The Good Guys is an American action comedy-drama series about an old-school cop and a modern-day detective that premiered with a preview episode on Fox on May 19, 2010, and began airing regularly on June 7 of that year. The series stars Bradley Whitford as Dan Stark, a mustachioed, former big-shot detective with the Dallas Police Department, and Colin Hanks as Jack Bailey, a young, ambitious, by-the-book detective who has been assigned as Dan's partner because of his snarky attitude. On December 15, 2010, The Good Guys was canceled by Fox Television Studios.

Characters

Production

The Good Guys was originally known by the working title Jack and Dan. For several months the series was to be known as Code 58, the Dallas Police Department code for "routine investigation", and then briefly as The Five Eight before producers settled on The Good Guys title. During the January 2010 Television Critics Association press tour, Colin Hanks jokingly suggested "Opposite Buddy Cop Show". The title sequence uses the song "Slink (A Hymn)" by the group Locksley as the show's theme. The first season was filmed primarily in Dallas, Texas, and made use of the Fair Park area as much as possible for its diverse shooting locations and so as not to disturb the residents. The show was originally planned to be set in Los Angeles until Dallas city officials convinced creator Matt Nix to set the show in Dallas. Nix said of Dallas, "It's a great city to jump on the hood of a car." Initially, the protagonists' mode of transportation is a mid-nineties Chevrolet Lumina, but during the course of the first episode, Dan Stark acquires a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am and uses it to great dramatic effect during the rescue of a hostage. By the end of the pilot episode, the new car has won the grudging respect of the uptight Bailey, and become the team's new vehicle. After the Lumina gets totaled in "Bait & Switch", it is replaced with a mid-2000s Ford Taurus, but Dan and Jack rarely use it as the team vehicle. Production work on the series began in January 2010 and principal photography of the pilot wrapped in early February 2010. Cast members spent time shadowing their real-life Dallas counterparts to prepare for their roles. In May 2010, Fox announced that an additional seven episodes had been ordered for the show's first season, extending the initial run to 20 episodes. The show struggled with low ratings, regularly ranking in fourth place for its timeslot during the summer and then fifth place from October onward; hence, renewal prospects – despite the show's low production costs – were uncertain. Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said that although the network would not be immediately ordering new episodes of the show it had not been cancelled. The final episode was broadcast December 10, 2010, on Fox. On December 15, 2010, Robert Wilonsky of the Dallas Observer reported that Fox Television Studios, a production company for the show, informed the Dallas Film Commission that the show would not be renewed for a second season.

Episodes

Broadcast

The show's summer run on Monday nights at 9:00 PM ET/PT ended on August 2, 2010. The Good Guys moved to Friday nights at 9:00 PM ET/PT along with reruns of House M.D. (Human Target was originally planned as the show's lead-in, but was put on Wednesdays after Lone Star was canceled), with new episodes resuming starting on September 24, 2010. Starting on January 1, 2011, the entire series was being rerun on Fox on Saturday nights at 11:00 PM ET/PT. However, the repeats were pulled on January 13, in favor of Fringe.

Reception

Critical response

The Good Guys has an average critic score of 61/100 based on 20 reviews from television critics, yet it possesses an 8.3/10 user score, on the same site (Metacritic). Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times called the show "fresh" as well as a "buddy act" that is "silly in a clever and engaging way". John Crook of the Sudbury Star found the series "a refreshing blast of laughter and almost nonstop action" that "combines a sharp visual style with a time-jumping narrative". Nancy deWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal enjoyed the show's "Lazarus effect" of an old-school cop in modern policing that successfully does the impossible by referencing "one of the most culturally lame eras in modern memory and making it seem shiny and new." deWolf Smith went on to say "its standout achievement may be originality." Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said, "It's not often that dramatic actors are asked -- no, required -- to ham it up, and Whitford does so with relish (ham and relish? Would it be going too far to call The Good Guys cheesy too?)." Ryan went on to say that the show that came to mind when she was watching the first episode was the late night satirical news show The Colbert Report. Deseret News television critic Scott D. Pierce did not like the series, calling it "Very disappointing. Massively disappointing." Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wished the series worked because there is "so much proven talent involved," however he felt "the hour drags." Jim McFarlin of Detroit's Metro Times did not find what he was looking for in the show. "With the economy still on the critical list and crime on the upsurge the notion of funny, drunk cops just doesn't play well these days." McFarlin compared the show to the American version of Life on Mars, an unconventional police drama which was cancelled after one season, and said, "If you're expecting another Burn Notice with The Good Guys, prepare to get burned." Hank Stuever of The Washington Post found that, "Like our own society, The Good Guys doesn't know when it is." Stuever went on to call the show "a throwback to the days when the car chase was more important than the lab analysis" and that it has "the tiniest whiff of satirical potential".

Ratings