LITERARY CROSS POLLINATION
MOMENTS
"You lawyers do
understand that sort of thing, don't you? Male, female,
birds and the bees?"
(Rosey
Malone)
Abe Lincoln
Moment
• Starsky admits not knowing what is going on in Phelps’
head, “…but I sure like where her legs are.” Like long
enough to reach the ground? (Heroes)
Roast Beast/Grinch Moment
• Hutch says, “Whatever beef they have with me, we’re going
to get it up on our table.” (Trap)
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Moment
• Starsky complains to Hutch, "You just put mayonnaise all
over my pastrami." (Collector)
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” Moment
• Professor Gage’s superior, intellectual justification of
murder and his arrogant “dare” to be found out in real
time. (Class in Crime)
Breck Girl Moment
• Laura Kanen’s hair (Deckwatch)
On the Waterfront Moment
• Lionel Fitzgerald lists all the actors he could have
been, an Oliver, a Barrymore, a Keane. (Quadromania)
Spock Moment
• Gage asks Hutchinson, Ken how he likes the class. Hutch’s
dry response is, “Fascinating.” (Class in Crime)
Chinese Red Thread Moment
• A red ribbon lays on the ground in the warehouse
district. It lays on the ground from Wheeling Wear and
snakes down the length of the alley Andrea runs down in her
escape. She ends up at Sally’s Sandwich Shop, where the red
thread that ties us all together has apparently no effect
on Danny the Pancake Man. (Velvet Jungle)
Rear Window Moment
• Starsky, Hutch and Lizzie turn the lights on and off to
catch bad guys. (Satan’s Witches)
Charades Moment
• Starsky says Hutch wants to try to remember Dobey’s name
himself. Starsky starts Hutch out with “sounds like…”
Hutch’s answer is, “blimp.” (Partners)
I Could Have Had a V8 Moment
• Hutch’s girlie car, Belle, his Nash Metropolitan (Targets
2)
All Things Great and Small Veterinary Moment
• Starsky reaching way up in the vending machine for his
dime (Fatal Charm)
Fred Flintstone Moment
• On the golf course, Jerry and Phil toss Starsky a big
wooden club (Playboy Island)
Lost Moment
• Coop refers to the weight of a “Drive Shaft.” (Crying
Child)
Baretta Moment
• The two cockatoos in the cage at the beauty salon raise
their crests at the site of Starsky’s experiment with wave
solution. (Dandruff)
The Graduate Moment
• “Science, Jimmy, science,” Angel tells Brady. (Cover
Girl)
Petticoat Junction Moment
• Starsky is seen bathing in a large wooden tub.
(Bloodbath)
Star Trek Bones Moment Number One
• Starsky says, “I’m a cop, not a vigilante.” (Lady Blue)
Star Trek Bones Moment Number Two
• Starsky says, “I’m an artist, not an accountant.”
(Groupie)
Star Trek Bones Moment Number Three
• Huggy says, “I’m a hustler…not a fool.” (Blindfold)
Star Trek Bones Moment Number Four
• Dr. Mason says, “…he needs a surgeon in a hospital, not
an intern on the street.” (Manchild on the Streets)
Star Trek Bones Moment Number Five
• Hutch says, “We are cops, not newspaper men looking for a
story.” (Murder Ward)
Art Garfunkel Moment
• the first shot of Allen Richards standing in the mime
crowd (Class in Crime)
North By Northwest Moment
• See the mad dash through the cornfield. (Death Ride)
Three Investigators-Jupiter Jones Moment
• Jane wears a labyrinth sweatshirt with the big question
mark in the middle. (Murder Ward)
Three Bears Moment
• Dobey complains, “Starsky, you’ve got your feet on my
desk, you’re sitting in my chair and you’re getting mustard
all over those files.” (Murder on Stage 17)
Psycho Moment
• Hutch’s shower scene (Fatal Charm)
Crazed Mr. Clean Moment
• Fireball’s face as he drives the car (Psychic, Omaha
Tiger)
City on the Edge of Forever Moment
• Hutch hangs out at the mission with a knit cap covering
his pointy ears. (Game)
Clayburn’s Big Showtune Opportunity Moment
• Cue the music for a big sweeping number, “Judge McClellan
as a Common Felon…” (Targets 1)
Macbeth’s Second Witch Moment
• “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way
comes.” (Playboy Island)
Huggy’s Tongue Twister Moment
• Huggy tells Starsky, Hutch and Lionel he is going to
“trip down by the seashore and pick up some seashells.”
