when I was a kid," explains Stiller, "so I thought, why not do it as an adult?  I mean, there are actually a lot of reasons why you shouldn't do it as an adult, but I chose to ignore them and go forward with the project."

The filmmakers and Stiller then began their search for the right director to helm the project.  In looking for someone who could mine the comedy in what was initially a straightforward cop show, Stiller looked to director Todd Phillips.  Fresh off his success with the teen comedy Road Trip, Phillips was just beginning work on the midlife crisis frat boy tale Old School.  Phillips had been recommended to Stiller for several films and both men jumped at the opportunity to work together. 

Stiller appreciated Phillips' take on the project.  "Todd looked at it as if it were the failed pilot for Starsky & Hutch, and wanted to shoot it in the way that you would have done a real TV movie in the 70s.  We wanted to play it straight and just let the irony of thirty years later be what it is.  This movie is referencing a show that was such a phenomenon when it was on the air, and we aren't trying to spoof it or parody it in any way.  We're not trying to say, 'hey, look how goofy the 70s were.'"

"Basically, I describe it as a romantic comedy between two straight men," quips Phillips.  "It sort of follows the beats of a typical romantic comedy in that they don't really get along at first, they start to get along, they break up and then they come back together for a better union than ever.  But in this case it's two straight guys going through those same beats."  The producers and director then went to work with John O'Brien, a writer who had been developing material for Goldsman's Weed Road Pictures. The essential story and character beats were laid down in a draft that persuaded the studio to "greenlight" the picture.

Phillips then brought in his friend and writing partner Scot Armstrong, who had previously collaborated with the director on Road Trip and Old School.  Playing off the original show's lighter moments without losing the dramatic flavor, Phillips and Armstrong were able to develop the idea into a full-fledged action comedy.   

With Phillips and Stiller committed to the film, it was not long before Stiller's friend Owen Wilson was brought onboard in the role of Detective Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson.  Starsky & Hutch revolves around the close relationship between its two main characters, so the chemistry between the leads needed to be stellar.  Stiller and Wilson had worked together on a number of projects: The Cable Guy, Meet The Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums and the 2001 audience favourite Zoolander, which paired the two as supermodels.  Starsky & Hutch re-teams the actors for the sixth time, allowing them to combine their talents and natural chemistry to put a comedic twist on the classic show.

Stiller was extremely enthusiastic about casting Wilson.  "It seemed a natural choice because we do have a friendship and the basis of Starsky and Hutch's whole relationship was that they liked and trusted each other.  Now, I don't trust Owen - not for a second - but I do like him and I find him entertaining, so really, minus the trust thing, it's a very similar sort of relationship.  And Owen's blonde, too, so that was another factor in the casting." 

Producer Stuart Cornfeld explains the mechanics behind the match.  "Both of them are really terrific at improvisational comedy, at picking up on what the other one is doing," Cornfeld says of the duo.  "Their core creative and comedic energies are very complementary; Ben is extremely present and Owen is the other side of the coin, a little more off in his own world.  It's that clash of the guy who's way too there and the guy who's not quite there that's a really good combination.  They're both very smart guys and talented writers who have a tremendous amount of respect for each other."

The original Starsky & Hutch put the "buddy" in the buddy cop genre that was to be emulated time and time again on both the big and small screen through the years, thanks to a relationship between the two leads that rang true with audiences.  "I think that part of why the show was so big is that it was closer to reality," says Wilson.  "We had some detectives from the L.A.P.D. advising on the movie, and they said that so much of police work is in the camaraderie - a big part of your day is devoted to catching criminals, but another part of your day is hanging around and cracking jokes."

Stiller discusses taking the genre full circle.  "The buddy cop genre is a little bit tired.  But the good news is that with this movie, the buddy cop drama has taken a nap, and has woken up and feels refreshed and ready to spend the rest of the day being a good, happy, refreshed genre.  For instance, we have yet to see undercover mimes at a Bat Mitzvah in a buddy cop movie."

It was imperative that Starsky and Hutch face off against an enemy formidable enough to test the strength of their burgeoning partnership.  Phillips kept true to the film's straightforward 70s vibe when concocting his villain.  "If you look at movies from the 70s, there's always the idea of a singular villain as opposed to nowadays where there tends to be a lot of crime syndicates and computer discs and hackers and things that are just so involved you kind of lose sight of what the movie is about, which is really a character comedy." 

