BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS M

• 601. Hutch points out to Basil Monk, and Starsky, that Monk has purchased a lot of Braddocks. Shortly afterward, Monk comments about how an artist’s death increases the value of his work. Is this the motive behind Braddock’s murder? Or was Braddock killed out of Monk’s jealousy regarding Braddock’s attentions to his wife? (Photo Finish)

• 602. When Starsky tells Dobey and Hutch, “Any clown could have put on a black jacket and gotten into that party,” is he unaware of how easily he is setting himself for Hutch’s joking rejoinder, “Well, it worked for you, didn’t it?” Or is he aware of his self-set-up, and providing Hutch with a little fun? If the latter is the case, does Hutch provide Starsky with as many opportunities to do the same for him? On purpose? (Photo Finish)

• 603. Everyone’s full of little digs. Basil Monk comments Starsky and Hutch are more gamey than they were at his party. “Greta Wren”/Dora Pruitt comments on Starsky and Hutch’s regular clothes, saying she thought at the party that they were a couple of “society swells.” Starsky arrests “Greta Wren”/Dora Pruitt and comments to her, “Lost a little weight, Dora.” (Photo Finish)

• 604. Taking the corners: Starsky tells Hutch Catlin the Weirdness’ expensive car “can’t take the corners like the Torino can.” Phil tells Monique his souped up car “takes the corners like a dream.” In a contest, whose car can take the corners better? And are either of them a contest for Hutch’s car, Belle? Or is Belle more suited to Starsky’s idea of a pier with no corners at all? (Class in Crime, Avenger, Targets Without a Badge 2, Tap Dancing)

• 605. Investigate the 1975 Warren Beatty movie, “Shampoo” as a counterpoint to “Dandruff,” only flakier. (Dandruff)

• 606. Nick mentions to Starsky at airport after flirting with Marlene, “Two years and you’re still trying.” Starsky responds, “Trying what?” Trying what indeed? Starsky hasn’t seen Nick for four years. What happened two years ago that Nick and Starsky remember? (Starsky’s Brother)

• 607. Nick and Starsky haven’t seen each other in four years. A season earlier, Hutch mentions Starsky being on the East Coast a “few years” ago. This must be the same trip, as the times match (Starsky’s Brother, Velvet Jungle)

• 608. 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? How aware of their origin is she? (Little Girl Lost)

• 609. Nick admits to selling weed to Hutch, and then to Starsky, separately. Starsky is angry, it seems, not because Nick is pushing “a couple of kilos of weed,” but because the “harm is you lied to me…and I don’t know what else you might be turning.” What could be some similarities and some differences in Hutch’s knowledge regarding Nick’s dealing? (Starsky’s Brother)

• 610. What a dope? And a dope-selling one at that. Nick, when confronted by Starsky about his pushing dope asks him, “Are you working for the Abolitionists or what?” Abolitionism was all about slavery. Thank goodness, Starsky didn’t correct him with what Nick was probably thinking: Prohibition, as that was about alcohol, not pot. Compare Nick’s faulty knowledge to Fat Rolly and Zane’s conversation, “Thy hand, great Anarch, lets the curtain fall and universal darkness buries all.” Voltaire 1744, says Zane. Fat Rolly says nervously, “I knew that.” Actually, they are both wrong. It is from Alexander Pope’s “Dunciad.” (Starsky’s Brother, Pilot)

• 611. Lots of characters mention Nick is Starsky’s little brother. Speculate the dynamics of Nick and Starsky’s relationship if it were Starsky who was the younger brother. (Starsky’s Brother)

• 612. Agent Weldon says pointedly to Starsky, “Maybe there ought to be a law about people like us having families.” Is he referring to Agent Bronson’s lack of children? Starsky’s pesky brother? Or is he possibly thinking of his own children? (Starsky’s Brother)