(Targets 1)
Gershwin Moment Number One
• Merle says “Tomato, tamahto.” (Jojo)
Gershwin Moment Number Two
• Every time Starsky says “Either,” pronouncing it
“Eyetheir.” (various)
Michael Jackson Moment
• Starsky wears one glove while he tinkers with Carlyle’s
rifle. (Ninety Pounds of Trouble)
Nancy Drew Moment
• Taking no weapon or light, Edith runs out into the dark
after Leo Moon. (Captain Dobey, You’re Dead)
Hardy Boys Moment
• Steinmetz and Miller exit the secret room by way of a
sliding door disguised as a wall of books. (Body Worth
Guarding)
Big Broadway Soliloquy Moment
• Starsky’s big vocal scene with Rizzo the Rat on the
Rooftop. It is right off a New York stage. (Lady Blue)
Eagles Moment
• The check-out time for the Hotel California is 11:00.
(Game)
Bay City Roller Moment
• Hutch suggests to Starsky, “How 'bout I put you on roller
skates and tow you along in back?” (Snowstorm)
Dear Diary Moment
• It is the first shot of Nancy Blake sitting at her desk
outside Wilkins’ office. Perhaps she is writing, “Dear
Diary, I just can’t believe I’m getting married in a few
days!” She is probably writing "Nancy Desmond" and "Mrs.
Billy Desmond" over and over and over again. (Terror on the
Docks)
South Seas Moment
• Sharon has already washed her hair and gone to bed when
Starsky calls. (Heavyweight)
Dr. Who Moment
• Hutch wears a long, striped scarf. (Targets 2)
Get Smart Moment Number One
• Starsky tells Meredith the bullet missed Hutch’s heart
“by this much,” with corresponding finger visual. (Black
and Blue)
Get Smart Moment Number Two
• Hanson tells Starsky and Hutch, "he came close, that
close," showing his hands about six inches apart. (Murder
on Stage 17)
Goofus and Gallant Moment Number One
• Gallant is the perfectly mannered little guest at Amboy’s
little party and puts the napkin on Goofus’ leg. (Bust
Amboy)
Goofus and Gallant Moment Number Two
• Gallant knows just how to behave in Ruth's living room
while he shudders at Goofus' manners on the couch. (Murder
on Stage 17)
Will Rogers Equine Moment
• Hutch says, “I never met a horse I didn’t like.” (Action)
Hamlet Moment
• Itchy is “hoisted by his own petard” when he gets soup in
the face (Bust Amboy)
Saturday Night Fever Moment
• Dobey asks Starsky and Hutch what they are up to. Hutch
replies, “Stayin’ alive.” (Targets 2)
In Like Flynn Moment
• Starsky says “We’re in,”
like Ferguson (Iron Mike)
Senor Wences Moment
• “S’all right?” “S’all right.” (Pilot)
Generic Fairy Tale Moment
• “Just think what might have happened, Starsky, had you
been nice to an old man?” Hutch tells him after Starsky is
unkind to the hag on his journey. Perhaps Hutch enchants
him at this time, turning him into a toad? (Game)
Cruel Ballet Teacher Moment
• “You know the position!! Do it!” Slate tells Cobb.
(Strange Justice)
Gosh, Is it Warm in Here, Or Is He Just Thinking About Miss
Evans Moment
• Steve sits in the burning trailer, drink in hand, and
oblivious to the flames. (Murder on Stage 17)
Pez Moment
• Starsky flicks the bullets out of Flashy Floyd’s clip
onto his desk with his thumb. (Specialist)
Geometry
Moment Number One
• Observe the beautiful triangularization when Dobey is
deciding whether or not to let Starsky work the Helen case.
