Back in 1987, the Fox Network was brand new and needed hits. One of the first shows that broke out in popularity was 21 Jump Street, starring a then-unknown actor named Johnny Depp. He played a young police officer named Tom Hanson who joins a unit of young cops sent to infiltrate high schools. His fellow cops include Peter DeLuise’s Doug Penhall, Holly Robinson’s Judy Hoffs and Dustin Nguyen’s Harry Truman. Later, they’re joined by Richard Greico’s Booker, who, like Depp, became a breakout heartthrob and got his own short-lived show. Of the course of the five seasons, Depp would become a movie star thanks to Edward Scissorhands, and the show would eventually wind up ending its run in syndication.
Years later, the show is an interesting time capsule, which spawned two wildly successful big-screen reboots, 21 Jump Street and its sequel, 22 Jump Street, although they parodied what was essentially a serious cop show. So join us on this week’s Gone But Not Forgotten as we dig into this eighties time capsule.
This episode of Gone But Not Forgotten is written, produced and edited by David Arroyo. Jesse Shade is the narrator. Berge Garabedian is the executive producer. Check out previous episodes below and let us if you remember 21 Jump Street in the comments!