'21 Jump Street' In Order
The 21 Jump Street franchise has had two very different lives. The original TV series, which premiered in 1987, was a crime drama about young-looking police officers going undercover to investigate crimes involving teenagers. More than two decades later, the franchise debuted on the big screen and turned the same premise into a buddy-cop comedy.
Both films, which, along with the series, can be found on platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+, take a few fun shots at everything from high school stereotypes to Hollywood's obsession with sequels. With another installment in development, now is a good time to look back at how the 21 Jump Street franchise has changed, from its crime-drama roots to its big-screen comedy hits.
21 Jump Street follows a team of youthful-looking police officers who go undercover in various high schools and colleges to investigate crimes affecting young people. Their cases often involve drugs and gangs. The show was one of the early hits for Fox, which was still establishing itself as a network. It also turned Johnny Depp into a household name before he became a big movie star.
Unlike the films that followed, the original series takes its cases very seriously, often tackling difficult social issues rather than using the undercover premise for comedy. Although some episodes feel a little dated, the series serves as an interesting snapshot of the social issues and anxieties that inspired teen dramas in the late '80s and early '90s.
The series is a must for Depp fans and anyone who enjoys procedural crime dramas.
Booker is a 21 Jump Street spinoff that follows the titular Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco), a former police officer who takes a job investigating suspicious insurance claims for the U.S. office of a large Japanese company. Booker previously appeared as a recurring character in the original series, but the spinoff puts him outside the usual world of undercover police work.
Booker's biggest selling point is its lead character, who has little patience for authority and isn't too interested in following orders. That gives the show a different feel from 21 Jump Street, although it struggled to find the same audience as the flagship series. Fox eventually moved it to a later time slot before canceling it after just one season.
Booker is perfect for fans interested in the wider Jump Street universe.
The 2012 film, 21 Jump Street, follows police officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum), who are sent undercover at a high school to investigate the distribution of a synthetic drug. The former classmates' assignment becomes more complicated when they struggle to fit into a generation of students whose social rules have changed since they were teenagers.
Hill and Tatum are the main reason the movie is so entertaining. Hill plays Schmidt as an insecure former outsider, while Tatum's Jenko is more confident but struggles with the academic side of their assignment. Their roles also turn the actors' established screen personas upside down, with Tatum's comedic performance proving just as important to the film as Hill's experience with comedy.
Fans of buddy-cop comedies will adore 21 Jump Street.
22 Jump Street begins when Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) return to college for another undercover mission. This time the duo has to track down the supplier of a new drug called Whyphy. Things go sideways when they start making different friends and pursuing separate interests. Their partnership starts to suffer as they try to balance the case with their changing relationship.
The sequel spends a lot of time making meta jokes about how a successful film needs a bigger, more expensive follow-up. Hill and Tatum's chemistry remains the biggest draw, but Ice Cube also steals a few scenes as Captain Dickson, who has little patience for his officers. The college setting gives the story a new backdrop, which helps to keep the movie from feeling like a simple retread.
If you enjoyed the original, the sequel belongs on your watchlist, especially if you appreciate comedies that laugh at their own existence.
24 Jump Street is currently in the works, with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in talks to return. Skipping straight to 24 for the title is a nod to the franchise's own running joke. The end credits of the last movie imagined Schmidt and Jenko taking on a string of ridiculous undercover assignments inside the medical school to space before branching into video games and an animated series.
According to Variety, 24 Jump Street is set to hit cinemas on Dec. 10, 2027. The movie is bringing back the same creative team behind the first two movies, which is a promising sign for fans. While the story will follow Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) on their next mission, the exact details are currently under wraps.
The only challenge will be finding a fresh way to send Schmidt and Jenko undercover without losing the self-aware humor that made the earlier movies so fun.
