New shows that are fantastic seem hard to come by nowadays. HOWEVER. New shows that are at least a little refreshing are continuing to accumulate my Hulu account and my want-to-watch lists, though, this year, and it’s rare for me to start watching a show that was NOT recommended to me first. I have little patience for stumbling onto shows that seem to be a copy-paste idea with nothing but a new coat of paint and a younger cast. However, sometimes the shows that I sit down with, having no knowledge beforehand, can actually prove entertaining.
One of the newest recruits to the TV-loves-cops-and-guns subgenre is “the Good Guys”. Basically, Colin Hanks is the straight man to Bradley Whitford’s ridiculous partner in a buddy-cop dramedy that started up this summer. From the get-go, the music underplaying tons of scenes gives you a pretty standard feel of “action show fun!” while also keeping an almost-retro sort of fun to the show. That plus the 70’s pornstar mustache sported by Whitford is something of a character all on its own. The damn thing steals half the scenes if you’re used to his old character from “the West Wing”, and it’s somehow got a charisma and a vitality that make his slackjawed reactions to their escalating scenarios all the more funnier.
The pair spend each weekly episode getting into large-scale crimebusting from some seemingly innocuous start---and always at the bumbling, shoot-first-and-don’t-apologize ogrely tactics of Whitford’s character. Bailey and Stark (Hanks and Whit respectively) are “loveable” because they’re unorthodox, and fortunately this show has enough laughs alongside the explosions to keep one interested, albeit a repetitive tactic. But loveable is a relative term with this show as they are regularly singled out as the trouble-making pair on the police force and if I were the Commissioner I feel like I would be JUST as exasperated as she that these two assholes can create piles of mess and complication but somehow still manage to solve cases that seemed simple or nonexistent at first glance.
I think one of the reasons I can adore this show, and be somewhat nonplussed at the same time, is that it’s created by one Matt Nix. You may or may not be aware of his other show, “Burn Notice” which has garnered decent ratings, certainly enough for a fourth season now. The spy-who’s-no-longer-a-spy, but-still-uses-spy-skills-to-be-a-hero show had a solid start, but has lost my appetite even if I am still returning to see how things go down. Oh, and it seems like our writer/creator’s through-line for all shows will be “badass car that you wish you were driving”. I do enjoy the cars. Mmmmmm.
The biggest problem with both of these shows is that they are beyond merely formulaic, they’re this-is-a-blueprint-done-as-color-by-numbers. With Burn Notice it’s Michael getting roped into helping some schmuck who’s gotten entangled with hardcore criminals while occasionally beginning to delve into the still-4-seasons-later mystery to the bigger picture of WHY he was blacklisted as a spy. With Good Guys, the pattern goes, “pair opens a minor case, case blends with unrelated event and draws them into major police success against Bigger Circumstance”. Now I understand the logic behind this, but let me tell you right now, the minute Bradley Whitford’s Daniel Stark stops becoming funny in his over-the-top bravado and brustling bristles of butch-ness, I will not want to keep watching. That’s the pleasant part of the show—Hanks and Whitford execute each joke with accuracy and inner energy. It sincerely looks like they’re having fun MAKING this show.
In short, if you're a fan of either actor and If you’re a cop-genre fan and want something on the humorous side, then I would recommend THE GOOD GUYS. But if you’re looking for a Law & Order replacement you’re watching the wrong channel.
Three out of Five mustachios.
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