Premiering April 12, 1987, 21 Jump Street was the Fox Network's first attempt at an action-adventure series. Essentially an updated
Mod Squad, the series concerned the exploits of a group of young-looking cops, working undercover as high school students. In the 2-hour opening episode, officer Tom Hanson expresses discomfort at having to be a teenager again; evidently his earlier life was none too pleasant. Jeff Yagher played Hanson in the premiere; he was replaced in all subsequent episodes by star-in-the-making
Johnny Depp. Other regulars include
Holly Robinson as Judy Hoff, Dustin Nguyen as Ioki, and
Peter DeLuise (Dom's son) as Penhall.
Frederic Forrest is also on hand as the obligatory authority figure-himself an unreconstructed flower child. 21 Jump Street remained a Fox network fixture until September 17, 1990; an addition season's worth of episodes were filmed in Vancouver for first-run syndication. Trivia note: the series' original title was Jump Street Chapel, but this was changed lest viewers mistaken the program for a religious weekly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide