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Best known today as the series that helped launch Johnny Depp
to stardom, Stephen J. Cannell's 21 Jump Street was also one of the first
hit programs for the fledgling Fox network, a status that lasted for most of its
five-year run (1987-91), thanks to its engaging mix of youth culture and police
drama. As outlined in the pilot, Depp's baby-faced Ofc. Tom Hanson is
transferred to the special Jump Street division, a unit that utilized young cops
to infiltrate juvenile crime. Unlike many of Fox's youth-oriented shows of the
period (i.e., Beverly Hills 90210), Jump Street took its stories
seriously, and addressed numerous social issues in its episodes; though some of
the fashions and slang seem dated, the program remains entertaining decades
later.
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