Starsky pleads with Dobey, Hutch reads Starsky, Dobey reads
Hutch, says “yes.” (Lady Blue)
Geometry Moment Number Two
• Hutch gets Bo Riles gun and tosses it to Starsky without
hardly a look. Starsky catches the gun and empties the
bullets on the ground. He gives it back to Bo. (Running)
Kira’s Geometry Moment
• “What’s the solution to this troublesome triangle we have
here?” (Starsky vs. Hutch)
Light Bulb Joke Moment
• Hutch comments, “Sure, people can change. It just depends
on how much they want to.” (Bounty Hunter)
Ibsen Moment
* Starsky comments Steele is probably all warm and snug in
some “doll’s house,” rather than being out in the rain
(Pilot)
Tony Orlando and Dawn Moment
* Emily’s friend tells her to knock on the wall (perhaps
three times?) is she wants her. (Blindfold)
Grand Hotel Moment
* Starsky imitates Greta Garbo to Emily, “I want to be
alone.” (Blindfold)
Helen Keller/Anne Sullivan at the Well Moment
* Starsky demands Emily sculpt, sculpt, sculpt! She reaches
to touch his face, and there is a meaningful breakthrough.
Well, sort of. (Blindfold)
Nineteenth Century African Explorer Moment
* Nick greets Hutch, “Dr. Hutchinson, I presume?”
(Starsky’s Brother)
Methamphetamines Moment
* Kendell explains bootleggers steal rather than buy sugar,
as they know “know one way they get traced is by checking
large purchases of sugar.” (Moonshine)
Music Man, “Ya Got Trouble, Right Here in River City”
Moment
• Tommy Reeses’ soliloquy of “pill dunkers, dink artists,
horse hiders, and canvas kissers.” (Golden Angel)
Alpha Male Cub Moment
• Starsky drags Nick off his bed by his hair. (Starsky’s
Brother)
U2 Moment
• “I Threw a Brick Through a Window” (Vendetta)
Ginzu Knife/Bass-O-Meter Moment
• Matt Coyle offers Starsky and Hutch some good clean
busts, “Free Trial Offer, No Obligation.” (Iron Mike)
It’s a Wonderful Life Moment
• Hutch takes finial off porch by accident, as he grabs
onto it to turn the corner. (Targets 2)
No Shit Sherlock Moment Number One
• Mrs. Blake says, “Father Delacourt is a priest.” (Terror
on the Docks)
No Shit Sherlock Moment Number Two
• Jack Parker tells Jack Ives, “We feel the future of
fashion is in youth.” (Groupie)
Bill Clinton Moment
• Dobey hands Starsky and Hutch a cigar and says,” smoke
them, eat them, chew them, stick them in your pocket, I
don’t care what you do with them.” (Dandruff)
Casablanca Moment Number One
• The federal agent comments, “out of all the bars and
coffee shops in this city,” Nick Starsky had to walk into
the Velvet Slide. (Starsky’s Brother)
Casablanca Moment Number Two
• Starsky says to Huggy, “There are fifty kinds of soup in
this town.” And Hutch had to walk in with that one. (Game)
Snow White Moment, or Someday My Prints Will Come
• Renaldo promises to send the photos he took to woman he
photographed in front of the Fashion Mart. (Groupie)
It Was Quiet. Too Quiet Moment
• Hutch says to Starsky as they stand in the dark woods,
"All of a sudden, there's noting. Nothing. There's no
birds, no crickets, no frogs. Nothing. It's never this
quest." (Satan’s Witches))
Slumber Party Moment Number One
• Hutch holding flashlight under his chin in the dark
cabin, giving Starsky a start. (Satan’s Witches)
Slumber Party Moment Number Two
• Hutch holds the candle under his chin at the Golden Lady.
It makes his face look spooky for Kira. (Starsky vs. Hutch)
Airplane! Moment
• Tyce asks, “What do you mean, blood?” and Starsky
answers, “Red stuff, comes out of your veins, especially if
someone uses a knife.” (Satan’s Witches)
Titanic Moment Number One
• Starsky comments to Commodore, “We might have lucked onto
the tip of an iceberg.” (Murder at Sea)
Titanic Moment Number Two
• Starsky and Hutch rearranging wooden deck chairs so they
can get into corner to hide from bomb. (Murder at Sea)
Pink Panther/Peter Sellers Moment
• Starsky as Mr. Tyrone (Dandruff)
O.J. Simpson Moment
• Jimmy Lucas struggles to get his leather gloves on before
he goes into Palmer’s room. (Birds of a Feather)
Canadian Geese Moment
• Starsky and Hutch’s five back up cops stand in a perfect
“V” formation, ready to fly. (Bust Amboy)
Groundhog Day Moment
• Starsky and Hutch apparently live the same day, December
23rd over and over again until
Hutch learns true meaning of Xmas. (Little Girl)
One Deus Ex Machina Moment
• In order to connect Michelle’s death to Russo’s, Starsky
has to remember passing her on the way out of Huggy’s.
