#jay castello

Our June piece is live! 😎 Jay Castello reports on the Starsky & Hutch Fiction Archive—which has been archiving S&H fic for decades—and how the show's onscreen relationship has inspired relationships within the fandom, too:

The Starsky & Hutch Fiction Archive continues to grow, preserving stories about love 50 years after the pilot first introduced this special relationship to viewers. New Starsky & Hutch fics appear both there and on AO3 at least every few days. At SHareCon, fans in their 20s meet fans in their 80s; the former often tell Lisa that they were introduced to the show by their grandmothers. “I’m so inspired,” she says. “I would like to think it could be around for another 50 years.”

This focus on portraying a real, desirable example of friendship is one of the things that’s made the Starsky & Hutch fandom so durable. While it lends itself to both gen and slash exploration, it also stands up to scrutiny on its own in a way that shallower depictions might not—and it provided a model for members of the fandom.  “I kind of took that example when I was a teenager watching the show and made that my thing,” said Lisa. “I wanted to be that friend. I wanted to have that kind of friendship.” And she did: she still has friends she met in the ’70s. Flamingo, too, says the show influenced her close relationships: one friend she made through the fandom lived with her for 20 years. 

In our June article, Jay Castello talks to the admins of the Starsky & Hutch Fiction Archive about their decades-long efforts to preserve fanworks—and fandom friendships.

In our June article, Jay Castello talks to the Starsky & Hutch fans who've spent decades preserving S&H fanworks—and trying to model their fandom friendships after the relationship on the show.