Next week, Fox will launch a cop show called The Good Guys. (It previews May 19th. The series starts June 7.)
Outwardly, things looks fine. The producer is Matt Nix, who recently triumphed with Burn Notice. Its stars Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford, able actors to be sure. Plus Fox is good at making good TV.
But my gut says this show is going to be a stinker. The Hollywood Reporter description:
[The show] centers on Jack (Hanks), an ambitious, by-the-book detective whose habit of undermining himself has resulted in a dead-end position at the Los Angeles Police Department. Worse, he has been partnered with Dan (Whitford), a drunken, lecherous, wild-card cop who hangs onto his job only because of a heroic act years before.
This made the eyes roll back in my head. At a time when Modern Family is reinventing the family comedy, Burn Notice the spy story, and New Christine the situation comedy, this doesn’t sound promising. My first warning: I got bored in the middle of the 15 second promotion.
Of course this is why people hate bloggers. We don’t do due diligence. We just make shit up. We don’t investigate or even think very hard. We shoot from the hip.
But exactly! This is precisely the time to judge the show Before we know the details, before we have seen an episode, before any diligence is done. When all we know is the concept, this is the best, the only real, opportunity to see whether our instincts are good for anything. (Sometimes, that is to say, bloggers do the wrong thing for the right reason. Hasty judgment in this case is due diligence.)
It’s also a chance to go on the record. So I’m going on the record. I believe this show will be a stinker. I believe it will be so bad Fox won’t run the whole of the first season.
I hope I’m wrong. Unlike Angie Tempura (above), I am not a sneering, know-it-all, blogger. I wish this show well. No one likes to see this much talent, money and risk go to waste.
Please come join me. I would especially like to hear from those who like the sound of the concept.
Your comments please!
References
Andreeva, Nellie. 2009. Colin Hanks Revs Up for Jack and Dan. Hollywood Reporter. November 3. here. (subscription fee may be required)
For more on The Good Guys, check out the Fox cite here. But, please, form a judgment first!
I thought I’d be able to derive some kind of wonderful insight here by contrasting the Hollywood Reporter descriptor in your piece with a description of Modern Family. I was thinking that the Modern Family description would be similarly drab and generic, and I would therefore be able to argue that it would be the execution (cast + editing + writing) that sets Modern Family apart, and perhaps give hope to The Good Guys.
Alas I found this description for Modern Family …
“This mockumentary explores the many different types of a modern family through the stories of a gay couple, comprised of Mitchell and Cameron, and their daughter Lily, a straight couple, comprised of Phil and Claire, and their three kids, Haley, Alex, and Luke, and a multicultural couple, which is… More comprised of Jay and Gloria, and their son Manny. These three types of families are being taped by a Dutch documentary crew who are using them for an upcoming reality-based television series due to air in The Netherlands.”
I am undone.
I smell failure too. I’m going to predict that it will be quickly moved to Fox’s graveyard of Friday night. This feels a little like ‘Till Death. A star, a lot of retooling, bad writing. The description sounds too much like the odd couple as cops. Hmmmm, now will I torture myself and watch the pilot in order to make fun of it?
Predicting successful TV shows, like predicting successful athletes going from college to pro, is a good way to lose money quickly. Way too many variables at this point to know if this will be a dud or a hit. But from reading the concept, my question is, “What’s happening on this show that I haven’t already seen before?”
I’d say the two biggest factors that will determine success are: 1. Will the two leads have chemistry? 2. Will Fox be patient and let the show find an audience?
I think the former is more likely than the latter.
I did see this show advertised today… on a poster in the window of a Great Clips. So this show and cheap haircuts are somehow linked? That’s not a good sign at all.