Huggy Bears OTP is Starsky/Hutch; an essay

(Instead of doing my homework I’m writing you all a short Essay on my favorite topic: Starsky and Hutch. Please enjoy.)

In this essay I hope to prove to you all that Huggy Bear is Starsky and Hutch’s number one shipper. Now I’m making no claim to him being their first shipper. That still belongs to some queer watching Starsky and Hutch in 1975, no he started shipping them in season 3, specifically Episode 15; A Body Worth Guarding.

In this episode Starsky and Hutch must guard a Russian ballerina. Now, I’ll spare you the details, but Hutch ended up guarding the ballerina over night and Starsky was alone. He needed to find who was threatening her life. He went to Huggy Bear in the morning—pay attention to this part—and Huggy noticed something was off about his dear friend; he was rigid, blunt, and Huggy could see in his eyes the capability of great tragedy. Then it occurred to him; “a Starsky without a Hutch is like a pig without pork” it’s unnatural and as far as he knew impossible.

Huggy clearly doesn’t like this “new” Starsky. The laters discomfort in the morning (perhaps relating to the fact he knows his beloved partner is suffering with the Russian ballerina he, as far as Starsky knows, still hates) is disconcerting to Huggy and he even seems to start refusing to see one without the other in later episodes. Specifically the next episode; The Trap.

In this episode a trap is set to catch Detective Sargent Hutchinson by a man he’d put away—now out on probation—and Huggy was part of their set up. His restaurant was broken into and he was attacked so he called his two favorite detectives; Starsky and Hutch. What he said is the intriguing part though, when Starsky picked up the phone Huggy asks for him to come with his “better half”.

Now, better half is a phrase typically reserved for partners. Like, romantic ones. Spouses, the person you’re dating, rarely is it used for friends in an unironic way. That does ask another question; is it a joke? Is Huggy jokingly asking for Starsky’s better half? Well I don’t believe so. In the previous episode Huggy makes it clear to Starsky he prefers to see them together. He wants Starsky and Hutch not Starsky or Hutch. An impotent deviator.

I’ve heard arguments that Huggy and Starsky’s conversation in A Body Worth Guarding relate to antisemitism (the prejudice against Jewish people) it is never explicitly stated Starsky’s Jewish. I honestly don’t mind any headcannons—hell this is a whole essay for mine—and I can admit the argument for it is strong. It doesn’t make sense, if Starsky’s Jewish, that the “a Starsky without a Hutch is like a pig without pork” is an antisemitic comment from Huggy. I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure pork is one of the foods Jewish people can’t eat and the whole episode has a lot of Jewish themes. Or we’ll one really obvious Jewish and antisemitic plot point; the “free the Russian Jews” protest outside of the ballet and the whole plot of the episode being an attempt for the supremacists to frame the Jewish for a crime and get them shut down.

That being said; now that I’ve acknowledged the strong points from that argument I’m going to pull one little thread to make way for my less realistic theory; Starsky religion (or perhaps lack there of) is never explained in the show (as far as I’ve seen at least). He’s said he’s not Catholic but there lots and lots and LOTS of other religions. Sure that does also allow the possibility that he’s Jewish but it also doesn’t confirm it. And who really wants to think Huggys antisemitic anyway?

Huggy is a beloved character and it’s a lot more fun to watch his actions throughout seasons 3 and 4 as a Starsky/Hutch shipper than anything else. Hell even 1&2 can be read like this if you want, I don’t judge. Wether or not you believe me, those folks who say it’s a antisemitic conversation or don’t think it’s much more than Starsky having a bad day and Huggy being out off by it that’s up to you. But this concludes my essay on why Huggy Bear is the number ones Starsky and Hutch sniper. I hope this inspired you to watch Starsky and Hutch again with a different lense.

Happy Birthday Owen Wilson! ♡ (November 18th, 1968)

gay 70s copaganda thesis is actually about the inherent homoeroticism of the western genre and the cultural image of the male cowboy it borrows from. or as Susan Sarandon once put it, "They got their guns out because they couldn't get their dicks out"

Shows from the 60s/70s will always consist of the main characters going through the most insane, life-changing, traumatising experience and then having a shot of them all laughing together at the end and proceeding to never speak of it ever again

Cop show creators will be making some of the most soul wrenching, charming, beautiful partners who act like they’re in love with each other, but then when people ask them if they’re in love, the creators will deny it wholeheartedly

i love fandoms that are old/dead because then you have years to decades of dormant accounts and official promos to pore through looking for priceless artifacts and relics to take back to your trove, leaving your respects for creators and usernames long since forgotten

i love fandoms that are tiny and you and the twelve other ppl enjoying it with you are mostly on the same wavelength, or trying to be so no one gets pushed out of the group bc you need each other to keep the joy alive

i love fandoms that are too big for everyone to be familiar with the same things. the fictional universe is so expansive that you can wave at another fan online, but have no clue who their blorbo is or what part of the franchise they're from

1976 Ford Gran Torino

The inherent homoeroticism of 70s cop shows

Ford Gran Torino 2-door Hardtop, 1975. The producers of the new TV series needed a flashy specialty car for the main characters and the Gran Torino was chosen with a large white vector stripe added to make it less mundane. The series was a big success and the car attracted enough attention for Ford to make a special edition of 1000 "Starsky and Hutch" Torinos. The death was announced today of David Soul who played the role of Sergeant Kenneth Richard "Hutch" Hutchinson in the series. RIP

Owen Wilson + headphones

RIP David Soul (1943 - 2024)

Paul and David, Starsky and Hutch

Forever

feeling nostalgic and sad

This is art for like my little time masters Whos-Who inspired series but I like it so much I'm just going to post it alone for now since it takes me awhile to actually write the bios LOL!!

who the hell are these guys!?!