21 Jump Street

A by-the-numbers, self-consciously smug blend of "Mod Squad" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." [10 Apr 1987, p.9C]

It's dull, but predictable...The script is flawed and its attempts at humor clumsily executed. For another, Hanson is written as a real slug, and Depp is a blank. In fact, none of the characters is very credible, and only DeLuise's wisecracking Penhall (you have to wise crack to be street smart) is remotely interesting.

As rigorously lame-brained as television in our time is likely to get. [11 Apr 1987, p.C1]

Pointless gimmicks, dire stupidity, rotten acting and gratuitous violence abound, and, in the opening episode, so does implicit racism. The treatment of blacks in 21 Jump Street marks a new and unwelcome chapter in TV's history of on-screen racism; they are unquestionably portrayed as savage, violent figures threatening vulnerable whites. [11 Apr 1987, p.D-13]