(Deadly Imposter)
Another Deus Ex Machina Moment
• Emily appears on a bench in the very park Starsky is
taking photographs. (Blindfold)
Captain Kangaroo Moment
• Garvin looks just like him the first time the viewer sees
him as he is talking to Colby and sitting in his chair.
(Deadly Imposter)
Urban Myth Moment
• Starsky digs up wet suit in fire-prone country miles from
ocean; think Fire Department helicopter and brush fires.
(Kill Huggy Bear)
Murder She Wrote Moment
• “And you blew it on the fishing. Trout season hasn’t
opened yet.” Hutch says to Phil Corman. (Snowstorm)
Little Big Man Moment
• Starsky calls the husky Crandell “Little Man.”
(Snowstorm)
“I’ve Seen the Needle and the Damage Done,” Neil Young
Moment
• Angel tells Starsky and Hutch she has been to “that
sunset a time or two.” Neil sings “every junkie’s like the
setting sun.” (Texas Longhorn)
Star Wars Moment
• “We don’t have the force with us anymore,” Starsky
comments. (Targets 2)
Media Within Media Moment
• “Blacula” showing at theater, Bernie Hamilton was in
sequel to this movie.” (Pilot)
Tiny Tim Moment
• “May God bless us all,” Starsky addresses in benediction,
Hutch, Dobey and Huggy. (Sweet Revenge)
Jetsons Moment
• Note the upward camera shot of Mello’s round modern
hotel. (Death Ride)
Boba Fett Moment
• Bo Rile is a “modern day bounty hunter.” (Bounty Hunter)
Batman and Robin Moment Number One
• Starsky says, “Holy Catfish!” (Satan’s Witches)
Batman and Robin Moment Number Two
• Starsky says, “Holy Mackerel!” (Trap)
X-Files Moment Number One
• Hutch says, “All we are after is the truth.” (Death
Notice)
X-Files Moment Number Two
• Hutch asks Starsky, “I don’t know why you can’t at least
consider the possibility,” regarding Collandra’s abilities.
(Psychic)
X-Files Moment Number Three
• Starsky asks Hutch about vampires, “You just won’t accept
the possibility, will you?” (Vampire)
X-Files Clyde Bruckman Moment
• Collandra describes the hell of going to a party and
knowing “guy across the room is going to be dead in a
week.” (Psychic)
X-Files Humbug Moment
• Starsky’s pose at the Torino while waiting for Hutch at
the park, leg up on the running board, tube socks and
cut-offs (Vendetta)
Muppets Moment
• Rizzo the Rat (Heroes)
Tired Vaudeville Punch Line Moment One
• Starsky comments, “That’s no lady.” (Psychic)
Tired Vaudeville Punch Line Moment Twp
• "Call me a cab." "Okay, You're a cab." (Fix)
Mae West Moment
• Tessie guesses that Starsky is a cop because she felt his
gun. I think it may have more along the line of a pistol in
his pocket indicating happiness. (Omaha Tiger)
Magical Realism Moment
• the appearances of the Dalmatian (Snowstorm)
Twisted Wizard of Oz Moment
• Marcus, looking as hirsute as the Cowardly Lion, uses the
phrase, “King of the Forest” (Bloodbath)
Simon and Garfunkel Moment
• Starsky and his Nikon camera, “I got a Nikon camera, I
love to take a photograph. So Mama, don’t take my
Kodachrome away…” (Blindfold)
An Anti-Napoleon Dynamite Moment
• Hutch is not impressed with Starsky’s sweet bike.
(Psychic)
Who’s On First Moment Number One
• The scar was on the left cheek, no right, right, no left,
right… (Death Notice)
Who’s On First Moment Number Two
• Starsky and Hutch explain to the dispatcher why one red
and white Torino is chasing another red and white Torino.
(Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty)
Gone With the Wind Moment Number One
• Starsky tells dear Dobey, “Frankly, I don’t give a damn.”
