'The Good Guys' - 'The Dim Knight': Where's Walter White when you need him?
A dog poisoning case leads to a meth ring.
A bad guy gets the drop on "The Good Guys."
A quick review of last night's "The Good Guys" coming up just as soon as my code for the copy machine works...
Like Todd VanDerWerff over at The AV Club, I thought "The Dim Knight" was a little too busy for its own good, and would have rather the bad guy portion of the hour focus more on the John Woo-esque hitman and his terrified translator. Still, I enjoyed the hour a bunch, and Whitford is definitely growing on me (and the show has wisely tilted more towards comedy since the pilot).
That said, I'm not sure this one's going to merit weekly reviews. It's a fun summer diversion (and, assuming Fox sticks to the fall schedule, it should be an entertaining show to kick off the weekend come September), but there's not much worth analyzing. "Burn Notice" shakes things up weekly in terms of the clients, the undercover identities and strategies that Michael adopts, the larger season story arcs, etc., where the four "Good Guys" episodes have been minor variations on the same amusing theme.
The most notable development here was the idea that Jack and Dan might work their way out of the doghouse (on a case, appropriately, that started off with poisoned dogs), and of course that had to get scotched, Gilligan-style. (Though you would think Jack could have come up with a more convincing lie, like saying The Dim Knight snuck out the back door during the shootout.) There will come a point, however, where the show's going to have to have the boss confront the way that every minor case these two work eventually leads to crime lords and foreign assassins and a hail of bullets and explosions - even if the way she confronts it is to suggest they stick to minor crimes because they have an uncanny knack for following small trails to bigger prey.
Anyway, I'll check back in with a review if an upcoming episode is noticeably different. In the meantime, what did everybody else think?
News From Our Partners
-
FTW vs. WTF: The TV Week in Review (May 19)
Doctor Who "The Name of the Doctor" Review: The Impossible Girl Made Possible
What to Watch This Weekend: The Season Finales of Nikita, Doctor Who, The Simpsons, and Family Guy
-
The Telefile - The Most Heinous Person on Reality TV This Week
The Telefile - Modern Family: The Best Lines of the Night
The Telefile - Fall TV 2013: What's On When
-
'Doctor Who' Season 8 Confirmed, Steven Moffat to Return
The Wrap Up: Behind-the-Scenes Image from 'Godzilla' Shows a Train in Peril
Batman: Arkham Origins Will See the Return of Kevin Conroy
-
Box Office: 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Misses $100M Domestic Mark on Opening Weekend
Beyonce Pregnant Again? Sources Confirm 'Epic' Star Is Carrying Baby No. 2
'Hangover 3' Red Band Trailer: Take a Walk Down a NSFW Memory Lane (VIDEO)
-
A Final 'Office' Farewell
Stefon Marries Anderson Cooper In Final Show
Creed Bratton: Closing Creed Thoughts
-
'Anchorman 2' Trailer Had Us At 'Hello': Watch Now!
Fiery 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Scene Hurt The Most: Ouch!
How Far Will 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Boldly Go At Box Office?
-
Cannes Film Festival: Cannes 2013, Day Four: The Coen brothers return to the festival with a folk-rock flashback
Cannes Film Festival: Cannes 2013, Day Three: Cheers for the young stars of The Selfish Giant, jeers for the new films by Hirokazu Kore-eda and Arnaud Desplechin
Watch This: With Beavis And Butt-head Do America, Mike Judge skewered the idiocy of cinematic adventures
-
Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' Captures Top Digital Song Honor at 2013 Billboard Music Awards
Macklemore + Ryan Lewis Win Best Rap Song for 'Thrift Shop' at 2013 Billboard Music Awards
2013 Billboard Music Awards Gets a Tour From Taylor Swift's '22′ Performance [Video]
Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching
Latest Posts
-
Don and Stan get a special shot, the agency loses a leader and Sally meets her 'Grandma Ida'Monday, May 20, 2013
-
The Lannisters throw a wedding, Daenerys faces a new army, and Stannis meets GendrySunday, May 19, 2013
-
Promising pilots, puzzling scheduling moves and moreSunday, May 19, 2013
-
The Doctor uncovers Clara's secret and comes face-to-face with a surprising figureSaturday, May 18, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupDino
June 22, 2010 at 12:00PM EST Reply to CommentI can see why it may not remain in your weekly rotation, but the show really has grown on me. It's cheesy and funny and just a good time to watch. Definite summer fun and has gotten better since the pilot.
JimBriggs
June 22, 2010 at 12:21PM EST Reply to CommentI don't want to critique the show too much, because it really is fun to watch, but wouldn't Jack and Dan's work in taking down a major meth operation override allowing The Dim Knight to get away, and thus get them out of the doghouse?
Also, how come Dan is the only one on the show with some semblance of a Texas accent?
Anyway, "cheesy and funny" was a good description, and I'll keep watching.
Chrissy The ADA has a southern accent (no idea if it's Texan). Presumably Dallas is a big enough city that some of its citizens aren't strongly accented and others are transplants, though, right?
June 22, 2010 at 10:26PM ESTjobert
June 22, 2010 at 12:25PM EST Reply to CommentFrom your 'Memphis Beat' review: "Take the Elvis references away, and 'Memphis Beat' could take place in any city, with any kind of cases."
