Frienz/Issues 43-44
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Frienz is a gen and non-explicit slash Starsky & Hutch letterzine.
They contain letters, want ads, con reports, clippings, flyers, and occasional fiction.
Issue 43 (July 1997)
Frienz 43 was published July 1997 and contains 23 pages.
- TOTM: "Discuss the first season episodes "Death Ride" and "Snowstorm."
- Boys of Summer, fiction by Edina Clouds (A fan in the next issue wrote: "Neat little story, nice ending. What happens next? What are Hutch’s feelings during the game, after the shooting, in Starsky’s hospital room? Pencil and paper is the only technology required to solve this problem.")
- the letterzine's tribbers have, for the last year, been UK fans rather than US fans; this likely is because when the militantly gen fans departed, they were not replaced, AND because David Soul moved to England -- many UK fans report on seeing him in various theater and other productions, something that US fans are unable to experience first hand
- this issue has a short con report for Media*West, see that page
- this issue has a short con report for SHareCon, see that page
Issue 43: Sample Fan Comments
The actor and the character:
I don't have a problem blending the actors with the characters (didn't PMG say in that British documentary that in a series, you basically play yourself because that's all you have the time/energy to do?).
The actor and the character:
Hutch won’t let anyone reach him by fourth season. It must be so frustrating for Starsky. Of course the job could just be wearing Hutch down. His apparent isolation is very moving and it makes fourth season Hutch attractive to me, to put it mildly. Evelyn’s suggestion that David could possibly be playing himself deserves some thought.
It's a whole new world out there:
"Internet" .... "online" ...I'm not very familiar even with the vocabulary. Question occurred: is its proliferation likely to make L/Zs superfluous? But people were saying that about the general use of telephones? — that letter writing would cease.
And, later, that television would mean that books were longer read. It hasn't happened like that? I haven't encountered any reliable, statistical evidence. Is there any - yet about L/Z communication, I mean?
A longtime fan and contributor to the letterzine explains her absence:
Hello again, sorry I missed last issue.
[...]
I was kind of distracted, however, and remain so: over the past season, I came upon a new pair of tv cop partners, whom I've come to love every bit as much as Sill. Rhoades and Melgado of High Incident, not that any of you have probably ever seen it. Unfortunately, they got neither as long a run as S&H
(cancelled after only one season—story of my life!), nor anything like as satisfactory an ending.
MediaWest*Con S&H news:
MediaWest: there was no S&H panel as such. They did take the topic I'd submitted and listed it as 'discussion group,' meaning if anybody showed up, they could talk to each other. Something like twenty-some people did, and we had a pleasant, if unstructured, mutual visit. I know [Linda M]did an S/H panel, which she will have to tell you about since I didn’t attend (not my fandom.)
So much fanon:
Why must we have only one fan-canon view of Hutch's background? I never got the standard fannish Interpretation from the series either. For that matter, I must admit I sometimes get a little tired of the seemingly constant fan interpretation of Hutch as Starsky's emotional or psychological charity case. Yeah, they both had their kinks and quirks, but it was still the overall equality of the partnership that drew me in the first place. My feeling was, they each knew the other to be strong and capable and there when needed; that was the basis of the strength of the partnership. If Hutch did occasionally demonstrate some insecurity, might it just be the result of being a perfectionist? Never quite able to live up to his own standards.
Issue 44 (September 1997)
Frienz 44 was published September 1997 and contains 19 pages.
- TOTM: Discuss the episodes "The Fix" and "Death Notice."
- Gold of Autumn, fiction by Edina Clouds (sequel to "Boys of Summer" in the previous issue)
- about half of this issue is several flyers with a lot of white space, reprinted mainstream cartoons, clippings, and the story
Issue 44: Sample Fan Comments
Comments from Tabby Davis regarding "The Fix," one of the The Banned Starsky & Hutch Episodes in the UK:
Has any episode been more discussed than this one? In the UK, BBC has never screened it -- just another of life's little mysteries. At that First Season time, UK fans were reading page after page of L/Z discussion [1], not only about S&H but also about the clinical effects of various drugs. There was controversy as to whether recovery would be possible at a success level to satisfy the PD. In "Partners," we see DMS questioning the medication prescribed for his partner. And in '"The Heroes" and elsewhere, we see Hutch's empathy with certain characters. And Suzan Lovett's great novel, 'The Goliath', has some very pertinent and insightful dialogue in this same context.
For along time, our only UK glimpse of any part of this episode was the flashback provided in "Partners". This sad situation was one motive in my first transatlantic flight in August, 1980 - to San Francisco and L.A., meeting certain SH friends for the first time and actually viewing this banned episode —and taking home a copy for conversion. A landmark in our SH experience.
