Notes and Mysteries

Introduction

“Still seeing what’s-her-name. Took her to the
whatchamecallit. Gave her my thingamajig.”

(Pilot)

The notes (N) are some general observations or points of interest.

The mysteries (M) are things I found confusing. Perhaps they are things which may be clearer to someone else? Feel free to contact me and clear it up.

Also, what may be a mystery may actually be a continuity error.

Notes & Mysteries A

“You’re my pal, Hutch.”

(A Coffin for Starsky)

• 1.M. Why does Vicky have Starsky drive her all the way to Boulder City to see her daughter, but then tells him she will “only be a minute” when she goes up to the house? Do she, the child, and Starsky spend the day together? Or is she just dropping something off? (The Las Vegas Strangler)
• 2.N. Matt Coyle’s pixilated horror of a bathrobe looks like the part of Sony’s beginning production notes on the first three season DVDs, the same colors form right before the standing lady symbol. (Iron Mike)
• 3.M. What does “DTDM” mean? Hutch calls it in regard to Terry Nash’s driver’s license. (The Set-Up)
• 4.M. What do “gold ring” and Starsky’s response, “good saw” mean? (The Set-Up)
• 5.M. Why is Officer Todesco so hostile? Something to do with Hutch and Mrs. Todesco? Starsky and Mike’s shared interest in leather? (Class in Crime, The Collector)
• 6.M. Do Starsky and Hutch have regular physical fitness tests? Hutch says he’ll be fine in a week. Starsky replies it will be in time for the “sprints and the 440.” (I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 7.M. Why do Hutch and Marianne have their revealing conversation in the alley, knowing Casey is standing less than ten feet away? (Ballad for a Blue Lady)
• 8.M. What exactly is the history between Artie Solkin and Hutch? (Vendetta)
• 9.M. What was the reasoning between having one man (Michael Delano) play two characters with essentially the same name (Bill Harkness, Billy Harkness) in back-to-back episodes? (Kill Huggy Bear, The Bait)
• 10.M. If Moreno is so willing to help Starsky and Hutch and not Wheeling, then why doesn’t he tell them about Wheeling’s visit and request? (The Velvet Jungle)
• 11.M. Why does Starsky have that dropped jaw-freaked out look in the underground garage as he sees Hutch make the arrest? (Savage Sunday)
• 12.M Why does Starsky ask Hutch “gotta match?” when Hutch is in the mini golf pool after shooting Posey? (Death Notice)
• 13.M. Aside from looking cool, why does Hutch make a 360 degree spin in the dust by the ranch in the Torino and waste valuable time when he goes after the van? (Bloodbath)
• 14.N. Merle’s car business has a different name in each of the episodes it is seen in. “Earl’s Custom Car Cult and Body Shop,” “Merle the Earl’s Custom Car,” and “Earl the Pearl Auto Repair.” Continuity error or is it Merle’s idea to keep changing the name of his business? (Jojo, Bloodbath, The Game)
• 15.M. How did Dobey know about Diana’s ploy of pretending to be “the kid sister from Boston”? It doesn’t seem like something Hutch would tell Dobey, out of embarrassment. And Starsky has already pooh-poohed its importance. Yet it is the key that puts it together for Starsky. If Dobey hadn’t mentioned it, it would have been too late for Hutch. (Fatal Charm)
• 16.M. If Starsky is so worried about Hutch escaping, why does Starsky go to sleep in a chair that isn’t up against the door? (The Fix)
• 17.M Dobey is “out for the evening” while he has an officer in dire straits? It seems more likely he would stay close to the phone. (The Fix)
• 18.M. What was Starsky doing on the East Coast while Hutch was working alone a few years ago? (The Velvet Jungle)
• 19.M. Gunther says to Bates, but almost more to himself, “I wish I had seen him sooner.” What does this mean? (Sweet Revenge)
• 20.M. What the heck is Charlie Sireen talking about when she mentions fish and whales? The Call of the Siren, or something else? (The Psychic)
• 21.N. Apparently, the bad guys wear ties so Starsky and Hutch have handles to grab and use for rough up purposes. (Snowstorm, I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 22.W. What book is Hutch reading the Bible in the hotel room? (The Specialist)
• 23.N. Why does Starsky trade walkie-talkies with Hutch? (Losing Streak)
• 24.N. Sheila Larken who plays Nancy Blake went on to play Scully’s mother in X-Files. (Terror on the Docks)
• 25.M. Who gave Starsky the red rose on his desk? (Silence)
• 26.M. Where is Dobey’s degree from? There is the word phrase “Universitas Harvardiana” on it. Sounds like Harvard to me!
• 27.M. What is Starsky putting on his sore tooth? It comes in a small bottle, used with a cotton swab, and is bright red. Clove oil? (Losing Streak)
• 28.N. One stupid moment: Hutch points his loaded gun at Starsky. Even if he is joking around, it is disturbing. (A Body Worth Guarding)
• 29.N. Hutch has about six Christmas cards on his piano as well as a variety of seasonal decorations. He can’t be a total scrooge. (Little Girl Lost)
• 30.M. Hutch says he is not Catholic but mentions his catechism teacher. (The Heroes, Terror on the Docks)
• 31.M. Carl Stoltz’s partner is killed the day before and he is already assigned a new partner? (The Specialist)
• 32.M. When “George Stegner” says he’s “very aware the secretary is upset,” whom is he referring to? (The Set-Up)
• 33.M. Don’t Dobey, Starsky, and Hutch find it odd that Jerry Konig was found with no clothes on? (The Bounty Hunter)
• 34.M. Starsky tells Dobey he is calling from a medical building and that the Torino has just been blown up, but Dobey doesn’t ask if Starsky and Hutch are okay. He swings right into how much trouble they are in. (The Set-Up)
• 35.M. Why does Balford agree so readily to help Humphries? (Survival)
• 36.N. Patricia Talbert spells Henderson’s name with a little heart in place of the “o” on her class schedule, a clue that is not commented on. (Pilot)
• 37.N. It isn’t that Starsky and Hutch are so sloppily dressed, it is that most of the bad guys are in suits and ties.
• 38.M. Why does Starsky refer to himself as “9W21” to Dobey on the Torino phone? (Kill Huggy Bear)
• 39.M. Why does Starsky ask Rosey Malone what she is doing for the next twelve years? Only twelve? (I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 40.N. Signs that two weeks really haven’t gone by for Terry Nash—the fruit basket and plants in his apartment are still fresh and he has no mail pile-up. (The Set-Up)
• 41.M. Who is the guy with the dark mustache in the photo on the driver’s license in Hutch’s hand? It’s not Terry Nash. (The Set-Up)
• 42.M. Why doesn’t Hutch use his mirror to signal for help rather than trying to drag his gun over? It would have worked as an SOS. It was the flash of that thing that attracted Lance and the other boy. (Survival)
• 43.M. Why does Jerry Konig give Lola $26,000 as partial payment when he plans on not paying the rest back and skipping town? (The Bounty Hunter)
• 44.M. Why the heck is Hutch dating Molly who appears to be about 18 years old? (The Collector)
• 45.M. Why do Starsky and Hutch go bowling with Terry Nash? Nothing they did there that they couldn’t have done somewhere else, and it was risky. (The Set-Up)
• 46.M. Why does Huggy use his own pay phone in the bar? (Kill Huggy Bear)
• 47.N. How do Wally Stone and Sonny McPherson have the same bike? (Survival, Murder on Stage 17)
• 48.M. Merle knows what kind of a car Hutch is driving. Starsky may have originally balked at $55 to find out what it is, but considering the financial expense of the fake shooting, it seems it is one Starsky should return and take Merle up on it. And Merle may want to make a buck, but it seems he would tell Starsky for free after hearing the circumstances. Strangely, nobody bothers following the car lead up, one that would have probably had good success. (The Game)
• 49.M. Why don’t Starsky and Hutch react to that strange new MALE voice in dispatch? (The Trap)
• 50.N. When Bagley asks Hutch if he remembers him, wouldn’t you like to hear Hutch say, “Bagley? Vaguely.”? (The Trap)

Notes & Mysteries B

“Do you trust me or not?”
“With my life, yes. With your choice of women, no.”

