| 21 Jump Street | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Police crime drama |
| Created by | |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Liam Sternberg |
| Opening theme | "21 Jump Street Theme" performed by Holly Robinson |
| Composers | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 103(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | April 12, 1987 (1987-04-12) – July 16, 1990 (1990-07-16) |
| Network | Syndication |
| Release | October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13) – April 27, 1991 (1991-04-27) |
| Related | |
| Booker (1989–90) | |
21 Jump Street is an Americanpolice procedural drama television series created byPatrick Hasburgh andStephen J. Cannell for theFox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five seasons; the final season aired infirst-run syndication. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in schools, gangs, and other teenage venues.[1] It was originally going to be titledJump Street Chapel, after thedeconsecrated church building in which the unit is headquartered, but was changed at Fox's request so as not to mislead viewers into thinking it was a religious program.
The series was produced by the two creators' production companies; Cannell retains all intellectual property rights of the series. Executive producers included Hasburgh, Cannell, Steve Beers, andBill Nuss. The show was an early hit for the fledgling Fox network and was created to attract a younger audience.[2] The final season aired in first-runsyndication mainly on local Fox affiliates. It was rerun on theFX cable network from 1996 to 1998.
The series provided a spark toJohnny Depp's acting career, gaining him national recognition as a teen idol. Depp found this status irritating,[3] but he continued the series under his contract which paid $45,000 per episode. He was eventually released from his contract after the fourth season.[3][4]
Aspin-off series,Booker, was produced for the character of Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco); it ran for one season, from September 24, 1989, to May 6, 1990. Afilm adaptation directed byPhil Lord and Christopher Miller was released on March 16, 2012. The film is set the same as the series,[citation needed] with Johnny Depp,Holly Robinson, andPeter DeLuise reprising their characters incameo appearances. Richard Grieco andDustin Nguyen also have cameos in the 2014 film sequel22 Jump Street.
The series focuses on a group of rookiepolice officers headquartered at the eponymous address. These young officers all have especially youthful appearances, allowing them to pass for teenagers. Their assignments frequently consist of undercover work in high schools or, less commonly, colleges, where they generally investigate drug trafficking and other criminal activities. The show's plots cover issues such as alcoholism, hate crimes, gang violence, drug abuse,homophobia, AIDS,child abuse, and sexual promiscuity. Similarly, each problem is often solved by the end of the hour-long episode, giving an implicitmoral about a particular activity's impact. When the show originally aired, some episodes were followed immediately bypublic service announcements (PSAs) featuring cast members.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| 1 | 13 | April 12, 1987 (1987-04-12) | June 28, 1987 (1987-06-28) | Fox | |
| 2 | 22 | September 20, 1987 (1987-09-20) | May 22, 1988 (1988-05-22) | ||
| 3 | 20 | November 6, 1988 (1988-11-06) | May 21, 1989 (1989-05-21) | ||
| 4 | 26 | September 18, 1989 (1989-09-18) | July 16, 1990 (1990-07-16) | ||
| 5 | 22 | October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13) | April 27, 1991 (1991-04-27) | Syndicated | |
| Name | Portrayed by | Seasons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Officer Thomas "Tom" Hanson, Jr. | Johnny Depp | Main | Does not appear | |||
| Sergeant Judith "Judy" Hoffs | Holly Robinson | Main | ||||
| Officer Douglas "Doug" Penhall | Peter DeLuise | Main | Also starring[a] | |||
| Sergeant Harry Truman "H.T" Ioki/Vinh Van Tran | Dustin Nguyen | Main | Does not appear | |||
| Captain Richard Jenko | Frederic Forrest | Main[b] | Does not appear | |||
| Captain Adam Fuller | Steven Williams | Main[c] | ||||
| Officer Joseph "Joey" Penhall | Michael DeLuise | Does not appear | Main[d] | |||
| Officer Anthony "Mac" McCann | Michael Bendetti | Does not appear | Main[e] | |||
| Sal "Blowfish" Banducci | Sal Jenco | Recurring | Guest | |||
| Detective Dennis Booker | Richard Grieco | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Jackie Garrett | Yvette Nipar | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Officer Dean Garrett | David Barry Gray | Does not appear | Guest | Recurring | ||
| Officer Kati Rocky | Alexandra Powers | Does not appear | Recurring | |||
Jeff Yagher was originally cast as Officer Tom Hanson in the pilot. He was replaced after the original pilot episode was filmed, and his scenes were reshot with Johnny Depp. Midway through the first season, Frederic Forrest was replaced by Steven Williams. On the show, Forrest's character Richard Jenko is killed by a drunk driver.
Johnny Depp left the series at the end of the fourth season, but was credited in the first two episodes of the fifth season, despite not having appeared.
David Barry Gray's character was introduced at the end of the fourth season and starred in two episodes of season five withAlexandra Powers. Both episodes were filmed before the fourth season had ended but were not shown until the start of season five. Neither actor was approached in regards to portraying their character in the show's fifth and final season.Michael DeLuise joined the cast in the middle of the fifth season and stayed on until late in the season.