"The Fix" not a favorite episode for this fan:
I have to confess - shock, horror - that "The Fix" is not one of my favourite episodes. Despite it being an almost perfect example of the "my partner right or wrong" ethic adopted by most cop-partnerships, and unequaled in S&H, too much else about this episode is unconvincing. The attempt to confront the drugs issue is superficial, probably too ambitious a concept in the time available. Was this the first time Huggy came to their rescue, certainly not the last. And Dobey turning a blind eye would he, could he, have done that? What about the cop who found Hutch in the alley? No repercussions there? Unlikely, to say the least, Then there's Hutch's unbelievably swift recovery after his night of 'cold turkey’...
So much fanon:
I can't remember any series evidence that Starsky's father was a cop, but am not sure about this and would be interested if anyone else knows of any. It seems to have been accepted by most, if not all, fanfic writers, in much the same way that Hutch's father is depicted as a business tycoon with little time for his family, and none at all for his long-suffering son. I don't entirely buy all this deprived childhood stuff (by that I mean lack of parental caring and quality time), as the reason for Hutch's adult hang-ups, but perhaps it makes him that much more interesting on the printed page. I would have thought his later experiences, particularly with Vanessa (and who knows what, or who, else, before he became a cop) were more likely to have given him a somewhat jaded outlook on life than a problematical childhood.
From a fan who grew up in rural Maryland:
I don’t know if you can imagine how truly difficult it was to feed my fannish interests living in the middle of nowhere, but I did! I ordered the Max Franklin books directly from the publisher, begged relatives who were driving into the far off city to buy magazines with pictures of S&H, took photos of the television during episodes, and filled sketch books with drawings of S&H as well as PMG and DS. I even made a drawing of PMG’s dog (if I remember, the dog’s name was Eli)! I recall with fond longing the "Brass Bed" poster of PMG's that used to hang over my bed...sigh.
It was agonizing weeks before I could watch another episode of S&H, but when I did I used my granny’s very modern portable cassette recorder to capture the episode. It was the height of technology considering the time, being exceptionally compact (roughly ten times the size of a Walkman today, but this was 1976) and I was thrilled that I could listen to the episode again and again. That second episode was "Bloodbath." Granny probably thought I was joining the Simon Cult since I played the tape so often. I had that cassette up until last year when it finally broke, destroying one of the remaining pieces of physical evidence of my youth.
Regarding reading pleasures:
I am a fan who believes in the possibility of a loving, physical, sexual relationship between Starsky and Hutch, and I enjoy reading fan stories that realistically explore this possibility. I am also a Hurt/Comfort fan (she admits rather sheepishly). I'm not into H/C because I like seeing a character hurt (though it is an instantly dramatic situation); I like seeing the characters comfort each other. This type of care and concern — the breaking down of emotional barriers — is endlessly satisfying. Judging by the number of times this theme appears in aired episodes of S&H, I can only assume that quite a few writers of the scripts were H/C fans, too. [2]
Born a fan:
I also feel that the majority fans are born, not made. I had to be born this way! It was such a thrill to finally find out that I was not alone in my hobby...that there are other fans! Unfortunately, S&H fandom was so underground (and presumably small) that I just couldn’t find it to link up. It was probably 1987 before I stumbled across a S/H fanzine in a used box at a STAR TREK convention, another two years before I found anyone in the fandom. But it has been wonderful since then.
Why so few alternate universes in this fandom:
Musings On Alternate Universe Starsky & Hutch (Or The Lack Thereof)
I was searching for a fannish songtape a few nights ago, rummaging through drawers and drawers of sparsely labeled video tapes, looking for the one which I knew had a bunch of S/H fan songs. After a while, I narrowed the choices down to roughly three tapes — all of which were labeled "multi-media", meaning a melange of fandoms would be represented. I was happily watching these tapes, having found the [S/H]] section fairly quickly, when a Kirk/Spock song (sandwiched between two S/H vids) popped up. This Kirk/Spock fan video [3] featured a really wonderful song! So slow and soulful — just a single voice accompanied only by a piano. The first line goes: Our love is an old love, baby...it's older then all our years.] The entire fan video/song emphasized the concept of a deep and special love traversing the ages (a sort of reincarnation theme), where Kirk and Spock will always find each other, no matter when or where they are born, and will love and support the other. Change is constant, but ultimately even death is not to be greatly feared because they will be together again, as they have been together for millennium. It is an incredibly moving song, fan video, and concept... I hope you all see it sometime.
