Good Guys and Lone Wolves

I must confess. Maybe, I was in the mood for something cheesy. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that I have a tiny bit of arrested development, so finding the sophomoric humorous and satisfying is one my little quirks (if I am generous, a sin if I am judgmental). All in all, I found the Good Guys just as outrageous, outlandish and cartoonish as I thought would be. AND I liked it.

I must admit, I only watched The West Wing sporadically in its original run. But since catching a number of episodes on Bravo, I have really developed a passion for the series. And Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman is a great actor with a great story, cast and script. While he is an exceedingly sharp political operative when it comes to strategy and tactics, he is sometimes arrogant and immature in the limelight: Press Briefing Room or on talk television. He is a man who can steer a presidential campaign to victory, but who also can not resist trying to one-up the press only to have his jokes and gaffes go over like a lead pigeon in a windstorm.

Yes, Josh Lyman is a snappy dresser, mostly well mannered and serious about his job; Detective Dan Stark thinks he is a snappy dressy, is only concerned about being semi-welled mannered to the ladies, and the only thing he takes seriously about his job is "busting punks," by what ever means necessary. And since the Good Guys is a "buddy" show in addition to a police procedural, Colin Hanks plays Jack Bailey, who in this Mutt and Jeff pairing, is a young and by-the-book detective dragged about by Dan against his better judgment. Cop/Detective series, stories and novels have often relied on the "Buddy Theme:" Dragnet's Friday and Gannon; Law and Order's Greevey and Logan; Holmes and Watson; Tommy and Tuppence; Poirot and Hastings; and Wolfe and Godwin. Sometimes the paring forms a narrative device or sometimes the characters' interplay helps drive the action in the plot.

Off the force and on this side of the pond, however, for all of the buddies and sidekicks, there are plenty of lone wolves. Guys who may have been on the force or are a force to be reckoned with: The Continental Op, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. (Yes, Sam had partner, Miles Archer, but when we begin looking for the black bird, the only partner Sam is interested in is Mrs. Archer.) They drink. They work around the police. They lie when they need to and violence is part of the job, sometimes a pleasurable part of the job. They have a sense of right and wrong, even if they don't want to show it. In the end, solving the crime is not so much about justice; it is just finding out what the damn truth is.


And they are good guys too, and definitely not cheesy.