21 Jump Street - The Complete First Season

Drama

Johnny Depp	Tom Hanson
Peete, Holly Robinson	Judy Hoffs
DeLuise, Peter	Doug Penhall
Nguyen, Dustin	Truman Ioki
Forrest, Frederic	Captain Jenko
Williams, Steven	Captain Fuller
Jason Priestly
Brolin, Josh
Fenn, Sharilyn
Underwood, Blair

Director	Larry Shaw; Tucker Gates
Writer	Steven J. Cannell

Best known today as the series that helped launch Johnny Depp to stardom, Stephen J. Cannell's 21 Jump Street was also one of the first hit programs for the fledgling Fox network, a status that lasted for most of its five-year run (1987-91), thanks to its engaging mix of youth culture and police drama. As outlined in the pilot, Depp's baby-faced Ofc. Tom Hanson is transferred to the special Jump Street division, a unit that utilized young cops to infiltrate juvenile crime. Unlike many of Fox's youth-oriented shows of the period (i.e., Beverly Hills 90210), Jump Street took its stories seriously, and addressed numerous social issues in its episodes; though some of the fashions and slang seem dated, the program remains entertaining decades later. The Jump Street set compiles all 13 episodes of the debut season, including the two-part pilot; the solid extras feature commentary by co-star Peter DeLuise, as well as interviews with fellow Jump Street officers Dustin Nguyen, Holly Robinson Peete, and Steven Williams (whose Captain Fuller replaced Frederic Forrest's Jenko halfway through the first season), as well as the prolific Cannell. --Paul Gaita