A gender-swap twist in Starsky & Hutch remake development

Fox is developing a TV reboot of the 1970s action classic "Star and Hatch" (2004), starring two women.

Starsky & Hutch are developing a female-led reboot at Fox. Starring Paul Michael Glaser as the edgy and passionate Detective David Michael Starkey and David Saul as his more bookish, retired partner Hutch Hutchinson, the action series originally appeared on It aired for four seasons on ABC between 1975 and 1979. Todd Phillips later adapted the series into a 2004 comedy film starring Ben Stiller as Starkey and Owen Wilson as Hutch.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Starsky & Hutch reboot starring two women is currently in the works at Fox. The producers and writers involved are Elizabeth Peterson, the screenwriter for Fox's medical drama "The Resident," and Sam Sclaver, the creator of the procedural film "The Prodigal Son." The series will follow Sasha Starsky and Nicole Hutchinson as they solve various crimes surrounding Desert City and try to solve a 15-year-old case that sent their father unjustly to prison.

Some Gender-Swapped Reboot Series Are More Successful Than Others

The gender-swapped reboot is a common trope in modern pop culture, with many different IP titles from the past returning to center stage. On the television side, titles that employ this trope include Girl Meets World, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (rebooted Doogie Howser) and The CW. Some of these films — especially those with female leads — have been derided, like the all-female Ghostbusters flick in 2016, but others have stood out in their respective franchises.

One of the longer-running gender-swap series is The Equalizer, which is currently in its third season on CBS, starring Queen Latifah. Another fan-favorite reboot is Hulu's How I Met Your Mother, which is in the middle of a massive second season. High Fidelity, the Zoë Kravitz series, also received a Certified Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, though it was canceled for a season afterward.

Ultimately, a character's gender is irrelevant as long as there is a strong creative team behind the project. Considering that Starsky & Hutch's development is still in its early stages, it's too early to tell if that will be the case here. However, fans of the series should rejoice that this is the first time the series has received attention since James Gunn's attempted reboot in the late 2010s.

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