The Good Guys - The Best Show No One Is Watching
If you aren't watching Fox's show, The Good Guys, you are missing a hilarious hour of fun, camp and laughter. And when I say "laughter", what I really mean is Diet Coke out the nose snorting laughter with tired ribs and sore but tighter ab muscles laughter. Bradley Whitford is comedic genius as the over-the-top former hero cop, Dan Stark, who is still living in the past. Colin Hanks (Jack Bailey) is spot on perfect as the straight guy in this comedy who is supposed to keep his wild partner in control but always ends up getting caught up in the extravagant schemes to nail the bad buy.
At first glance you might think the show is just strange and over-the-top ridiculous. But the more you watch and with each new episode (which just get better and better) you will find yourself reaching for kleenex to wipe the tears of laughter from your face and cheering for The Good Guys to get the bad guys. I suggest watching with/on a DVR because I promise that you will end up having to rewind to catch lines you missed because you are laughing so hard.
The supporting cast is pitch perfect and brings all the outrageousness into perspective. Diana Riva as Lt. Ana Ruiz does such a great job of being exasperated, impressed, embarrassed and concerned with Dan Stark that she once had passionate night with. Jenny Wade is great as Jack's love interest, ADA Liz Traynor, or rather the love interest Jack wants her to be. They have recently added a new female character played by Angela Sarafyan, that is bringing her own dynamic to the show as the possible third in a Liz/Jack/Samantha triangle as she brings some heart, adoration, intelligence and likeability to the show. And as all 70's cop shows had a regular snitch, so does The Good Guys. His name is Julius, played by RonReaco Lee.
So why aren't more people watching this show? Well, it is unique, but it also happens to be on FOX which lets face it...SUCKS when it comes to promoting and supporting risky shows and has decided to waste it on Friday nights. Thank goodness for DVR because half the time I'm not even home in time to watch this show Fridays, even when I remember that it airs on Friday.
So do yourself a favor, if you love funny, witty, smart, quirky shows, check it out before it's gone. Maybe if you do check it out, it won't be gone.
FRIDAYS, 9 EST; 8 CST, your local FOX channel.
Some of my favorite Dan Stark lines:
"A sandwich without meat is not a sandwich. It's just lonely bread."
"ZOMBIE!!! Shoot it in it's head....it's the only way!"
"Do not fear! I will personally be on patrol...all night long...in your neighborhood. That's right! When the sun goes down, I...will be right outside that window...watching..............for that peeping tom."
Fighting a laptop computer. "You think you're smarter than me?!?! Huh? Do ya?! Huh? Do ya?" He slaps the laptop around while Julius tries to get him to calm down. Dan picks up the laptop and screams "TELL ME WHERE MY PARTNER IS!" And the computer refuses to tell him where Jack is as Dan continues to freak out like a bad cop in an interrogation room. "STUPID....MIND FREAK...ROAD BLOCK...IT'S LIKE YOUR THINKING MY THOUGHTS! IT'S LIKE YOUR IN MY HEAD...I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT!" He pulls out his gun and points it at the computer. "YOU'RE FREAKING ME OUT!" Julius rushes to intervene and calms Dan down, showing him how to get to the GPS tracker on the computer. Dan is impressed. "Wow, it's like your the computer machine whisperer!" (I laughed so hard I nearly had an accident!)