• 613. Hutch tells Starsky, after they leave the Velvet Slide the first time, Nick is doing stuff back on the East Coast “he probably wouldn’t want you to know.” But Hutch says right afterwards, “What is he trying so hard to make you find out?” Are these contradictory statements/questions? Or not? (Starsky’s Brother)

• 614. Going with the idea that Stella, of the Women’s Guild Thrift Shop, looks like she could be Cheryl / Helen / K.C. McBride’s mother, speculate on three scenarios of how each of these three women left her dear old mom on Main Street to make their way in the world. (Bait, Murder At Sea, Quadromania, Golden Angel)

• 615. Hutch has paid an “arm and a leg” for his Buddy Holly album. He then pays an “arm and a leg” for his greenhouse home improvement loan. Imagine Hutch in a wheelchair, poking and fiddling with his plants using a stick in his mouth. Imagine his quiet hours at home puttering about, waiting for Starsky to come visit and tell him about the latest from the station. What Buddy Holly song would best accompany this tableau? (Game, Ballad For a Blue Lady)

• 616. The phrase “family man” is used to describe a married man with children. What is Marianne telling Harry, her brother, when she calls him a real “family man”? (Ballad For a Blue Lady)

• 617. Monk says Mickey’s mother can be sold for ten bucks by Mickey. Some people Huggy knows will sell their mothers for fifty dollars a piece. What makes for the difference in price for these different mothers? (Fix, Ballad For a Blue Lady)

• 618. Gertrude and Mrs. Krupp, two middle-aged, heavy women arrested on the charges of voyeurism and assault, respectively. Both plead innocent by way of accident; Gertrude says she wasn’t watching the man undressing in his house on purpose, “He was in my line of vision.” Mrs. Krupp claims Mr. Krupp wouldn’t have gotten hurt if not for the fact he head got in the way of her baseball bat. Both cases are played for laughs. What are some other instances of cases taken lighter than they would be today? And, are there any examples of crimes taken more seriously then than they are today? (Birds of a Feather, Starsky’s Brother)

•619. Luke Huntley tells Starsky and Hutch, “Cops are on the street more than he’s in the bedroom…I didn’t even give her (Doris) a kid… I love her like my right hand.” Hope Luke’s partner is a heavy sleeper, as it sounds like Luke is describing a love affair with his right hand. (Birds of a Feather)

• 620. It seems odd that Doris, a cop’s wife for twenty-five years, would address Starsky as “Mr. Starsky,” after he is introduced as Hutch’s partner. Rank appears to be pretty important to cops, and she would know it. Is Doris making a faux pas when she addresses Starsky as a civilian? Examples of title corrections: Dobey corrects the nurse in when he is visiting Starsky and Hutch at the hospital, telling her to address him by his rank. Hutch corrects Mary at Allied when she calls him “Mister,” telling her it’s “Officer.” Are Starsky and Hutch as sensitive to their title as Dobey is to his? (Birds of a Feather, Partners)

• 621. Juxtapose Doris and her gambling activities with Dobey, Huggy, Starsky and Hutch gambling over pool at Huggy’s. (Birds of a Feather)

• 622. Doris tells Hutch, “I’ve been a cop’s wife long enough to have learned not to ask any questions.” Apparently Luke is of the same school, though asking more questions of Doris over the past ten years might have averted the situation. Luke should start with, “Doris honey, where are your wedding rings?” (Birds of a Feather)

• 623. Hutch, along with Starsky, promises Mike Ferguson the black book will remain a secret from Dobey. Hutch also promises Luke Huntley he will meet him alone with Reuben. In both instances, Hutch breaks his promise. Comment. (Birds of a Feather, Iron Mike)

• 624. Dobey gets pressure to “hire more minorities,” to “hire more women,” to “allow gays on the force,” and to build up a better public relations message. How are all of these things connected? Or not? And which one will be the easiest to accomplish? (Black and Blue, Death in a Different Place, Heroes)

