Jump Around

Do you remember Johnny Depp back in the day? You know, when he was all fresh-faced and bright-eyed - before he entered his bad boy, public fracas get arrested for disorderly conduct phase. Think post- A Nightmare on Elm Street but pre Edward Scissorhands and you'll find him cleaning up the streets as Officer Tom Hanson in hip cop-drama, 21 Jump Street. As yet unsullied by the evils of fame, the young whippersnapper upheld the law with the aid of his equally green buddies as part of a special 'youth' police initiative. Going undercover as high school students - the horror! - the team would root out drugs and other crime in the hallways of America's learning institutes and now, more than ten years after the show was pulled, 21 Jump Street is going to the movies. Paramount has secured the rights to this teen-friendly cop property and will no doubt be on the hunt for another batch of bushy-tailed stars to replace Depp and friends. Interestingly, it was not Depp who was seen as Jump Street's golden boy at the time. Co-star Richard Grieco was the precinct's heart-throb of choice as earring-sporting narc, Dennis Booker. He even spawned his own spin-off show, Booker, where he left the precinct to become a private investigator. How he must have gloated as he left Depp and co behind. Incidentally, Grieco was last seen in Fish Don't Blink - the latest in a string of straight-to-video turkeys - alongside Star Trek's Wesley Crusher (aka Wil Wheaton). It's a cruel world.