(Starsky and Hutch are Guilty)

• 51.N. Starsky is afraid of rattlesnakes. Hutch tells him there aren’t any at Pine Lake. Starsky says, “There will be when we get there!” How right he is. (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island, Satan’s Witches)
• 52.M. Why do Simon’s followers abandon the van by the ranch? (Bloodbath)
• 53.N. I expect Hutch to break into song when in front of the morgue when he says “somehow, somewhere.” (The Bait)
• 54.M. Why does Starsky have Hutch’s gun? (Murder on Stage 17)
• 55.N. When Hutch explains to Molly/Pete why she can’t live with him, it is for all the reasons he needs Starsky to move in with him. (Little Girl Lost)
• 56.N. Just suppose: Chris Phelps is a reporter/writer. Gillian said she was a writer. Maybe, and stay with me here, both Starsky and Hutch suffered a head injury and didn’t remember faces well. Maybe Chris and Gillian were the same person, and Gillian was simply undercover? (Gillian, The Heroes)
• 57.M. Why does an isolation room have two beds? It seems the best way to isolate something is to keep it apart from any other variables. (The Plague)
• 58.M. Vicky buys six pairs of panty hose. She takes one with her and has five delivered to her apartment. Later, there appears to be only four packages. Either Mrs. Pruitt is dishonest as well as being thoroughly unpleasant, or Eugene used one pair as a weapon. (The Las Vegas Strangler)
• 59.N. Is there another “love interest” that is more unappealing and stupid than Julie McDermott? Also, she has really ugly hands; catch the close-up as she take the ice cube out of the glass. (The Action)
• 60.M. How well does Hutch know Mrs. Donner anyway? He picks stuff off her sweater in a very primate-like way when they are at the hospital. (The Plague)
• 61.M. Why bother having two different actresses play Dr. Ginny Simpson? Why not just have two different doctors? (The Velvet Jungle, Death in a Different Place, The Heroes)
• 62.M. Nick’s prison sentence was three years. Flent and Duran say it has been two years and six months since they have seen him. Add this number to Nick’s release two months ago. Either Nick got time off for good behavior, or they came to visit him in jail during the first four months of his term. (Little Girl Lost)
• 63.N. Starsky may have gotten Lloyd Herman Eckworth’s lifetime batting average right, but missed on the Cuban Comet (Minnie Minoso). Starsky says it is 303, but is really 298. (Vendetta)
• 64.M. Why does Artie Solkin have a bouquet of fresh flowers in his room? (Vendetta)
• 65.N. Emily and Sharon are wearing matching blue button down shirts in their last scene together. (Blindfold)
• 66.M. An arm wrestling match between a left-handed cop and a strong ballerina would make for whose victory? (A Body Worth Guarding)
• 67.M. Mike Ferguson “works in the same department” as Starsky and Hutch. Dobey says he is Mike’s best friend. So why haven’t Starsky and Hutch seen him for a year? (Iron Mike)
• 68.M. The film negative is flipped in the car scene, showing the car being driven from the right side. Is this a glaring continuity error or a crafty comment on left-handedness? (Captain Dobey, You’re Dead)
• 69.M. There is an ashtray on the table next to Starsky’s bed by the radio. Who does he sleep with that smokes? (Running)
• 70.N. William Blinn directed an episode of The Rookies (1973) “Prayers Unanswered, Prayers Unheard.” In this episode there was a character named Huggy Bear.
• 71.N. The “biggest meeting of the syndicate since Apalachin” refers to a historic summit of one hundred mob bosses from the United States, Canada, and Italy (U.S. La Cosa Nostra) at the home of Joseph Barbara in 1957 at his home in Apalachin, New York. It was raided by law enforcement after suspicians were arroused by the sight of many out-of-state licesnse plates and fancy cars. Sixty mafiosi were detained and indicted. The Apalachin Meeting was what confirmed the existence of the Mob, something of which J. Edgar Hoover denied the existence. (Murder at Sea)
• 72.M. What does Hutch referencing when he says, “Quinine, the bitter dose”? (The Las Vegas Strangler)
• 73.N. Starsky holds his gun like a dancer. (various)
• 74.N. Papa Theodore’s chant is commanding Starsky to attack Hutch with “two hands” (“deux mains”). He chants a famous warlike anthem of the Caribbean, one the natives sang about attempts to ward off the Spaniards (“lama samana quana”). (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 75.N. Starsky isn’t kidding when he tells Lisa Hutch sleeps like a rock. Hutch doesn’t hear Starsky cough and choke all night in the next bed. (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island, Foxy Lady)
• 76.N. Larry Warwick (art/production), Raul Bruce (sound), Alex Klinsky (craft service), on marquee for Ziggy’s Jazz Café, are real production/technical assistants on the show. Larry Warwick Realty is also used. (The Deadly Imposter, Losing Streak)
• 77.M. Why do Starsky and Hutch run so fast up the stairs in response to a “DB report”? At this point, there is no connection between Jojo and Elaine, and a dead body isn’t going anywhere. (Jojo)
• 78.M. If “they couldn’t prove” Wally pushed Jane out the window, what did he go to jail for? (Murder on Stage 17)
• 79.M. Why oh why do the bad guys always make a dash for the roof? (The Heroes, The Las Vegas Strangler, A Coffin for Starsky, Kill Huggy Bear, Nightmare, Survival)
• 80.N. Inside joke? It looks like the name scrawled on the bottom of Hutch’s arrest warrant could be “R.C. Whatshisname” (Hutchinson for Murder One)
• 81.M. Starsky and Hutch’s car accident happens in the daytime. Starsky knows he and Hutch were brought in together, but Starsky doesn’t ask about Hutch until it is dark. Was he unconscious? (Partners)
• 82.N. Starsky and Hutch could have busted out of that flimsy barn in about ten minutes. They have certainly kicked down doors stronger than those walls. And it has already been proven at least one side of the barn, the one facing the gully and the woods, isn’t covered by a rifleman. (The Trap)
• 83.N. Starsky’s use of the word “copasetic” makes me think of Cindy, Starsky’s date in the Pilot. Instead of Cindy being “acceptable, acceptable,” Starsky should have said she was “copasetic, copasetic.” (Partners, Pilot)
• 84.N. There are two vacuum cleaners portrayed, and Hutch trips over both of them. (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty, Blindfold)
• 85.N. Joey could have been a lot faster running down that gully if she didn’t have to worry about her hat. (The Trap)
• 86.M. Why do Corman and Burke bother dragging Crandell’s body outside after they kill him in the shack? (Snowstorm)
• 87.M. What is that odd massive artificial dike behind the barn? (The Trap)
• 88.N. Pinky rings seem to be the hot fashion statement; numerous characters wear them, Rosey, Starsky, Paco, and various bad guys.
• 89.M. Why aren’t Starsky and Hutch notified when Jojo’s body is found? They only discover this by driving by Linda’s place. Is this Bettin’s doing? (Jojo)
• 90.N. There seems to be a lot more crime in Hutch’s neighborhoods. Harry kills Madelaine there, Jack Cunningham kills Joe Garras there, and his apartments are broken into a lot more. Aside from Bellamy’s attack, Starsky seems to live in a relatively untouched area. (Deckwatch, The Collector, Vendetta, Foxy Lady, Hutchinson for Murder One, The Fix, A Coffin for Starsky)
• 91.N. Harry spent nine months at sea, hasn’t had sex with a woman in eight months. He must have gotten some a month into the trip. Ask the cabin boy. (Deckwatch)
• 92.N. Madeleine offers “Mad” as her nickname. Harry refers to her later to Hannah as “Maddy.” They apparently didn’t get too far in the relationship, chow mien or not. (Deckwatch)
• 93.M. Why don’t Starsky and Hutch wonder why Clayburn is so anxious to implicate McClellan when the two men have been “very close, personal” friends for the past ten years? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 1, Targets Without a Badge: Part 2, Targets Without a Badge: Part 3)
• 94.N. Filming and direction of Starsky and Hutch is cutting edge at times, but also has many elements of 1950-60’s play staging. (Scenes that come to mind are parts of Shootout, Omaha Tiger, Quadromania, and Deckwatch).
• 95.N. Starsky and Hutch is not self-referential. The whole act of referring to the culture of the time is mostly missing. There aren’t a whole lot of mentions of popular culture, it doesn’t have a popular cultural soundtrack, and pre-dates the MTV/cut scene shtick where the music is supposed to do the talking. The only music/cut seen is in Huggy Can’t Go Home. In fact, aside from a handful of throwaway remarks about Watergate and old movie stars, there really isn’t a lot to “mark” this show in its own time period. The only politics that happens is inter-departmental and in different government departments.
• 96.N. There is a definite lack of product placement, the prevalence of brands, and absence of chain stores. Bay City, at least where Starsky and Hutch hang, is a massive collection of seedy bars, seedy little hotels, and mom and pop eateries.
• 97.M. Starsky goes high, Hutch goes low. Prudholm comments on their habit. How does he know? (Starsky’s Lady)
• 98.M. Why did Starsky and Hutch need the password (knock, two shorter knocks) at Monty’s bookie joint when they ended up kicking in the door? (Savage Sunday)
• 99.M. How do Corman and Burke get Crandell’s body outside? The door is locked and the window seems an unlikely choice. (Snowstorm)
• 100.M. Why does Dobey all of a sudden start yelling the numbers he is reading back to Starsky on the phone? (The Fix)

