In 1987, pop culture introduced audiences to an elite group of undercover police officers. This series also served as a major launching point for Johnny Depp’s now illustrious career. It’s been 30 years since the initial launch of this show, which has also spawned two feature length films. Do you know what series this is?
21 Jump Street, created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, premiered on FOX on April 12, 1987. The series follows a group of police officers, who have especially youthful appearances allowing them to pass for teenagers. Generally, these officers went undercover in high schools or colleges, to investigate drug trafficking and abuse. The show’s plot often dealt with issues like alcoholism, hate crimes, drug abuse, homophobia, AIDS, child abuse and sexual promiscuity. Each hour-long episode would end with either a moral about the impact of a particular activity, or a PSA featuring one of the cast members.
21 Jump Street aired on Fox until April 27, 1991, producing a total of 103 episodes. It was later rerun on the FX cable network from 1996 to 1998. The television series starred Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise, Dustin Nguyen, Richard Grieco, Steven Williams, Michael Bendetti, Michael DeLuise, Sal Jenco, and Frederic Forrest. The show was an early hit for the fledgling FOX network and featured several celebrity guest stars, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn, Bridget Fonda, Christina Applegate, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and many others.
In 2012, Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced a feature film adaptation set in the same chronology as the television series. This film followed the same premise as the initial series, albeit with a more comedic feel, and starred Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Depp, Robinson, and DeLuise reprised their characters in cameo appearances. A follow-up to the film, 22 Jump Street, saw Tatum and Hill take their successful undercover skills to college. This 2014 film features cameo appearances by Grieco and Nguyen. Two future films, MIB 23 – which is a planned crossover with the Men in Black franchise – and a female-led spinoff are both currently in development.
Who knows what the world of 21 Jump Street will accomplish in another 30 years?
