21 Jump Street

This article is about the television series. For the film, see 21 Jump Street (film).

21 Jump Street
Genre	Police crime drama
Created by	Patrick Hasburgh Stephen J. Cannell
Starring	Johnny Depp Holly Robinson Peter DeLuise Dustin Nguyen Richard Grieco Steven Williams Michael Bendetti Michael DeLuise Sal Jenco Frederic Forrest
Theme music composer	Liam Sternberg
Opening theme	"21 Jump Street Theme" performed by Holly Robinson
Composers	Peter Bernstein Jay Gruska
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	Patrick Hasburgh Productions (Seasons 1–2) Stephen J. Cannell Productions
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 American police procedural television drama series that aired on the Fox network and in first-run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five seasons. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in schools, gangs, and other teenage venues. It was originally going to be titled Jump Street Chapel, after the deconsecrated church building in which the unit has its headquarters, but was changed at Fox's request so as not to mislead viewers into thinking it was a religious program.

Created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, the series was a Patrick Hasburgh Production from seasons one and two and was produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions for Fox. Executive producers included Hasburgh, Cannell, Steve Beers, and Bill Nuss. The show was an early hit for the fledgling Fox network and was created to attract a younger audience. The final season aired in first-run syndication mainly on local Fox affiliates. It was later rerun on the FX cable network from 1996 to 1998.

The series provided a spark to Johnny Depp's acting career, garnering him national recognition as a teen idol. Depp found this status irritating, but he continued on the series under his contract and was paid $45,000 per episode. Eventually, he was released from his contract after the fourth season.

A spin-off series, Booker, was produced for the character of Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco); it ran for only one season, from September 24, 1989, to May 6, 1990.

A film adaptation directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller was released on March 16, 2012. The film is set in the same continuity as the series, with Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson, and Peter DeLuise reprising their characters in cameo appearances. Richard Grieco and Dustin Nguyen also have cameos in the 2014 film sequel 22 Jump Street.

Premise

The series focuses on a group of rookie police 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 implicit moral about a particular activity's impact. When the show originally aired, some episodes were followed immediately by public service announcements (PSAs) featuring cast members.

Episodes

Main article: List of 21 Jump Street episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired	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

Cast

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
Sergeant Harry Truman "H.T" Ioki/Vinh Van Tran	Dustin Nguyen	Main				Does not appear
Captain Richard Jenko	Frederic Forrest	Main	Does not appear
Captain Adam Fuller	Steven Williams	Main
Officer Joseph "Joey" Penhall	Michael DeLuise	Does not appear				Main
Officer Anthony "Mac" McCann	Michael Bendetti	Does not appear				Main
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 with Alexandra 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.

Guest stars

Main article: List of guest stars on 21 Jump Street

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, and Ed O'Neill.

Production

Filming

Set in a fictional city and state (Metropolis, Evergreen State) in the United States, the series was primarily filmed in Vancouver, 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.

Reception

21 Jump Street, along with Married... with Children and The 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. 21 Jump Street was the first hit series for the Fox network. In August, 21 Jump Street became the first Fox series to win its timeslot against a Big Three network series. In the United Kingdom, it was shown on the similarly nascent, and interrelated, Sky One, which had yet to reach a sizeable audience.

Broadcast history

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 in the movie it is explained that Officer Hanson was transferred to the DEA and was later joined by Officer Penhall. The Booker spin-off crossover episode, "Wheels and Deals – Part One," is included with 21 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.

Home media

Anchor Bay Entertainment released all five seasons of 21 Jump Street on DVD in Region 1 between 2004 and 2006.

On October 14, 2009, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to several Stephen J. Cannell series, including 21 Jump Street, and subsequently re-released the first four seasons. In addition, Mill Creek also released 21 Jump Street: The Complete Series, an 18-disc collection featuring all 103 episodes of the series on DVD on July 27, 2010.

On July 29, 2022, Visual Entertainment released 21 Jump Street: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

In Region 2, Anchor Bay Entertainment released all 5 seasons on DVD in the UK. They also released a complete series set on March 5, 2012.

In Region 4, Madman Entertainment released all five seasons on DVD in Australia. They also released a complete series collection on May 1, 2013.

In Region 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.

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

Film adaptation

Main article: 21 Jump Street (film)

On March 16, 2012, a feature film based on the television series from Sony Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer was released starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (who are also executive producers) and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller with the screenplay written by Michael 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," 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 titled 22 Jump Street was released in 2014.

External links

• 21 Jump Street at IMDb
• 21 Jump Street at epguides.com