Notes & Mysteries C

“Hey. Hey, Hutch, look, I’m no character; I’m Huggy Bear.
We go back further than Lewis and Clark.”
“Well, you’d think that somebody who dresses the way
that you do, I wouldn’t forget.”

(Partners)

• 101.M. If Starsky is trying to hide Hutch, why does he park the Torino right in front of Huggy Bear’s? (The Fix)
• 102.M. When Hutch takes off in a cab, why doesn’t Huggy alert Starsky? (The Fix)
• 103.M. Is Starsky armed when he is in that upstairs room with Hutch? (The Fix)
• 104.N Nectar or ambrosia? Huggy, both would work. Nectar is sweet substance from a plant. Ambrosia is drink or food of the Greek gods. (The Fix)
• 105.M. Which department does Hutch call when he says, “Hutchinson, send an ambulance to Huggy Bear’s restaurant. Tell Captain Dobey to send over a back up unit”? Switchboard? Desk? Why doesn’t he request the back up directly? (Snowstorm)
• 106.M. What was in the little wrapped gift Abby placed on Hutch’s plate when she cooked dinner for him at his place? Hopefully not a watch, saying, “Forever Abby.” (Vendetta)
• 107.N. Starsky tells Gillian, “Back east, like Cleveland.” This makes Hutch’s comment that he lived next door to the Blake’s “back east,” more understandable. By this definition of “back east,” Duluth would qualify, rather than a locale on the eastern seaboard. (Gillian, Terror on the Docks)
• 108.M. If Fifth Avenue is so hard to get a hold of, why does Hutch interrupt Dispatch during the phone number read off and asked to be patched through? One would think he would want to save that number for later, if nothing else to save Wally’s next car. (Lady Blue)
• 109.N. Chief Ryan and Captain Dobey are both called “Chief of Detectives.” (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty, Captain Dobey, You’re Dead)
• 110.M. Starsky and Mickey say, “I’ll have a beer” in precisely the same way. An accent thing? Or did they do that scene so many times together it became an earworm of sorts? (Gillian, The Fix)
• 111.M. Why does Bellamy only get a year sentence when caught with the drugs with Jerry? He had already been convicted of pimping, pushing, armed robbery, and suspected of two homicides. (A Coffin for Starsky)
• 112.M. What makes Starsky and Hutch so sure that the APB will cause a policeman to shoot Larry on sight? (Silence)
• 113.N. Either Bessinger has his sport jacket in the car or he makes a stop at his house for it. Apparently he feels the need to dress up his look from the bar to crack a safe. (Silence)
• 114.M. Why does Hutch ask Officer Bill in R & I to call “Parole” to get Prudholm’s current address? While Parole certainly has this information, why doesn’t R & I have it? And if R & I doesn’t keep current addresses, then all of those types of questions would require a call to Parole. (Pariah)
• 115.M. Where are Starsky’s pants at the hospital? He had them on when Bellamy left. Did the paramedics take them off? (A Coffin for Starsky)
• 116.N. No wonder Starsky likes Sharman; she runs just like him. (Running)
• 117.N. Starsky’s “date” on the couch at the Cheese Ball Party at Hutch’s place looks just like Starsky from the back. (The Deadly Imposter)
• 118.M. If Sue Ann’s last show is at 11:00, are Starsky, Hutch, and Dobey giving her preferential treatment by having her fill out her complaint at Metro at roughly 1:30 in the morning? (Long Walk Down a Short Dirt Road)
• 119.N. Sharon really did a good job scouring those thrift stores; the fake Starsky is wearing the same shirt the real Starsky wears in a later episode. (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty, The Specialist)
• 120.N. Both the fake Starsky and the real Starsky like to work on models. The real Starsky: ships. The fake Starsky: cars. (Fatal Charm, Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)
• 121.M. Starsky and Hutch said they stayed fifteen minutes, from 2:55 to 3:10. Mrs. Marlowe said she saw “them” leave at 3:30. It makes the most sense that she saw the real Starsky and Hutch arrive and the fake ones leave. But this doesn’t jive with what the viewer sees Mrs. Marlowe see. It also appears she would have had to see two sets arriving and only one leaving. Lennie Atkins hears, along with the viewer, the fake Starsky and Hutch stay with Oscar Newton for a total of perhaps thirty-five seconds, which anyone taking their depositions would see clash information. This whole timing thing doesn’t make a lot of sense, showing it might be more than Mrs. Marlowe’s eyesight that is mixed up. (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)
• 122.N. Vending machines seem to require either for a quarter or fifteen cents, yet Starsky is always short a dime. (The Fix, I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 123.N. Dobey says the call about Blaine came in a few minutes ago, and he has already called Maggie? (Death in a Different Place)
• 124.N. Starsky’s first name is used far more often than Hutch’s first name regardless of the speaker. (Manchild on the Streets, Starsky’s Lady, Death in a Different Place, A Coffin for Starsky)
• 125.M. Dobey says the “Department is under a lot of pressure to let gays on the force.” Next sentence he utters, “So the department is not anxious to let the world know that one of its finest might have been a homosexual.” It seems that Dobey is making two opposing statements. (Death in a Different Place)
• 126.M. If the plague can be detected by a simple blood test on the street, how come it couldn’t be found in Hutch when he was in the hospital the first time? (The Plague)
• 127.N. Perhaps it is the current times, but Helen’s comments about Callendar’s interest in Ritchie seem to be more along the lines of sexual interest rather than fatherly disappointment. (The Plague)
• 128.M. Vanessa says it is Hutch’s habit to go out for his jog at 6:15 am, but Hutch is jogging at 9:30 when called to Garras’ murder. (Hutchinson For Murder One, The Collector)
• 129.N. Annie’s dog, “Duvcha” seems to be a Russian word. As close as I can tell it means “absence or without.” But this is very rudimentary. Jack also refers to dog as “Duvcha Khan,” “khan” meaning a prince or king in Persia or Turkey. (The Collector)
• 130.M. Starsky must have Huggy’s number memorized. Why does he need to have it written down on the money band? (The Action)
• 131.M. How did Stevie get to the sports arena? Spenser alludes to the mom being unaware Stevie is at the fights and Stevie has no ride home. (The Heavyweight)
• 132.M. Why, with two different actors, did they stick with the name “Dobey” after the Pilot? It would make more sense, and work well, to have their captain just be a different man with a different name. (Pilot, various)
• 133.N. Starsky and Hutch first see white Chevy at 1:20. They are in meeting with Dobey at 1:37. This makes for some fast footwork, as well as a short distance, from when they narrowly avoid hitting the truck with Milty and when they sit down with the Captain. Include in this seventeen minutes, Starsky and Hutch’s need to turn over their prisoner, Milty, and get up to Dobey’s office, the timing is even more amazing. (Savage Sunday)
• 134.M. Dobey tells Sarah and Henny they are free to leave; their lawyer paid their bail two hours ago. Why does Dobey keep them sitting there that long? (Savage Sunday)
• 135.M. Hutch mentions “trace of heroin in the blood analysis,” regarding either Huey Chaco or John Brown Harris. Where did they get the blood? Off of Emma Lou’s body? Neither Chaco nor Harris seems to have been injured. (Texas Longhorn)
• 136.M. Huey Chaco is released because he can’t be held for Murder One. Starsky says they should have held him, Dobey asks, “Hold him on what?” How about holding a woman at knifepoint and threatening to kill her? (Texas Longhorn)
• 137.M. How well does Starsky know Jeanie Walton? Starsky describes her as a pretty girl, knows where she lives, and can get into her home. Yet he didn’t know she had been working as a waitress in his favorite bar. (The Fix)
• 138.M. Why does Starsky fire only one bullet at Rodgers when they are fired upon on the street? Starsky’s gun either appears to have jammed, though he says nothing to Hutch. Either that, or he only had one bullet going into gunfight, which seems careless. He does something to it quick enough to cover Hutch as he runs across the street. (Snowstorm)
• 139.M. Why is Starsky’s gun in his back pants pocket, and not in his holster, as he fights Burke on the couch? (Snowstorm)
• 140.M. Why doesn’t Dobey give Starsky the message from Mickey over the Torino radio, instead of relying on Huggy? (The Fix)
• 141.M. Why doesn’t Starsky handcuff Forest right away when he puts him in the Torino? (The Fix)
• 142.M. How did Internal Affairs get involved with the missing kilo of cocaine? It is doubtful Stryker called them with a complaint. The guy Stryker bailed out wouldn’t know. Dobey gives Starsky and Hutch forty-eight hours, “What Stryker gave you,” so one knows Starsky and Hutch talked to Dobey about it. (Snowstorm)
• 143.N. Matt Coyle sends Starsky and Hutch to Schulz’s Bar to sneak on Johnny Lonigan. The bar’s address is 1326 Devon. Years later, Starsky and Hutch hear of a “211 in progress” over the police radio at the same address. (Iron Mike, Moonshine)
• 144.M. Is Starsky not wearing his gun? Or if he is, how does he expect to get it out from that zipped red sweatshirt? Or that blue zippered sweatshirt? (Captain Dobey, You’re Dead, The Deadly Imposter)
• 145.M. Why does Bettin come to Elaine’s murder site? There was no connection with Jojo at that point, and Bettin is a busy Fed. (Jojo)
• 146.N. Either a sign of the times, or a choice the writers made, but Starsky or Hutch dealing with reporters is kept at a complete minimum. One would think juggling the media would be a much bigger part of their job. (various)
• 147.M. Isn’t Dobey worried about slander on Sutton’s show when he accuses Woodfield, along with showing his photo, of murdering Douglas? (Captain Dobey, You’re Dead)
• 148.N. On the side of the laundry bin at Vinnie’s, the one Colby falls in, has “SDPO” on it. Perhaps this is a mail bin, borrowed from San Diego Post Office? (The Deadly Imposter)
• 149.N. The patient in the other bed at the Infirmary appears to be Starsky’s stunt double, perhaps the only guy that could take care of himself while locked in the room with a creepy rapist. (Strange Justice)
• 150.M. Why does Starsky ask, “Don’t tell me Accounting is into that again”? It would seem getting reimbursed for business expenses would be something Starsky and Hutch would expect. Either that, or they are used to submitting vague forms without proof to get their money back. (Hutchinson for Murder One)

