| The
Review: |
"And now a very special episode
of..." Ah yes, those words never ran more true than on "21
Jump Street." And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if they
were ever even used, but every episode of this show seemed
to be almost the exact equivalent of those after school specials,
that ironically I never watched at home, but they made us
watch in school. That was weird. Every single episode of this
show always dealt with such hard hitting high school topics
as pregnant teenagers, stopping kids from joining gags, stopping
kids from doing drugs, stopping kids from drinking, and if
there was a blank spot in there, then it was no problem just
throwing in another pregnant teenager to make sure the time
didn't fall short. I'm surprised that musical numbers weren't
introduced to keep the students from smoking grass, or worse
yet, tobacco.******
The show was deemed as edgy when
it premiered in 1987, and looking at it now, in comparison
to everything else in the 18 years since then, it's about
as edgy as the videogame paperboy sadistically breaking windows
with the Sunday edition. On the bright side of it though,
the never really did fall below what it started out as. If
you liked "21 Jump Street" from the start of the series, then
you liked it exactly the same up until it ended. Nothing really
changed all that much. In fact, come season 3 you may have
even liked it a little better with the casting addition of
Richard Grieco. Ah, Grieco, the man who has given Johnny Depp
a run for his money in terms of post "Jump Street" stardom.
"If Looks Could Kill" anyone?*******
Obviously this show is easy to
make fun of, and that's kind of what is charming about it.
It's a guilty pleasure in the sense that any show about young
cops cracking down on teenage violence would be a guilty pleasure.
It's an entertaining show. Creator Stephen J. Cannell certainly
knew how to make his show watchable. That's because he has
a giant blender. What you do is, you toss in a scoop of "The
Mod Squad," set the speed up a little bit to the 1980s, then
you take an ounce of up and coming actor Johnny Depp, a glass
of Richard Grieco, a chewy and delicious tape of after school
specials, get into your container of hot peppers and pull
out a Holly Robinson Peete, press the mix button, and you've
got yourself a nice 80's cop show sans Link and the rest of
"The Mod Squad." In this case, the premise revolved around
a police unit known as Jump Street, who infiltrate high schools
and colleges, in order to stamp out crime and dastardly teen
angst at an early age, in better ways than just shooting them
in the head.*******
All throughout this series, young
faces of soon to be big stars could be seen cutting their
teeth on this FOX show. Made back around the time where FOX
was the laughing stock of the the world, and even more so,
late night talk show hosts, the show was made to sort of steer
in an audience who would seek out bigger networks and bigger
shows for their fill of TV cop show action. It worked, and
the show went on to become a cult hit, lasting more than 100
episodes over a period of 5 seasons and was one of the earlier
successful efforts of the FOX program, with shows including
"The Simpsons" and "Married With Children."*******
he show starts out with Richard
Grieco being introduced to the cast and partnering up with
Depp. Naturally the two don't hit it off right away, and in
the most awkward way possible. Not only does Depp feel that
Grieco's racist attitudes are getting in the way of their
job, but he also thinks that Grieco may have raped a black
woman. Talk about wacky buddy cop comedy friction. Well, Grieco
stuck around for a couple more years, so it all works out
fine in the end.*******
Some of the young celebrities you
may regnize popping up in the 3rd series include Kelly Hu
in "The Dragon and The Angel," where Dustin Nguyen goes undercover
in a Vietnamese street gang. "Woolly Bullies" has the Jump
Street unit dealing with, you guessed it, bullies in the present
and in the past. Look Christopher Titus and Larenz Tate, and
even the not so young Dom DeLuise, in this episode. In "High
High" (my old school), Mario Van Peebles pops up in the typical
80's Van Peebles role where he's a member of a drug ring that's
centered in a performing arts school. Also, watch for Bridget
Fonda as a homeless girl sought after by a killer in "Blinded
by the Thousand Points of Light."********
Season 3 ended on a 2 part cliffhanger
entitled "Loc'd Out," where Depp seeks revenge on a violent
street gang who shot and wounded Nguyen. Depp is lead through
a downward spiral in the world of crime that leads him behind
bars, which is exactly where it picks up at the beginning
of Season 4. How does it all turn out? I can't say, we'll
have to wait for Season 4. No, seriously, I can't say. Think
I can remember that far back without the help of the Anchor
Bay DVDs?*******
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