In the case of Starsky & Hutch, this singular villain is the casually sadistic, Fu-Manchu-sporting wannabe kingpin Reese Feldman, who has hit the narcotics jackpot by developing a strain of cocaine undetectable by taste or smell.  In fact, it appears to be artificial sweetener - a fact that will come back to haunt coffee-swilling Starsky, but which is also responsible for an astounding moment in disco history.

Versatile actor Vince Vaughn had most recently worked with Todd Phillips on Old School. Reese Feldman is the stereotypical "heavy" that plagued the crime fighters on the original show, but Vaughn enjoyed fleshing out the character and giving him a little more depth.  "Reese has got a big drug deal going on, a big way to make money that will set his financial future.  He's not really a full-fledged mobster.  I think he is enticed by that world but he's still just playing at it.  He's getting caught up in the make-believe land and really trying to play the role out."

The bulk of Starsky & Hutch was shot on location, with production moving almost every day.  These circumstances offered a creative and logistical challenge for Starsky & Hutch production designer Ed Verreaux.  "One of the most difficult aspects of this show was that our Bay City is more fleshed out than the Bay City of the TV show - it has a level of mid-70s reality, depth and texture, and we had to create that atmosphere on every location," he comments.

Shooting a period-specific film presents its own unique obstacles to a film crew.  Normally, a location shoot on a city street might involve the co-ordination of a few hundred extras and the orchestration of dozens of cars and busses passing by - a challenge in itself.  But when the film is set in 1975, those three hundred extras have to be provided with detailed wardrobe, makeup and hair that blends in with the period, and all vehicles must be appropriate to the era.  On top of that, attention must be paid to signs, traffic lights and anachronistic background details such as satellite dishes that have to be removed from the frame.  All the set dressing must be appropriate, including calendars, artwork, magazines and advertisements.  In every respect it's a more complicated and difficult situation to control.

"The project looks deceptively simple but it's actually one of the hardest things I've ever worked on," reveals Verreaux, who has previously designed such artistically demanding films as Mission to Mars, Jurassic Park III and The Scorpion King.  "It wasn't so much about the design, it was about trying to fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together.  Finding those things that don't belong - no touch tone phones, obviously nothing like cell phones or Evian bottles." 

Authenticity was also significant to the production because the filmmakers wanted the film's humour to come from the characters, not from their over-the-top environments.  Verreaux relates, "When I first met with Todd, I said that it seemed to me that my job was going to be to create this reality for you and I'm going to do it really straight.  I won't try to make everything look funny.  I'll just make it look like a real world as best I can, and it will be up to you and your actors to make it funny.  You don't open a funny door, you open a realistic door in a funny way."   

A good example is the characters' homes.  Rather than serve as jokes themselves, they are indicative of each individual's personality.  "Hutch is basically a slob and Starsky is an anal retentive, compulsive guy, but they're both macho in their own way," says Verreaux.  "Hutch is a cop who lives on the edge and he's not above taking a bribe and maybe pocketing some money.  Starsky, on the other hand, is a second generation officer who's trying to be the best cop ever.  His apartment is much cleaner and more orderly, and he has posters from Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movies on the walls.  It still has those browns and beiges - there were some pretty ugly colors that got used in the 70s and we tried to work with some of those."

"We were very meticulous in a lot of detail with regard to keeping the era intact," says Ludwig, "yet at the same time keeping it very organic to the piece and not making it a movie that is set in some sort of surrealistic 70s world.   The movie will just look like it would have if it was made in 1975."     

Producer Ludwig, who was connected to the television show as a literary agent in the 70s, believes they got it right.  "Before we started making the movie, we did some test photos on the beach with Owen and Ben that were exact duplicates of publicity shots that David Soul and Paul Michael Glazer had done for the show in the mid-70s, and the resemblance was astounding.  They carry the guns, they wear the clothes, they've got the hair - there's Starsky's strident uptight intensity and that laid-back California cool that Hutch has, and yet when they do it as comedy it just blows you away."

"When you watch the original series, it didn't scream '70s,'" Mingenbach asserts.  "There was a leisure suit here and there, but overall the colors were muted, and that was Todd's direction to me.  It's like when you watch All the President's Men.  You hardly know it's a period film.  You're not distracted."