Review -- The Good Guys

The Good Guys
Bait and Switch
Fox Mondays 9 p.m. (summer)

The second episode of Fox's cop show parody/paradigm improves on the pilot episode in a few subtle ways, but it's clear (at least for now) that creator Matt Nix and company have a formula for this show, and are largely going to stick to it. The Good Guys is, after all, parodying a procedural genre and thus the episodes stick to a pretty much set format. It starts with Jack and Dan investigating an incredibly minor case (here, it's a rock thrown through the bedroom window of two young women - they're just roommates, despite Dan's conception of the crime scene) which then is revealed to be somehow related to much more serious criminal activity (here, English car thieves), and then there's your standard relationship drama on the side with Jack and Liz (here it comes up after fellow cop Kiersten - hey it's that one professor from Community! - asks Jack out on a date). Though it's essentially the same exact formula as the pilot, Bait and Switch is more consistently funny and utilizes side characters to better effect.

While Liz (Jenny Wade) was given almost nothing to do in the pilot, here she is given...well, a little bit more to do. Mainly, she's there to look pretty and provide a natural love interest for Jack, but it was nice to get a little bit more detail about the odd "friendly" relationship Liz and Jack have established. Put to somewhat better use was Julius (Ron 'Reaco' Lee), who was seen in the pilot, but who I was a little surprised to see again so quickly. It's usually a good sign when a show has a kind of character like Julius that it can draw on occasionally, and Julius served as a good foil to Dan in this episode. However, some slightly concerning information: Diana Maria Riva, the fourth series regular, was nowhere to be seen in this episode (and this after being essentially a non-entity in the pilot).

Why am I spending so much time talking about side characters? Well, for one, there's not a whole lot to say about Hanks and Whitford in the lead roles - both are still doing solid work, and I still like the dynamic between them. Secondly, it's crucial for a procedural like The Good Guys to develop its ensemble cast and recurring characters fairly quickly. We know the formula each episode is going to follow. We know the characters of Jack and Dan already (Jack is the ambitious young straight man, Dan is afraid of the "computer machine"). It's pretty easy to see how this show could get old real fast, and having other interesting characters can prevent that from happening when they're used well.

Another reason I'm not talking about the specifics of the episode: there isn't a whole lot to say. There was some quality humor (again, not really riotously funny, but enough for a few chuckles) and fine action sequences - Dan running into the warehouse, firing his gun into the air after crashing a car through the windows was great. I wasn't so fond of the flashback method of storytelling - it wasn't really necessary for the plot and it can easily lead to lazy writing, but it wasn't particularly egregious here. But that's about all I really can say - it was enjoyable, but it's the exact same formula as the last episode.

That's really the problem with reviewing a procedural like The Good Guys - each episode is, at its core, the same as all the others. That's why people love to watch them - if you like the characters and the formula the show follows, it's very accessible and fun (think Law and Order). And I'm not saying that the show needs to be serialized - but this is why it's more important to discuss the characters and the basis of the show than it is the plot of the episode. And unless The Good Guys shows much more drastic improvement in developing the other characters, or starts coming up with inventive twists on its basic formula, or starts adding in serialized elements, I can't see myself absolutely loving or hating any one episode. But hey, this one worked fine for me!

Grade: B+

"The only place a woman should punch a man is in the face"

Review -- The Good Guys

The Good Guys
Pilot
Fox Mondays 9 p.m. (summer)

And now it's time for the first TV review for The Casualty Report! The Good Guys is currently five episodes in to its first season, and will continue to run throughout the summer at 9 on Mondays, before it moves to 9 on Fridays in the fall (and where it will likely be canceled quickly, unless the ratings improve during the fall season). I am starting off with the pilot episode, and will be working to catch up my rundowns with the show. But for now, the pilot!

The premise of The Good Guys is fairly simple: Colin Hanks plays an arrogant young detective, Jack Bailey, whose lack of tact gets him a crap assignment with Bradley Whitford's character, Dan Stark, a washed up cop with a distrust of the modern age who is only around because of his heroics back in 1985. They work small crimes, but their cases inevitably lead them to major illegal activity and a plethora of car chases and shootouts (As Dan says: "There are no small crimes, only small cops"). Creator Matt Nix (of Burn Notice fame) is clearly shooting for a rather unsubtle parody of 80s cop shows and buddy-cop flicks, but as someone not well-versed in either area, it's still accessible and fun without the background knowledge.

The pilot starts off with the simple theft of a humidifier, but quickly introduces assassins, gunplay, and chases to liven up the action. Accompanying the over-the-top action is a sly sense of humor, which is bolstered by fine performances by Hanks and Whitford, as well as an amusing guess stint by Andrew Divoff as "the second best assassin in the world." There aren't very many laugh-out-loud moments in the pilot, but the light and almost goofy tone seeps into every scene. Whitford's increasingly faltering ability to pronounce the word "humidifier" was a particularly funny gag, as well as Hanks bursting into a room and emptying two clips at Divoff's character, only to miss completely. A lot of the things that struck me as funny, I realize, have as much to do with the actors really selling it than they do with the actual material. This works fine when Hanks and Whitford are doing the heavy lifting, and Divoff provided ample support from a guest role, but it is a little worrisome for the future of the show. If other guest actors aren't as good or more material falls to the two female roles - who were used so minimally here I don't feel the need to talk about them - the humor might fall flat.

And this is a show that definitely needs to be funny. Matt Nix makes sure the action part of the show is fun (and the pilot contains a great car chase set to AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' - the only song of theirs I've ever really liked), but it's not enough to keep me coming back. Nor is the "dramatic"component of The Good Guys, which the pilot hints at a few times with Dan's guilt over his former partner's mental breakdown and the relationship between Jack and his ex-girlfriend, the Assistant District Attorney (played by Jenny Wade). Firstly, neither of those seems particularly compelling to me, and secondly, this is a show that should avoid serious topics like the plague. The pilot was fun enough, but if The Good Guys starts taking itself seriously, it'll become more laughable than Bradley Whitford's mustache.

I'll continue to cover the show for the summer, but unless it shows improvement in developing its ensemble cast and amping up the humor, I doubt I'll be sorry to see it canceled in the fall. Don't get me wrong; the pilot was good. The exposition was dealt with fairly easily, I liked the characters that were introduced, and it kept my attention with the action and humor. But it's just not the kind of show (thus far) where I'd ever go out of my way to watch it.

Grade: B

"If you see any sock monkeys in there, feel free to knife one for me"