After viewing this vid, I found myself mentally reviewing the numerous stories I'd read in K/S fanzines that explored a "reincarnation” theme, however loosely. The list is quite a long one of tales that take Kirk and Spock and put them in a slightly different time or place, while successfully maintaining the spirit of their televised characters. This led to thoughts of even more numerous PROS stories where Bodie and Doyle have been reincarnated into a futuristic or ancient historical setting — an "Alternate Universe". Just thinking of these A/U stories put a warm smile on my face... many of them are my very favorite fan efforts. I was all prepared to sit back and cycle through happy memories of S/H A/U stories — when I came up short! Try as I might, I could only think of a handful that could be considered "alternate universe".
"Why is this?" I asked myself, astonished. I just don’t know. Perhaps the readers of Frienz could offer some opinions as to why S/H has so little A/U? [4]
I've made a short list of some of the very best reasons why I think alternate universes are workable:
- A/U set in the past can place the characters in an in instantly recognizable, heroic situation... An example might be Hutch as a WWII German soldier who comes to see the evil being perpetuated by some in his nation. He helps hide (and then falls in love with) his handsome Jewish captive. Another could be S/H as cops set in San Francisco of 1905-06, thus having them cope with the Great Earthquake. The historical possibilities are endless...
- A/U and reincarnation is a respected and oft used theme in fandom (and the real world of publishing), one enjoyed by many readers... I feel that fandom would support the efforts of embryonic A/U S/H writers and that we shouldn’t be afraid to expand our repertoires. A professional novel that hit the best seller list several years ago (and was made into a cable movie starring Rutger Hauer) was "Fatherland." The "Daggerspell" novels explore "recycled" reincarnated characters from book-to-book. If the pros do it, why not fans???
- A/U of the future can expand the telecast reality...Two examples of this might be the successful inclusion of S/H crossovers with movies like "Escape From L.A." or "Blade Runner." It is not difficult to shift the dates just enough to imagine our guys young and strong enough to deal with a brutal reality in a responsible and heroic manner. (...Another plus! The future opens up a whole new world of Hurt/Comfort possibilities since the medical care of the future can be imagined as more advanced than ours! A note from an almost shameless H/C fan...)
- Another possibility for A/U in our fandom is taking an aired episode and changing just one critical element, then re-writing it as a fan story...a sort of “What If?” concept. What if a fan writer took the episode "The Fix," but made it Starsky who was kidnapped and strung out on heroin? What if Hutch was the one gunned down in "Sweet Revenge?" What if Starsky had been trapped in "Survival"? What if Simon's thugs had taken Hutch instead of Starsky in "Bloodbath"? I think I’ve made my point. This is an instantly dramatic way of recreating something we already liked, only giving it a new twist.
And just to show that I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is, I’m going to start work on an S/H A/U! (...as soon as I finish my latest first time story, she admits even more sheepishly...).
Also, please realize that my questions and thoughts about S/H A/U are not criticisms of our fandom...but rather my genuinely interested musings of why we as a fandom haven’t explored this concept as comprehensively as some other fandoms have. Even if one doesn't believe in reincarnation, and just uses the concept as a literary device, why is A/U so sparse in S/H? Do we think this is a first time love for our guys and that they haven’t been together throughout the ages?
A fan throws down a gauntlet:
I like the thought of Hutch being upper middle class, maybe from a family who never quite reached their perceived goals. Also a great idea to suggest investigating the socio-economic patterns of the Duluth of the fifties and sixties for clues to help speculate on Hutch's early years. [5]
Remarks on the fact that the UK fans outnumber the American fans almost 1 to 5:
One might expect the ratio of letters to be of the order of 4 or 5 from the USA to 1 from the UK rather than the other way round! I wonder if some have drifted off to the internet? I’ve heard more than one person remark on the loss of letter-writing friends to this medium, a bit of a puzzle really as it should be a straight-forward matter to print out hard copy and post it!
Cutting out the women... literally:
I generally use the same local photocopy shop and was going through a period of having SH related things done. One day I turned up with the picture from the end of [the episode] "Bloodbath" - Hutch kneeling comforting Starsky with the girl (see I've even forgotten her name! [6]) in the bottom foreground. The printer said, "I suppose you want her cut out?" I was asked before I could even get the words out! Up to that point I hadn't realised there was any obvious pattern to my requests.
References
- ^ This "L/Z discussion" would be comments in S and H, the fandoms first letterzine.
- ^ This fan's statement assumes paid television writers are allowed to write what they personally enjoy, rather than what sells.
- ^ The vid this fan refers to uses the song "Old Souls," sung by Paul Williams.
- ^ Comments such as this one may have sparked fans to create the zine series, Timeless, beginning in 2003.
- ^ Well, being very familiar with Duluth, Minnesota myself, I (MPH) suggest that the Hutchinson family could have been either old lumber barons who ran out of trees to cut down, or a family that lost a lot of money in the declining mining industry...
- ^ Her name was Gail Harcourt.