‘Starsky & Hutch’ Remake in the Works at Fox (Exclusive)

Fire up the Gran Torino: An update of the 1970s cop show Starsky & Hutch is in the offing.

Fox is developing the project, which will be feature two female characters in the title roles, via its script-to-series model. Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn told The Hollywood Reporter he expects to have at least two scripts from writers/showrunners Sam Sklaver (Prodigal Son) and Elizabeth Peterson (The Resident) before making a decision on it.

Sony Pictures Television, which as Columbia Pictures TV produced the original series, and Fox Entertainment are producing.

The show is one of a handful of projects in Fox’s development pipeline. The network is also working on a medical drama titled Doc (also with Sony) from writer and showrunner Barbie Kligman (Magnum P.I.), based on an Italian series about a doctor who loses eight years of her memory after a traumatic accident. Marc Cherry’s Jenny Is a Weapon is also in the works.

The modern “reimagining” of Starsky & Hutch will center on two female detectives, Sasha Starsky and Nicole Hutchinson. They solve crimes in the offbeat town of Desert City while staying true to their friendship, their awesomeness, and somehow also trying to unravel the mystery behind who sent their fathers to prison 15 years ago for a crime they didn’t commit.

William Blinn created the original series, which ran from 1975-79 on ABC and starred David Soul, Paul Michael Glaser in the title roles, Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear, the two detectives’ informant, and a cherry-red Ford Gran Torino with a white stripe across its sides and roof. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Snoop Dogg starred in a 2004 feature film that paid homage to/ironically winked at the series.

Peterson is currently part of the mini writers room developing Jenny Is a Weapon at Fox and previously worked on Prodigal Son and HBO’s The Leftovers and The Newsroom. Peterson is repped by CAA and Lichter Grossman.