Notes & Mysteries D

“Well, you dipped, and you sipped. We take cash, no lip.
And if you dig what is hip, you’ll cough up a big tip.”

(The Groupie)

• 151.N. Everyone should be more than a little worried when six gunshots are heard in the hotel when Starsky and Hutch empty Buddy’s gun and no one arrives to investigate. (Dandruff)
• 152.M Why does the fake business card for the plumbing service have only four numbers? To look like something from outside the building, it needed a prefix. (Running)
• 153.M. Why does Dolly’s daddy put up with Will as an employee? (Moonshine)
• 154.M. “Orange Whip.” “The delicious whipped drink…made with real orange flavor” is what Huggy and his business manager are enjoying when Starsky and Hutch stop to hassle him about his Pakistani hat. Is it a pre-courser or knockoff of the Orange Julius? (Strange Justice)
• 155.M. If Jimmy Shannon had no wallet, how was he identified so quickly? (Vendetta)
• 156.N. The poster in Sammy Reese’s office advertises a fight between “Kid McCook” and “Mike Mason.” It is a set prop, and it was used in the original Star Trek series in the episode “City on the Edge of Forever.” When Star Trek Enterprise did the fourth season episode, “Storm Front,” they used the same/similar poster, echoing that episode. The Starsky and Hutch set designers must have dug it up out of some shared prop pool. (The Golden Angel)
• 157.M. Do Starsky and Hutch have their guns on the Amapola? Hutch appears to have his trusty Python after the dune buggy desert chase. (Murder at Sea)
• 158.N. Starsky comments, “You don’t kill a couple of people to cover up some misdemeanor convictions.” True, but if that is all it was, it wouldn’t warrant sending in two undercover detectives either. (Murder at Sea)
• 159.M. Who is Artie Solkin’s boss? Solkin talks about making a score, he lives in a dump, and isn’t smart enough to be in charge of anything. Starsky and Hutch never seem to be curious about who he is working for. (Vendetta)
• 160.M. What does Abby do for a living that she can be at a park on a Wednesday in the middle of the day? (Vendetta)
• 161.M. Is that Helen Carnowski’s little two-door, green-blue sportscar parked in garage where Eckworth is attacked? It may also seen in the Torino’s windshield as a reflection by the old storefront Hutch goes to. (Murder at Sea, Vendetta, Bloodbath)
• 162.M. What is Gillian typing? (Gillian)
• 163.M. Why are they called pins? I don’t know, either, Nancy. (Gillian)
• 164.M. Curtains in place of bar doors is a real tradition or a cost-saving production thing? (Huggy Bear and the Turkey, The Velvet Jungle)
• 165.M. What’s the deal with the swastika on Huggy’s jean vest when he is outside Matt Coyle’s apartment? (Iron Mike)
• 166.M. Where are the other five cops, not including the security guard, while it was all going down on the floor? (Iron Mike)
• 167.M. Who was the plaid blouse for? (Iron Mike)
• 168.N. The “C” on the shield on Coyle’s car door is the same as the one on the side of his warehouse in “Coyle’s Provisions,” which is a nice touch. (Iron Mike)
• 169.N. Kira is not much of a cop if she can’t get away from an unarmed man with a dog. (Starsky vs. Hutch)
• 170.M. Can police come into your house to investigate a burglary when you are not home? Without permission? Marcie Fletcher seems to know you can’t. “Don’t you need a warrant to break down a door?” Starsky’s excuse was the door was unlocked. Was Marcie’s response to call her attorney a good one? And did Starsky and Hutch have the right to physically restrain her from calling him or her? (Photo Finish)
• 171.N. Nick’s leap onto Starsky’s bed echoes Starsky’s leap onto bed. (Starsky’s Brother, Foxy Lady)
• 172.N. Dolly’s barn looks to be the same barn Starsky and Hutch get trapped in by Ernie Bagley? (Moonshine, The Trap)
• 173.N. Schultz’s Bar, where Johnny Lonigan goes to rough up the owner of at 1326 Devon, and Nikki’s house of prostitution at 1328 should be right next to each other. (Iron Mike, Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)
• 174.M. Why does Starsky refer to Andrea Gutierrez as “our prisoner”? She hasn’t committed any crime. (The Velvet Jungle)
• 175.M. Why does Bates know Soldier has been dead at least two days, but hasn’t told Gunther? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 3)
• 176.M. All that blood? All those wounds? And none on Monique? (The Avenger)
• 177.M. Two murders in three nights on her bed and Monique still goes back to stay there? Not only is this pretty weird, but her apartment would also be a crime scene to which she wasn’t allowed back in for a while. (The Avenger)
• 178.M. If Nick is such a good pool player, why did he lose the first game? Or is that part of the hustle? (Starsky’s Brother)
• 179.N. Starsky must be in touch enough with Nick to know he is “another Will Mosconi.” (Starsky’s Brother)
• 180.M. The number of cops with glasses is very small. Are they wearing contacts? Is excellent eyesight a requirement? Are glasses discouraged/banned? Is there something in the water of Bay City that gives them all fantastic vision? One cop with eyeglasses is the uniform at the Carmelle’s printing. One Federal Agent with glasses is Agent Carter. (Starsky’s Brother, The Bait)
• 181.M. Meredith asks Starsky, “What are you so salty about?” What does this mean? (Black and Blue)
• 182.M. Starsky tells Dobey “8427” seen on letter Monique finds is “the last half of a zip code” in skid row. It isn’t really “half” if it is only missing one number. Current viewers could assume he did mean half of the ZIP+4 codes we use today, but those didn’t come into use until 1983. This assumes, knowing California ZIP codes all start with a “9,” the ZIP is 98427. This, however, make it a place in Washington State. Strangely, there are no ZIP codes that start with 984, even in Washington as ZIP code structure skips from 983 to 985. (The Avenger)
• 183.M. What do the letters “CII” stand for? It is the place Starsky gets fingerprints. Central Identification Information? Something else? Fictional? (The Avenger)
• 184.N. The mayor’s speech when returning Starsky and Hutch’s badges seems like it should end with, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” (Targets Without a Badge: Part 3)
• 185.N. The green and white dirt bike Starsky rides to cover Hutch and the one Hutch rides to find Starsky appear to be the same bike. (The Psychic, Moonshine)
• 186.N. Partners are supposed to know where each other are at all times. This makes Hutch’s disappearance with Marianne worrisome, Starsky’s with Rosey understandable, Hutch’s with Jeanne mysterious, and Hutch not knowing Starsky’s going to the dentist and being late puzzling. (Ballad for a Blue Lady, I Love You, Rosey Malone, The Fix, Cover Girl)
• 187. What does Starsky reach up and grab on the door frame to his bedroom while talking to Nick? (Starsky’s Brother)
• 188.N. One preview of eighties fashion: female executive’s fetching white cowl-necked shirt. (Sweet Revenge)
• 189.N. The intensive care nurse that gets defibrillator prepared has really long, red fingernails, a real nurse no-no. (Sweet Revenge)
• 190.M. Why is Jenny Brown so calm as a man kicks down her door and advances upon her in her condo? (Sweet Revenge)
• 191.M. Why is Jenny Brown bailed out of jail, but the guy Hutch caught in garage knifed? (Sweet Revenge)
• 192.N. A math moment: if the elevator’s maximum weight load is 2500 pounds and 16 is the number of people allowed on board, does this mean the average weight of folks in 1978 is 156 pounds? (Sweet Revenge)
• 193.N. Condo and condominiums are mentioned for the first time in season four. (The Avenger, Sweet Revenge)
• 194.N. For all the time it took for Hutch to tell Nancy who to call and what to say, he should have just done it himself. (Targets Without a Badge: Part 3)
• 195.N. Starsky doesn’t wear his trademark Adidas. (Targets Without a Badge: Part 3, Death Ride, Pilot, The Bait, Tap Dancing Her Way Right Back Into Your Heart, Moonshine, Huggy Can’t Go Home)
• 196.N. Cringe-o-Meter is high when Huggy sets his glass of orange juice down on pool table’s felt, a pool table no-no. (Targets Without a Badge: Part 3)
• 197.M. Dobey, splendid in a three-piece suit, arrives at his office complaining of having to get out of bed in the middle of the night. Why did he put a suit on? Or better yet, just call Starsky and Hutch with the Sierra Springs information? (Murder on Stage 17)
• 198.N. Curious what “Turquet” translates as? It isn’t “turkey” in French, as that is “dindon” (sounding much like ding-dong to this compendum-er). But after that, it appears to simply be a French last name. (Huggy Bear and the Turkey)
• 199.M. Hutch looks at his wristwatch then asks Marianne the time. Is his because his watch was broken in fight? Or is his vision blurry? Or is he trying to engage her to stay longer? (Ballad for a Blue Lady)
• 200.M. Why are people going to the Main Event at the wrestling match going into door marked “Studio 5”? (The Golden Angel)

Notes & Mysteries E

“When I get down to the nitty-gritty, down to what
love is, I’m really old-fashioned about that.”

(Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 201.M. For all their proximity to the beach, why is it the only time one sees Starsky and Hutch on a beach, walking/brooding/sitting, is one of the last episodes of season four? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 1)
• 202.N. There is not a single mention of police dogs in the series. (various)
• 203.M. Hutch asks ”Greta Wren”/Dora Pruitt’s landlady, “Ya got a permit for that cannon, Lady?” the rifle with which she threatens Starsky and Hutch. She says she doesn’t, but also can’t get ammo for it. Is the lack of ammunition a moot point, in terms of a permit? (Photo Finish)
• 204.M. Marcie rails, “What are you doing here…don’t you need a warrant to break down a door?” when she finds Starsky and Hutch in her apartment. “Greta Wren”/Dora Pruitt may have wrecked up Marcie’s lab, but who called the cops? (Photo Finish)
• 205.M. Wouldn’t Starsky and Hutch be suspended with pay, pending investigation of every shooting they were involved in? (various)
• 206.N. Voice over hospital’s PA appears to be the same as police dispatch. (Blindfold, possibly others)
• 207.M. Why does Doris wonder if Luke is home, calls out for him, when it is clear his car isn’t in the driveway? (Birds of a Feather)
• 208.M. Someone offers Lionel money to bribe Starsky and Hutch. He doesn’t say yes right away, but goes to the cops and offers to help them. He hasn’t done anything wrong, so why does Hutch say the best he can get is a suspended sentence? Does it have something to do with Huggy telling Starsky and Hutch Lionel has something he wants to work off? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 1)
• 209.M. What does the phrase “passion of a woman or a man and his friend” mean? Hutch says it to Allison at the coffee shop when she asks him if he were offered the job. (Targets Without a Badge: Part 2)
• 210.M. Where is Vanessa’s luggage? (Hutchinson for Murder One)
• 211.M. How did Lisa know Hutch’s address? (Foxy Lady)
• 212.M. What was Professor Gage’s original crime, the one Jack and Allen were blackmailing him for? (Class in Crime)
• 213.M. Why does Gage leave the rifle on the scene? (Class in Crime)
• 214.M. If Prudholm “doesn’t even care about the money” and is robbing stores to “rip up” Starsky and Hutch’s beat and mess with Starsky, why does he rob the grocery warehouse after Terry dies? Dobey tells Starsky and Hutch “we got lucky” and the silent alarm worked, so it wasn’t that Prudholm wanted to get caught. If he wanted to confront Starsky, he had a hundred other easier ways to do it. (Starsky’s Lady)
• 215.M. Who the heck is answering the Lion’s Front desk at midnight? (Starsky’s Lady)
• 216.M. Lizzie is missing, yet her husband hasn’t reported her as such, and locating her car at Fever’s garage would have been the first place to start the hunt, but Starsky and Hutch don’t. (Discomania)
• 217.M. Seeing how the Torino has probably never seen snow, how does Starsky recognize a snow tire so quickly? (Texas Longhorn)
• 218.N. Starsky certainly memorizes Rosey Malone’s home number quickly; he dials it from memory from bed shortly after meeting her. (I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 219.M. Where is Hutch’s gun? Starsky has his on. Hutch dresses in the locker room but is gun-less. (The Specialist)
• 220.M. Why does it apparently take at least four hours for Dobey and Cole to discover Officer Hagen’s kidnapping? (The Specialist)
• 221.M. Who is Fat Rolly calling when he dials those four numbers? Henderson works at City Hall South, not Metro. (Pilot)
• 222.M. What does Hutch mean when he tells a tipsy and singing Starsky, “She must have been an owl”? (Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)
• 223.M. Is one reason Starsky is so enamored by Minnie is that she has the same hair as he does? (various)
• 224.M. Joey never gets a chance to tell Starsky and Dobey where Hutch is and drives away, yet Starsky arrives mysteriously at the warehouse. (Ninety Pounds of Trouble)
• 225.N. Tallman’s blond steam room attendant comments on Hutch’s lack of a badge, “Couldn’t tell Honey. You ain’t wearing a badge,” in precisely the same way Blaze’s actress says to Blaze, “Honey, you’re not photographing my teeth.” (Pilot, Targets Without a Badge: Part 2)
• 226.M. Patricia Talbert is identified through her fingerprints. Did she have a criminal record? (Pilot)
• 227.M. Starsky and Hutch don’t have a “safe word” or another sort of signal used in dire situations to alert each other to danger? One that Starsky could have deployed with Hutch to make him stop playing the game? (The Game)
• 228.N. The viewer never sees the squad room. (Pilot)
• 229.N. Hutch pretty much stops rubbing his face, head, and chest in season four. He substitutes these actions with rubbing his mustache. (various)
• 230.M. Does Starsky get a little scare when Anita is trying to remember Ernie Silvers’ name and comes up with Solkin? (The Game, Vendetta)
• 231.M. What is Starsky putting in his mouth while Hutch is asking about Jimmy’s mother in Cleveland? (Vendetta)
• 232.M. If Starsky, Hutch, and Cheryl can’t contact Danner on their own, then how do they deliver the message about the stamp to him? They would need his address or phone number. And if they got somebody, say Connie, to deliver a message, then they would still need Danner’s address to go to his house. He hangs up on Cheryl before he gives it to her. (The Bait)
• 233.M. Hutch tells Starsky, “I didn’t hesitate about my own neurosis when I pushed you out of the way of that truck.” Just what is Hutch’s neurosis? Getting hit by a truck? Being pushy? (Terror on the Docks)
• 234.M. John Colby tells Huggy, “You know, I was the first one ever to call them that.” Is he referring to “Starsky and Hutch” or “Husky and Starch”? (The Deadly Imposter)
• 235.M. Those sneaky villagers on Voodoo Island. One has set his or her produce scale for five pounds overweight, charging the tourists extra. It looks like it is set five pounds under, but the scale goes counterclockwise. (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 236.M. After Healey drones on, “His (Thorne) mansion overlooks the Island Hotel, which he also owns,” Starsky slyly says to Hutch. “Sounds kind of familiar. Ha. Ha.” He looks at Hutch as if Hutch knows just what he is talking about. What are they referring to? (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 237.M. Why, with all the security for Thorne’s estate, does an unguarded road run up along the back of it exist? (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 238.N. Starsky and Hutch describe Papa Theodore with the words “fakir” and “bokor.” The word “bokor” is correct, as it refers to a houngan (a male Vodun priest) who practices black magic. The word “fakir” is a Muslim or Hindu ascetic or mendicant monk, commonly considered a wonder worker. In any case, since “Voodoo” is a Hollywood invention based on the Western African religion of Vodun, the whole point is a little moot. One thing this episode does get right is Minnie as a “griot,” a storyteller. The jury remains out on her “lucky charms,” “hexes” and “love potions.” The viewer already knows the protection amulet didn’t work that great. (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 239.N. What an odd place Voodoo Island is. The signs are in Spanish, the Inspector speaks French and has an English accent, and the flavor and accents of everyone else is some Calypso thing. (Starsky and Hutch on Voodoo Island)
• 240.M. How does Hutch know it is Diana who stabbed him? He never saw her, yet that is the name he calls out in his dark apartment. (Fatal Charm)
• 241.N. The time on the watch Diana buys is 10:05. This may be the correct time, putting Diana at the store right when it opened. Or it may not be the correct time, as one sees her setting it for 5:55 before she sets it down on Hutch’s plate. (Fatal Charm)
• 242.N. Cabrillo has loose security. Patients wander the halls at all hours, wander the parking lots, make fake phone calls to staff, enter unlocked offices and apparently do as they please. The folks running around on the yard with capes is a nice touch though. (Murder Ward)
• 243.N. Technically there is no such thing as a “First Annual.” One has to get to the second one to be an official annual. But Starsky can be forgiven for his “First Annual Cabrillo Cockroach Derby,” due to the good nature and societal descriptive customs. (Murder Ward)
• 244.N. Starsky appears to have an old tree stump as his model ship table. (Fatal Charm)
• 245.M. Who killed Switek? And who attacked Jane? It wasn’t Deek on Matwick’s orders, as he wasn’t on board until the day of Starsky’s surgery. (Murder Ward)
• 246.M. How does Freddie know it was Jane that dropped off the papers in his room? He never saw her. (Murder Ward)
• 247.M. What is that burning can those bookies have? Emil has one and so does Ray Shelby. (The Deadly Imposter, I Love You, Rosey Malone)
• 248.M. Leo never touches Hutch’s hands, so how does he know they’re rough? (Dandruff)
• 249.M. Hutch asks Dr. Franklin, “What about the twenty-four hours? Does it still hold?” When has Hutch had the opportunity get this bit of information? (A Coffin for Starsky)
• 250.M. Why doesn’t Hutch drag the professor back to the lab with him? It would seem he would be of some help in diagnosing the antidote. (A Coffin for Starsky)

Notes & Mysteries F

“Starsky’s going to die, Hug. Starsky’s going to die,
and there ain’t nothing anybody can do about it.”