Some notable guest stars on the series include:Dom DeLuise (Peter's father),Josh Brolin,Mindy Cohn,Bridget Fonda,Bobby Rodriguez,Jada Pinkett,Brad Pitt,Vince Vaughn,Barney Martin,Dann Florek,Blair Underwood,Shannen Doherty,John Waters,Rosie Perez,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,Mario Van Peebles,Christina Applegate,Pauly Shore,David DeLuise (Peter's brother),Bradley Gregg,Jason Priestley,Christine Elise,Christopher Titus,Kurtwood Smith,Peri Gilpin,Shannon Tweed,Sarah Buxton,David Paymer,Diedrich Bader,Russell Wong,Kelly Hu,Tim Russ,Thomas Haden Church,Sherilyn Fenn,Rob Estes,Ray Walston,R.J. Williams,Robyn Lively,Gloria Reuben,Billy Jayne,Jason Lively,Billy Warlock,Peter Berg,Larenz Tate,Tracy Griffith, andEd O'Neill.
Set in a fictional city and state (Metropolis, Evergreen State) in the United States, the series was primarily filmed inVancouver,British Columbia. It was one of the first major television series to use Vancouver as a filming location and helped to establish the city as a center for film production.[5]
21 Jump Street, along withMarried... with Children andThe Tracey Ullman Show, debuted in the spring of 1987. All three shows were hits with audiences and helped to establish the then-newly launched Fox network.[6]21 Jump Street was the first hit series for the Fox network.[7] In August,21 Jump Street became the first Fox series to win its timeslot against aBig Three network series.[8] In the United Kingdom, it was shown on the similarly nascent, and interrelated,Sky One, which had yet to reach a sizeable audience.[9]
| Season | Timeslot |
|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Sunday at 7:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. on Fox |
| 1987–88 | |
| 1988–89 | |
| 1989–90 | Monday at 8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. on Fox |
| 1990–91 | off-network syndication |
Season 4 was the last season to air on the Fox network. In the commentary provided with the Season 5 DVD set,Peter DeLuise said that Fox had decided to cancel the show after Season 4 because the ratings had fallen below a set limit. Following this season, Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen left the show. The departure of their characters was never fully explained in the narrative of the TV series, but inthe movie it is explained that Officer Hanson was transferred to the DEA and was later joined by Officer Penhall. TheBooker spin-off crossover episode, "Wheels and Deals – Part One," is included with21 Jump Street's syndication package, and is also included on the Season 4 DVD set.
Officer Dean Garrett (David Barry Gray) makes his first appearance in "Everyday is Christmas." As it became more difficult for the original Jump Street cast to pass as high-school students, younger actors were brought in, intended to be "youthful" replacements in order to allow the show to maintain its original premise of young-looking cops posing as high-school students.
Anchor Bay Entertainment released all five seasons of21 Jump Street onDVD inRegion 1 between 2004 and 2006.
On October 14, 2009, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to severalStephen J. Cannell series, including21 Jump Street,[10] and subsequently re-released the first four seasons. In addition, Mill Creek also released21 Jump Street: The Complete Series, an 18-disc collection featuring all 103 episodes of the series on DVD on July 27, 2010.[11]
On July 29, 2022,Visual Entertainment released21 Jump Street: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[12]
InRegion 2, Anchor Bay Entertainment released all 5 seasons on DVD in the UK. They also released a complete series set on March 5, 2012.[13]
InRegion 4,Madman Entertainment released all five seasons on DVD in Australia. They also released a complete series collection on May 1, 2013.[14]
InRegion 2, Pidax Film released a complete series set box set on September 18, 2020, in Germany with all original music intact. German and English audio tracks.[citation needed]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| The Complete First Season | 13 | October 26, 2004 January 19, 2010 (re-release) | January 31, 2005 | September 7, 2006 |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | March 8, 2005 May 18, 2010 (re-release) | June 20, 2005 | September 7, 2006 |
| The Complete Third Season | 20 | September 6, 2005 July 27, 2010 (re-release) | January 23, 2006 | September 7, 2006 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 26 | November 1, 2005 January 18, 2011 (re-release) | April 10, 2006 | September 7, 2006 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 22 | March 21, 2006 | September 18, 2006 | June 7, 2007 |
| The Complete Series | 103 | July 27, 2010 July 29, 2022 (re-release) | March 5, 2012 & September 18, 2020 | May 1, 2013 |
On March 16, 2012, a feature film based on the television series fromSony Pictures andMetro Goldwyn Mayer was released starringJonah Hill andChanning Tatum (who are also executive producers) and directed byPhil Lord and Chris Miller with the screenplay written byMichael Bacall from a story by both Hill and Bacall. Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise, and Holly Robinson briefly reprise their roles as Tom Hanson, Doug Penhall, and Judy Hoffs.
Described in concept by Hill as an "R-rated, insane,Bad Boys-meets-John Hughes-type movie,"[15] the film departs from the dramatic style of the series and instead features a comedic tone. The film and series are also set in the same continuity. A sequel titled22 Jump Street was released in 2014.
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