• 625. Two people comment they are glad their spouse is dead so that he or she wouldn’t have to suffer embarrassment or pain regarding his or her daughter. Mrs. Blake tells Nancy when Billy is late to the church, “I’m glad your dad didn’t live to see this day.” Dan Slate tells Leslie, “I wish you mother were here…What the hell would I want her here for? She suffered enough, huh?” Are there any characters that might be having this harsh thought? (Terror on the Docks, Strange Justice)

• 626. Bad guys and jackets. Carlyle takes a fashion jab at Hutch, telling him “Never did like that jacket. Now I know why.” Frank Stryker admires Nick’s jacket and wants to give it to his nephew after Nick is killed. Do the bad guys have a better or worse sense of fashion than the good guys? (Ninety Pounds of Trouble, Starsky’s Brother)

• 627. Two riddles: Starsky asks Kira one, “What has two eyes, two arms and is crazy about you?” Kira answers, “I give up.” Starsky replies, “I wish you would.” Later Minnie asks a riddle, “Hey Starsk, this thing for real with Kira or are you just playing? Starsky doesn’t answer and Minnie comments after he leaves, “Guess that answers that question.” Extrapolate both answers. (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 628. Minnie asks Starsky if he is “taking care of that gorgeous blond sergeant,” and Starsky answers, “Ya.” Actually, he isn’t. (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 629. What does Minnie really mean when she tells Starsky, “Mother Minnie must have struck the missing chord”? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 630. Seems Mother Minnie can explain it all for you. She asks about Kira, “You carrying a torch, Starsk?” Carrying a torch is to feel painful, unreciprocated love. (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 631. Man, that’s cold. Starsky approaches Hutch at Venice Place, telling him they need to talk about Kira and the assignment. Starsky is plainly uncomfortable and does a very abrupt head jerk, displaying how off he feels. “It’s about your actions,” he tells Hutch. Hutch answers, “What about my actions,” and does the same head move, ridiculing Starsky. Has there ever been another time either one has, without joking, been that pointed about one of the other’s personal characteristic? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 632. Starsky tells Kira, “I got over the possessive stage years ago.” Is he telling the truth? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 633. Minnie Kaplan asks, “Hey Starsk, this thing for real with Kira, or are you just playing?” Starsky walks out the door without answering. What is his answer? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 634. Hutch tells Kira, “I’m a one-man, one-woman kind of guy.” Is this true? What would Kathy Marshall say? Officer Hagen? How about the more than one women he admits to making love to in a single week? Where does Hutch draw the line in terms of seriousness? (Fatal Charm, Specialist, Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 635. Hutch says, “When I get down to the nitty-gritty, down to what love is, I’m really old-fashioned about that.” Hutch tells Vanessa “I’m a little old-fashioned,” when he turns down her offer of sex. Is Hutch more “old-fashioned” than Starsky? (Starsky vs. Hutch, Hutchinson for Murder One)

• 636. Hutch watches Starsky drive off to guard Kira. He says to himself in the car, “Keep your mitts off, Starsky.” Is he saying he wants Starsky to keep his mitts off Kira? Or is he saying, “Keep your mitts off Starsky” wanting Kira to leave Starsky alone? And knowing they are dating, what is he talking about anyway? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 637. Hutch tells Kira, “We’re tired of being treated like objects, having our lives determined for us by women.” Starsky responds, “Loved for our bodies and not for our minds.” Is this just posturing for Kira, or do they truly feel this way? (Starsky vs. Hutch)

• 638. ESP, Me and Thee or Familiarity? Hutch has Starsky pick a number when he tricks him out of meeting Alison at the Pits. Starsky picks “seven.” Starsky has Hutch pick a number in his ESP test. Hutch picks “seven.” (Black and Blue)

• 639. Hutch tells the doorman / guard at Washington Square Towers, “Hey Pal, I remember the day I could park anywhere I wanted to.” Combined with Hutch's parking tickets problem with Officer O'Rielly, does this illustrate a pattern? (Targets Without a Badge 2, Strange Justice)