(Sweet Revenge)

• 251.M. How does Sharman Crane get into her room without the key she dropped at Frieta’s? (Running)
• 252.M. Why does Starsky park the Torino at his apartment so it blocks three garages? (A Coffin for Starsky, Running)
• 253.M. Why does Starsky tell Sharman he knows her real name, “not the name you checked into this dump with?” He and Hutch don’t know that name either, as they didn’t stop at the desk. (Running)
• 254.M. Dobey comments, “The bracelet was part of the stuff she (Sharman) had with her when she turned up missing.” How does one determine a missing person’s jewelry? (Running)
• 255.M. When Bo Rile calls Lola at the bail bonds office, he dials three numbers, 1, 8, 7. It isn’t any part of the bail bond office’s number, which is HO4 9201. And what’s with the three-number thing? (The Bounty Hunter)
• 256.M. Does Hutch hot wire the old orange truck at the construction yard? Did Starsky hot-wire the vehicle at the junkyard? Or were the keys in it? (The Bounty Hunter, Texas Longhorn)
• 257.N. The first thing Starsky and Hutch must notice, when they come into see Orrin Lawford’s body, is the intense smell of burning custard. (Death in a Different Place)
• 258.N. Guy Mayer’s classroom is full of a bunch of pretty slow third graders; the same lesson is on the board every time Starsky and Hutch are there. (The Crying Child)
• 259.M. What does the IA stand for on Guy Mayer’s baseball cap stand for? (The Crying Child)
• 260.M. How does Hunter know Corday killed Orrin Lawford? (Death in a Different Place)
• 261.M. Was there $5000 in the envelope Thomas Callendar gives to his rooftop contact? Or was it just plain paper? Callendar doesn’t stoop to take the money back when he leaves. (The Plague)
• 262.M. Starsky and Hutch are observed in quarantine for seventy-two hours and released due to lack of evidence of the plague in their blood. Later, Dr. Meredith says the plague shows up in one’s blood within 72 hours or it doesn’t show at all. So what the heck happened to the diagnosis with Hutch? (The Plague)
• 263.M. So why is the Thermos in the Torino’s trunk as Starsky and Hutch watch Roper? (The Plague)
• 264.M. What is the back-story to Starsky mentioning to Hutch twice the Torino is “his car,” not Hutch’s? With the airport tow, he tells Hutch, “Do you mind? It is my car.” Later, as they watch Roper, Hutch tosses his empty cup into the backseat and Starsky chides him with “This does happen to be my car.” (The Plague)
• 265.M. Dr. Meredith tells Dr. Kaufman he suspected the plague was a virus, “when the antibiotics didn’t work on the new cases.” Did they work on the old ones? (The Plague)
• 266.M. So what is the name of the hospital Drs. Kaufman and Meredith work out of and Hutch is at? Starsky calls it Lincoln Hospital over the phone when asking to speak to Dr. Kaufman. Starsky and Hutch tell Lieutenant Anderson to head over to City Hospital and ask for Dr. Kaufman. And the physical site of the hospital is Memorial. (The Plague)
• 267.M. Why doesn’t Gramps ask Lionel about the sound of the broken beer mug? Gramps has already been shown to be very observant, yet there are all sorts of things he seems to miss. (Quadromania)
• 268.N. Gotta love the fact that the actor that portrays Big Benny is Little Angie. (The Plague)
• 269.M. Knowing the first phone call will come at the Auto Park at 4:00, why do Starsky and Hutch make a made dash for it? Why not just wait there, saving their breath? (The Psychic)
• 270.M. What tips Moo-Moo and Earl the cops are involved, causing them to change the plans? (The Psychic)
• 271.M. Hutch threatens to arrest Joe Haymes “if he tries anything,” and gets in the way of the money drop. On what charge? (The Psychic)
• 272.N. Claire Dodsman has sex with Carl Starger after a “long, boring lunch.” She is heard on the recording asking Starger to dim the lights, as she is insecure regarding her body. She must be really insecure, as it would be the middle of the day when she asks him to keep the lights on. (Tap Dancing Her Way Right Back Into Your Heart)
• 273.M. Why does Chambers have Marianne’s hotel phone number memorized? He dials it without reference or hesitation. (Tap Dancing Her Way Right Back Into Your Heart)
• 274.M. What does “L.A.M.T.A. employees only” referring to? It is seen as Starsky and Hutch go into the alley behind Gung Ho’s. (Iron Mike)
• 275.M. If Starsky and Hutch are within their beat, how come Uncle Elmo’s Toy Shop being closed is such a big surprise to both Starsky and Hutch? And why aren’t they familiar with Uncle Elmo’s adult bookstore, if nothing else for professional reasons? By default, is Starsky’s knowledge of the short cut to the laundry due to childhood memory or adult professional knowledge? (The Crying Child, Nightmare)
• 276.M. Don Widdicombe’s record says he was arrested for armed robbery on 6.2.76. Yet he is out of prison and has committed a second armed robbery on 5.28.78, less than two years later. If the viewer takes two clues about the date Starsky accidentally shoots Emily, the airing of the episode on 9.26.78, combined with the falling of leaves off the tree in the park, then Don Widdicombe is out of prison after a second arrest and committing a third crime four months later. (Blindfold)
• 277.M. Hutch introduces himself on the phone to Matt Coyle as Detective Hutchinson. Two sentences later, Coyle calls him Sergeant. Is this a continuity error, or does Matt Coyle know more about Starsky and Hutch than he lets on? (Iron Mike)
• 278.M. Is Laura Lonigan wearing Hutch’s orange bath towel? (Iron Mike, Fatal Charm)
• 279.M. Just what is Hutch bitching to Starsky about as they make Lucky Lester open the trunk of the blue Mercury? (Iron Mike)
• 280.M. Why is the van abandoned? Dobey thinks it is by accident. Hutch seems to doubt it. In any case, it is a forensic bonanza. (Bloodbath)
• 281.M. Thomas May uses the Flower Power woman as a drop. He does it in front of Washington Square Towers. She gets into her van and drives to? Washington Square Towers. Just a diversion for any tails? Or something else? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 2)
• 282.N. Jack Cunningham’s take of the Carroll collection was ten percent of $461. Taking out the cost of the bathroom bomb, Jack didn’t make much on that deal. (The Collector)
• 283.N. The buses in the lot say RFD but the driver’s hat says MTL. (Nightmare)
• 284.M. Garras’ apartment has a maid? That is who discovers the body. (The Collector)
• 285.N. Annie Oates appears to live near Hutch’s old canal neighborhood; Cunningham is seen driving through it. (The Collector)
• 286.M. Why is Starsky putting hot water into his cup in Dobey’s office? (The Heavyweight)
• 287.M. Dobey says Willits has no convictions, yet he is listed as an accomplice on Billing’s arrest record. (The Committee)
• 288.N. Ginger’s address is 902 Merrivale. This compendium-er lived on 713 Merrivale while in high school. Come to think of it, she remembers Ginger’s house; it had lots of men coming and going out of it at all hours of the night. It is doubtful it had anything to do Ginger’s maternal instincts. (The Committee)
• 289.M. Ginger was arrested, Hutch remembers, four years ago. According to her police record, she was also arrested about a year ago. Did Fargo get her off of that charge as well. (The Committee)
• 290.M. Why doesn’t Starsky stop the nurse from giving Hutch a “morphine derivative” painkiller? He is plainly aware of its connection to heroin, even telling the nurse the story of Hutch’s forced addiction. Yet he doesn’t seem alarmed regarding the pill she is giving Hutch. (Partners)
• 291.M. Why does Lionel rob his victims as well? Does he need the money? Or is it to confuse the authorities? (Quadromania)
• 292.M. What is with the timing of Jack’s murder? Allen was supposed to meet Jack at 2:30, according to the date book. The timing of this meet is either changed to 2:00, according to the recording between them, or the other way around. In any case, it is unclear whether Jack expected Allen at 2:00 or 2:30. Michelle goes to his door at second commercial break. In an hour-long show in the seventies, this would most likely be around 2:20, perhaps a little later. Starsky and Hutch pass Michelle on the way out of the apartment at 2:20; Hutch asks Starsky the time. Michelle was in Jacks apartment for “forty-nine of the most exquisite seconds of her life,” as well as the amount of time to light and smoke a portion of the cigarette Hutch finds. The timing is too tight, if not impossible. (Class in Crime)
• 293.M. Are bracelets with one’s first name engraved on them a 1970’s thing? Or a handy plot device for coroners and police detectives? Two of these bracelets turn up in Bay City; one says Sharon, the other says Madelaine. (Discomania, Deckwatch)
• 294.M. Assuming the old checker cabs aren’t taken out of circulation after a murder occurs in them, then when does Lionel know when to quit murdering people? He doesn’t pay attention to who is in them, or he wouldn’t have gone after Starsky. (Quadromania)
• 295.N. The Rookies episode Jack is watching, “Blue Christmas,” which originally aired in December of 1974. (Class in Crime)
• 296.M. How do Gage and Michelle know Allen will show up and stand in exactly the right place to be shot? (Class in Crime)
• 297.N. Allen Richard’s wall switch also turns on the table lamp in the living room. (Class in Crime)
• 298.N. It appears to be “Professor Gage’s” handwriting on the blackboard in his classroom. It is the same backhanded, left-handed slant seen when he writes the note about Smiling Johnny’s pick-up at Schultz’s bar when the actor plays Matt Coyle. (Class in Crime, Iron Mike)
• 299.N. Hutch puts mayonnaise rather than mustard on his deli at the Bristol place. He puts mustard on his deli in Dobey’s office. (The Collector, Class in Crime)
• 300.M. What gives with classes at Jameson College ending with a very juvenile school bell? (Class in Crime)

Notes & Mysteries G

“Frankly, I don’t give a damn what happens to you,
but I do care about what happens to your brother.”