(Starsky’s Lady)
Gone With the Wind Moment, Number Two
• “Frankly, I don't
give a damn what happens to you, but I do care what happens
to your brother.” (Starsky’s Brother)
1940’s British Murder Mystery Moment Number One
• Lieutenant Cameron says, “I suppose you all wonder why I
asked you to gather here.” (Las Vegas Strangler)
1940’s British Murder Mystery Moment Number Two
• Kira asks Starsky and Hutch, “You’re probably wondering
why I asked you here today.” (Starsky vs. Hutch)
Alice in Wonderland Moment
• “I’m late, I’m late” for a very important date says a
frantic man with a brief case. (Murder Ward)
Mr. Rogers Moment
• Starsky taking off his sneakers and exchanging them for
boots (Psychic)
Full Monty Moment
• Dobey’s strangely alluring removal of his tie in front of
Hutch. (Cover Girl)
O. Henry Moment
• Mrs. Dehaven pleads with her husband, “Oh, Henry!” (Bust
Amboy)
Fred Astaire Moment
• Starsky is verily dancing with that coat tree in Dobey’s
office. (Velvet Jungle)
La Cage Aux Folles Moment
• Starsky can’t run in the shoes Hutch bought him; he is
always taking them off as per the barefoot “waiter.” (Bait)
High Noon Moment
• Starsky comments on Steve’s “classic walk down Main
Street.” (Murder on Stage 17)
Simon Says Moment
• Marcus calling the shots (Bloodbath)
Milan Kundera Moment
• “Twenty-five years on the force and I gotta diaper some
punk”?--- Luke Huntley
• “There are no small parts, only small actors.”—Milan
Kundera (Birds of a Feather)
Scooby Doo Moment Number One
• much of the antics on Playboy Island (Playboy Island)
Scooby Doo Moment Number Two
• much of the antics in Pine Lake (Satan’s Witches)
Scooby Doo Moment Number Three
• Hutch wears that ascot and the striped shirt--just call
him “Fred.” (Bait)
Scooby Doo Moment Number Four
• And Gunther would have gotten away with his Southern
California action, if it weren’t for the activities of
those meddling kids, Starsky and Hutch. (Sweet Revenge)
James Bond Bad Guy Moments, All That is Lacking is a White
Persian Kitty
• Bond bad guy Avery Wheeler, his fruity voice and
mannerisms (Hutchinson for Murder One)
• Bond bad guy Danner and his fruity robe by the pool
(Bait)
• Trask and his stuffed owl (Survival)
Thomas Wolfe Moment
• Hutch tells Starsky, “You never can go home again.”
(Crying Child, Nightmare)
Atticus Finch Moment Number One
• Turquet doesn’t carry a gun, but he is an excellent shot.
(Huggy Bear and the Turkey)
Atticus Finch Moment Number Two
• Starsky goes to Lonnie’s house to apologize Mrs. Craig.
(Pariah)
Annie Moment
• Hutch says, “Somehow. Somewhere.” (Bait)
Dorothy Parker Moment
• “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal
lobotomy.” (Sweet Revenge)
Dickens’s Christmas Carol Moment
• There isn’t a twenty-pound turkey in Molly/Pete’s
refrigerator. Perhaps it is hanging in the butcher shop
window downtown? (Little Girl Lost)
MacGyver Moment
• Hutch, using various things he finds in the barn, rigs up
the old tractor as an escape vehicle. (Trap)
Star Trek/Tribble Moment
• Dobey holds up Louise, the guinea pig. (Hutchinson for
Murder One)
Amok Time/T’Pao Moment
•
Hutch tells Huggy that Gunther turned down a chance at the
presidency as it would be a step down in power. (Sweet
Revenge)
Brier Rabbit Moment
• Starsky tricks Dryden into cuffing himself to Hutch.
(Hutchinson for Murder One)
Laurel and Hardy Moment Number Two
• Starsky says, "this is one hell of a mess you got us
into, Hutchinson." (Trap)
Laurel and Hardy Moment Number Two
• Starsky says, “One fine kettle of fish.” (Las Vegas
Strangler)
Great Escape Moments
• Starsky tells Hutch he was thinking of tunneling out and
going for help. (Shootout)
Much Ado About Nothing Moment
• Hutch announces “Here come the prince, here come the
prince,” when Huggy, as Prince Nairobi, walks up to save
the day. (Dandruff)
Jack and Beanstalk Moment
• Semper Fee, Semper Fi, Fo, Fum (Little Girl Lost)
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man Moment
• Hutch’s body on the floor after being knocked out in his
cottage. (Fix)
Pieta Moment
• The tableau of Hutch cradling Starsky on the couch.
(Shootout)