Starsky & Hutch: Little Girl Lost originally aired Saturday, December 25th 1976.

Consummate 1970s tv cop duo Starsky & Hutch was a huge hit after first hitting the airwaves in 1975, it seemed like nearly everyone in America had to get home every week as to not miss any of their high speed exploits. Undercover police detectives Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul) couldn't have been more different. Starsky was a loud, extroverted, junk food eating hard street cop. Hutch was a more refined and sophisticated type of guy than his partner, he was also more cautious than Starsky but more than able to handle himself in the difficult situations that they often found themselves. Despite (or maybe because of) their differences they made for a great police team, both were smart and tough and not afraid to bend the rules to make sure that justice was done. They came thru many adventures using their fists and brains to put the bad guys away. With the help of their streetwise informant Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas) and boss Captain Dobey (Bernie Hamilton) they were able to keep the mean streets clean of crime for four entertaining seasons.

Molly "Pete" Edwards (Kristy McNichol) is a young girl living on her own on the mean streets of the city, she is a tough little kid that is used to taking care of herself. She does have a father (King Moody) but as he has spent a lot of time in jail and the rest of his time drinking he isn't much of a father to her. Starsky and Hutch run into "Pete" at a local grocery stealing food and try to help her. Her father has some problems of his own. Before he went to jail the last time he and his buddies pulled off a diamond robbery and he ended up with the loot. Now that he is out again his friends want their cut of the money no matter what they have to do to get it. They accidentally kill him while he is trying to get away and now they begin searching for his daughter, the only person alive that might know where the diamonds are. Meanwhile Hutch has decided to try to help Molly and she moves in with him, at least until other arrangements can be made. The killers, having finally tracked her down kidnap her but she somehow manages to escape. Molly then decides to use herself as bait for a trap to capture the men that killed her father, but it is a dangerous game she is playing, a game that could get her killed.

This was Kristy McNichol's second appearance on this series and also her best. Her role here is much more developed than on the other two episodes in which she appeared. She is also given more time to develop her character and to fully display her acting abilities. She has several touching and memorable scenes and her character is completely essential to the story, in the case of this particular episode probably even more so than the show's stars.

Buying note: This episode is available as part of a 5 disc boxed set that includes the entire second season of Starsky & Hutch. The set also includes original tv promo spots and other special features.

5-20-2006