(Starsky’s Brother)

• 301.M. Hutch arrives at the beach and Gage tells him he has the blackmail payment. How does Gage know how much money Hutch was asking for? They never discuss it. (Class in Crime)
• 302.M. What is Starsky imitating when he looks at his watch and says in an affected voice, “The time and tone is bip bip, bip bip, bip bip, bip bip”? (The Trap)
• 303.M. The Torino has protected Starsky and Hutch in gunfights before; they have driven it through many a hail of bullets. Why do they abandon it for the barn, which is before they know the radio isn’t working? The distance from the Torino’s door to the barn door is such it would be worth a dash to it as a form of escape, certainly more sensible than their run for the woods when Starsky is shot. And then why not drive the tractor to it in the end, rather than out to the middle of the yard? Bagley, Trayman, or Delano are never shown disabling the Torino, which would have made the second two options moot. (The Trap)
• 304.M. How are Starsky and Hutch reimbursed for their on-the-street expenses? Starsky tells Dobey the “Bucket ’O Blood” doesn’t accept credit cards,” which is why the expense is scrawled on a cocktail napkin. So it appears a credit card can be used as a voucher. How do they get reimbursed for money paid out to snitches? (Hutchinson For Murder One)
• 305.M. It is dark outside. Starsky is apparently coming to work, complete with a guinea pig. Hutch has been working on receipts for a while. Within minutes, Hutch is leaving to meet Vanessa. Are Starsky and Hutch working separate shifts? Is Starsky covering for Hutch as he goes to meet Vanessa? (Hutchinson for Murder One
• 306.M. Is Hutch’s clutch of woman’s butt in Fever, behind Judith, accidental or not? (Discomania)
• 307.M. Just how far is the Ivers’ still from Bay City? Clues: It is clearly out in the country. Hutch calls it the “northwest quadrant of the county.” Starsky and Hutch don’t appear to stay overnight there. Starsky mentions being back for the dance contest that night. Dolly refers to Starsky as “a local cop.” The stores in town claim the town’s name as Newhall, which is north of Bay City and about 31 miles from 5th St. and Wall St.—the heart of Starsky and Hutch’s beat. Another question: just how far is the Ivers’ barn and still from Newhall? Dolly complains, “I didn’t drive all the way down to that hot and smoggy city just for my health.” (Moonshine)
• 308.M. Dobey tells Hutch their cover better be better than dead Agent Kendall’s. Just what was Kendall’s cover? (Moonshine)
• 309.M. Are barns in California this wimpy? The distance between the slats is big enough for a small cat to wander through, no insulation of any sort, all one room with a dirt floor, that odd shape? Or is this a Hollywood set version of a barn? (The Trap, Moonshine)
• 310.M. Killing a Federal Agent in an illegal liquor operation would require more than the attention of two Bay City cops. There would be an outpouring of Feds all over this case. (Moonshine)
• 311.M. Starsky puts his hand in Molly / Pete’s glove. She doesn’t seem very alarmed. Are the diamonds in there at that point? Did she put the diamonds there? Did Nick ask her to keep them? If she knows they are there, how aware of their origin is she? (Little Girl Lost)
• 312.N. Hutch, as the referee, yells to the officials, “Expension, expension,” which is an unknown word. (The Golden Angel)
• 313.M. Harry, who supposedly knows Marianne better than anyone, pronounces her name as “Marion.” Everyone else pronounces it “Mary-Ann.” Is there significance in this difference in pronunciation. (Ballad For Blue Lady)
• 314.M. Luke Huntley blackmails Anthony Reuben with a tape recording that not only implicates Reuben, but also just as strongly implicates Luke himself. How was Luke going to explain his voice on the tape? (Birds of a Feather)
• 315.M. Why does Dobey slide out of the passenger door after Hutch when they arrive at Allied? It isn’t because the door is broken, as he gets out the driver’s side at Trains. (Black and Blue)
• 316.M. Hutch is shot in the early morning. Starsky and Mrs. Greene are still waiting for word on his surgery after it is dark. The time on Starsky’s watch appears to read 11:00 pm. Does Hutch’s surgery really take that long? And why is Mrs. Greene waiting for what appears to be well over twelve hours to talk to her doctor? “Mrs. Greene,” the doctor said, “We’re ready for you now.” Indeed. (Black and Blue)
• 317.M. Hutch is staying at Kira’s house, “guarding” her. Starsky is supposed to be guarding Susan. So what is he doing at the station talking to Minnie? (Starsky vs. Hutch)
• 318.M. What is Arlene doing with a shopping cart? Doesn’t she know “it’s illegal to take one of those things outside of a market”? (The Bait, Starsky vs. Hutch)
• 319.M. It is unclear how Soldier tailed Hutch to the grocery store, as he appears to come down a different road than Hutch does. (Targets Without a Badge: Part 1)
• 320.N. Vice Captain Joe Naar is in office # 514 and across the hall from Dobey. Joseph Naar is one of the show’s producers. (The Hostages)
• 321.M. Linda Mascelli says she started walking on the beach at 7:30 and walked for a couple of hours. But Jojo’s body is found when it is nighttime, Bettin says he has been dead on hour. (Jojo)
• 322.N. Hutch’s mention of Zulu time is the Navy definition of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). (Murder at Sea)
• 323M. If timing is such an issue in Cheryl’s arrest/release and then with the drop on Connie, why are they taking her out to an elongated lobster lunch? She’s already two hours behind by the time they sit down. (The Bait)
• 324.M. So who ends up with the $50,000? (Kill Huggy Bear)
• 325.M. Why does Hutch consider Mickey “Starsky’s fink”? (The Fix)
• 326.N. Mary Polanski and Amy share the same horoscope. (The Hostages)
• 327.M. Why are Henny and Sarah Wilson, two apparently healthy, active people living at the old folks’ home? (Savage Sunday)
• 328.M. Who is portrayed in the photo in Dobey’s office? It sits behind him on his desk and shows a man in a graduation hat and robe. It doesn’t look like Dobey. (Savage Sunday)
• 329.M. Why does Allison refer to Lionel Rigger as a “boy”? (Targets Without a Badge: Part 2)
• 330.M. Why is Hutch sitting on the ground at the wedding rehearsal while Starsky sits in a pew? (Terror on the Docks)
• 331.N. It is mentioned in the Haymes estate that the FBI won’t get involved in Joanna’s kidnapping because “it hasn’t been 24 hours yet.” This is absurd: The 24-hour rule applies to missing persons whose whereabouts are unknown, and where there is not clear evidence of danger to that person. In this case, the ransom message from the kidnappers has already been delivered and they know she is in danger. The FBI would most certainly get involved immediately.
• 332.N. The fact that Mrs. Carpel has an ex-husband named ‘John Colby’ that has a very specifically-known Vietnam service history, and Starsky & Hutch also have a friend named ‘John Colby’ with the same Vietnam service history is preposterous and highly unlikely, considering that they are not the same man.