Sometimes 'The Good Guys' tends to overdo the Texas accents, but the show definitely feels tied to its setting. I'm sure there are probably some other Dallas residents who might not feel the same way, but it's a large part of why I enjoy the show.
Alanna I was born and raised in Richardson, and my family still lives here. I left TX ten years ago for another city I now love dearly. As much as I gripe about D/FW -- for reasons that have nothing to do with politics -- it's still a deep part of who I am. Something about this show gets under my skin and makes me feel happy and nostalgic, especially recognizing the various locations. I'm glad it's filmed on location because it really does get D/FW right. Though I'm also iffy about some of the thick accents, like the young ADA who sounds like a southern belle -- even if she was also born and raised there, in my experience most young urban professionals in the South let their thick accents fade away, if they ever had them at all.
June 22, 2010 at 1:39PM ESTSWG
June 22, 2010 at 12:43PM EST Reply to CommentShows often start out with variations on the same theme. The first half dozen episodes of Chuck were almost interchangeable but that's forgiveable to me if they branch out later on after they've laid that foundation as I'm sure this show will do if given a chance.
I enjoyed last night's episode, and think that if this show were on USA network or HBO it would be getting more praise from various quarters. It's just for some reason everyone loves to hold broadcast network shows to a higher standard than they do cable.
Robert I agree completely, especially with your last point. If this show debuted on TNT or USA, it would probably get a LOT more attention than it is being on FOX.
June 24, 2010 at 5:37PM ESTAlso, I noticed that the FX network is airing the previous weeks episode on Monday's at 10pm.
Lazlo Toth
June 22, 2010 at 3:12PM EST Reply to CommentSo what if the stories follow similar general patterns? I know exactly what a pint of Chubby Hubby is going to taste like every time, but I still enjoy it immensely once a week, without any guilt or ill effects. TGG is unfailingly well written and well acted, and consistently funny. I don't expect my ice cream to fill all of my nutritional needs; a pleasant diversion is enough. Same with this show. It's the most entertaining thing on TV right now, by far.
sepinwall I like the show. I don't object to it giving us the same formula every week. I just have nothing new to say about that formula, and therefore won't be writing more until/unless they offer me up something different enough to inspire new thoughts.
June 22, 2010 at 3:21PM ESTgally
June 22, 2010 at 3:23PM EST Reply to CommentI really like the show. It's silly, but that obviously doesn't mean it's not good. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is just good fun. Besides, there's nothing else on right now.
klg19
June 23, 2010 at 12:07AM EST Reply to CommentI, too, understand the challenge in reviewing a show that has a fairly repetitious formula, no matter how well that formula is executed, so I'll forgive you for dropping TGG from the rotation (yes, I know this means you'll sleep better tonight).
So I'm happy for this opportunity to say how much I'm enjoying the show, especially Whitford, who is just sheer joy to watch. The easy seduction of the pink-shirted loading dock clerk was hilarious and still somehow completely believable.
"Memphis Beat," on the other hand, was painful in every way. I guess the writers were afraid that viewers would find it as generic as you did, so they hammered us over the head with endless references to how very, very special Memphis is ("sacred ground"? really??). Blech.
Sean All of Stark's come-on's, talk-downs and seductions have been very well written and executed.
June 24, 2010 at 5:50PM ESTLast week, his disarming of the angry wife with the loaded gun in the front yard was also hilarious and yet still completely believable. Whitford is able to pull off those scenes with a great deal of charm and sincerity.
VisionOn
June 23, 2010 at 3:07PM EST Reply to CommentI haven't changed my opinion of the show since the first episode. It looks and feels like a cable show, which is probably holding it back on an OTA network.
The show would benefit greatly from faster pacing and more gags. There are good comedic scenes throughout but the sections in between seem to just lethargically wander along.
If you watch the previews you are almost certain to see every good gag in the episode.
blingbling
June 23, 2010 at 9:29PM EST Reply to CommentI like this show for the same reason I like "Castle." Both Bradley Whitford and Nathan Fillion have decided to rise above lukewarm material and not-exactly-scintillating supporting casts and just have a ball anyway. I can say that both the writing and the supporting actors have gotten better on "Castle," and if "The Good Guys" could actually write better material for Hanks' character, I think "The Good Guys" could actually be more than a summer fill-in. Heck, I'd even be able to excuse those horrible scenes with the 8-foot-tall, underwear-challenged D.A.
Diane
June 24, 2010 at 2:12AM EST Reply to CommentHas anybody mentioned Whitford's tie-tac yet? I've been a little out of the loop, so sorry if this is a repeat. He wears the same handcuff tie-tac every week and I've been wondering if that's an homage to Wojciehowicz from Barney Miller?
TXCaddyKing
June 25, 2010 at 6:07PM EST Reply to CommentStill love this show. Now I know what New Yorkers/Jerseyers feel like when I hear the name of a street/city that is part of where I live. Probably different since so much is filmed in NY.
7s Tim
July 1, 2010 at 10:07AM EST Reply to CommentI just realized why the theme song was so familiar; it's wildly similar to the theme of Spectacular Spider-man. go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t3tNaaPou8
and then jump to about 40 seconds in. someone tell my im not crazy.