Suit and 'Stache Meet Shawn and Gus

I've been volleying between liking and disliking Fox's new show The Good Guys. I really want to love it since it is filmed here in my native city: Dallas. I also relish the thought that for once Dallas might be portrayed as a real city. I will never forget the last time I was in New York and ate at a "Texan" restaurant. There were pictures of the Dallas skyline surrounded by nothing but desert and tumbleweeds. Then there were all the people asking me if I rode my horse to school. Really? Uh, I've never been on a horse let alone own one to ride to school. Does this mean I think Dallas and New York are on the same level of city? Well, not really but it is frustrating when the only image people have of my city involves the letters J and R and the word Ewing. I mean, the Ewing house is not even in Dallas city limits! But I digress...

In The Good Guys there are a couple of "characters," who I will call Suit (Colin Hanks) and 'Stache (Bradley Whitford), that are thrown together on the Dallas Police force because they are both some type of screw-up. Suit apparently incorrectly corrected someone important and 'Stache still lives in the '70s with regards to how he handles police business. Potential? Sure. Have they pulled it off? Nope. I have many theories why this is so. For example, I cannot even remember the characters' names hence referencing them as "Suit" and "'Stache." (I even had to look up 'Stache's real name because all I know him as is "that guy from The West Wing" and I didn't even watch The West Wing). If I cannot connect to the characters enough to remember their names, the creators have not made characters worth connecting to.

Another reason this show is lacking involves the "relationship" between Suit and one of the Assistant DAs, who has the WORST fake Texan accent. I refuse to learn her name because I don't care if she and Suit hook up or not. The story goes something like Suit and ADA used to date, have broken up, and she's moved on. However, they still have some type of attraction to each other. Not buyin' it! First of all, why would the writers tell me all this in the very first episode? Why not let me see the chemistry the two have, wonder why they haven't gotten together, and then BAM surprise me with their past?! Then at least they could build some type of "relationship" throughout the series. Secondly, there is NO chemistry between Suit and ADA. I don't feel it and can't believe it.

One of the biggest hindrances to the show is the missing partner connection between Suit and 'Stache. Sometimes it's almost there but mostly it's not. I blame the writers since Suit and 'Stache seemed to be strong actors. It feels like there should be witty dialog between Suit and 'Stache that they can play and improvise with. It could build a stronger connection between them and lead to a more memorable set of characters. There has only been one episode so far where I felt they actually had the kind of partnership to make the show worth watching (and the link for the full episode has expired so I can't even embed it). It is the episode with the pimp Gemini. I believe it is called "The Broken Door Theory."

Although it may be too late to correct some of these errors, I know that the last problem I mention can easily be fixed if the writers took a good look at Psych. Now, I know I've praised the glory of Shawn and Gus in previous posts (mostly to express anger at the blatant ripoff the Mentalist is of Psych). Perhaps they work so well because the show's been on for five seasons, maybe it's because the show's writer has a degree in English therefore truly appreciating the written word and how to create meaningful dialog with great allusions, or it could simply be that James Roday and Dule Hill have  a true camaraderie that shines through to the audience. Take the following clip:



Notice how Shawn asks Gus to repeat everything in his Jamaican accent AND HE DOES IT! He doesn't ask why, he doesn't get frustrated, he just does it! Gus also maintains the seriousness of the news he's relating and they make their way from the football field to the crime scene. Psych is full of humorous things like this mostly within clever dialog. Maybe that's why I love the show since wordplay is one of my favorite past times! Watch these videos to see the greatness of Psych:





The final link takes you to the actual Psych page because it wouldn't just let me embed the video. Enjoy!

Best of Psych

So creators of The Good Guys, if you can manage to wrangle the same magic between Suit and 'Stache that exists between Shawn and Gus, I might just remember the characters and love your show.