They told us that cops shouldn’t get married

For four years, TPTB subtly (and not so subtly) repeatedly told us that cops shouldn’t get married or have kids. So what does that mean for Starsky & Hutch?

Season 1

• Pariah – the cops that Prudholm kills and it’s mentioned that they had families
• Terror on the Docks – Ed Jamison, the cop who was killed on the docks offscreen – Starsky says his wife just had a first kid
• Bounty Hunter – We meet Officer Nedloe and his wife in the police cafteria scene and later, when her husband is shot and in critical condition, we see how upset Mrs. Nedloe is

Season 2

• Gillian – she’s killed because Hutch is a cop
• Vendetta – Abby is targeted because of Hutch’s investigation of Artie Solkin
• Specialist – Mac Jr. being killed in front of his dad, just after they make plans to take his 8-year old daughter to the movies that night. Starsky and Hutch know both Mac Jr and Sr and Hutch has a poignant conversation with Mac Sr.
• Starsky’s Lady – Prudholm again

Season 3

• The Plague – Jake Donner’s wife Virginia talks about always worrying about her husband being killed in the line of duty (stabbed by a junkie in an alleyway)

Season 4

• Starsky’s Brother – Holy shit, they actually came out and said that “Maybe cops shouldn’t have families.” When the mob guys blow up the Feds’ hideout and kill the federal agent while S&H are walking up the stairs, and then afterwards they’re talking with Dobey and Agent Weldon. Dobey says to Agent Weldon, “Weldon, I’m sorry about Bronson. Did he have a family?” Agent Weldon responds, “No, he was lucky that way. Maybe there oughta be a law against people like us having families.”
• Birds of a Feather – Doris Huntley gambles away their life savings because her husband, Luke is always working and she’s lonely. Luke says that he spent more time in the police station than in the bedroom, as a way of explaining why they never had children. Although most likely, he was gay (which explains why he “likes ’em fat,” referring to Dobey). And Luke actually tells S&H not to get married!

Sooo, why does all of this matter? Because it means that TPTB (the writers, producers, actors, etc.) were making the subtle (and not so subtle) case that S&H should never get married (to women).

Conversely, it means that their only destiny is to end up with each other, lest they be eternally lonely. And happily, that’s exactly what happens in the tag of Sweet Revenge.