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call FOX and tell them you want Jack & Dan to bust more punks in 2011

10 December 2010 : "Partners" LIVE CHAT

Will anyone be joining me?

3 December 2010 : "Cop Killer" and promo of the "finale"

If you have just seen the end credits for tonight's episode, 19 "Cop Killer", then you know that in the promo for next week's episode FOX has billed it ias the "finale". Not the "season finale. Not the "series finale". Just "finale"

While this technically leaves the door open to a second season by not calling "Partners" the "series finale" the non-committal avoidance of calling it the "season finale" does not look good. As of writing this there are 3156 signings of the petition to renew The Good Guys. That is up almost 2000 from the last time i mentioned it (on 19 November). I got one new person to watch tonight. He loved it. And i didn't have to give him any barbecue either. How did i do it? Really simple. I slipped it in as a rider to another conversation.

now go tell all of your friends to watch the last two episodes of season 1 of The Good Guys this Friday & next @ 9ET/PT on FOX
And if they ask me why they should watch, what would be a good reason?
You're sick of the procedural CSI formula and you want a lot of laughs while still watching the bad guys get busted
That does sound refreshing.

And you know what, he watched. DirecTV's guide said House MD was on tonight @ 8pm when really it was an encore of episode 10 "Vacation". When i went to remind him he was already planning on watching. He told me about his guide info. I told him it was wrong. He watched. He enjoyed it. First time viewer comes in 1/3 way through the repeat of ep 10 and watches ep 19 and wishes the show gets renewed. If only more people would have given it a chance i think a lot more people would have a similar reaction.

There is still time to get a renewal. Sign the petition. Tell your friends. Make it a party. Gary Cole, Chris Klien, and a few others guest star in next week's episode. If you missed tonight's episode it truly is must-see-tv. Josh Malina guest starred as Assistant Chief Guthrie who was out to bust Dan. Yes, tonight Dan was the punk! Malina was amazing. I never knew he could do serious, ominous but he was amazing. The writers really put out a gem with "Cop Killer". If you are reading this later then do pick it up from iTunes (if the DVDs are still not released).

19 November 2010 : FOX Announces Mid-Season Schedule

Now more than ever the rumours of cancellation are swelling. Lets be really simple about this. The Good Guys is a summer/autumn show. This is NOT the time that FOX announces renewals and cancellations of such shows. It is perfectly normal and expected that there would be no mention at this time. The season finale airs on Friday 10 December 2010 @ 9/8c. If FOX had ordered more episodes at this time it would have made for an extra-large season. A "full season" these years is 20-24 episodes. Episode 18 airs tonight (19 November 2010). Episode 19 is 3 December and episode 20 is 10 December 2010.

Then we await renewal/DVD/cancellation news. In the mean time why not sign the petition to renew the show and tell how much you enjoy it. Some 1300+ people already have. Go to the official forums and tell FOX why you want Jack & Dan to bust more punks. You can also buy the episodes or the complete season from iTunes (USA or Canada).

I wrote a bit back on 17 May when FOX announced that the series would be on Fridays in the autumn. You can read that below if you are reading on the main page of The Good Guys or if you are reading the blog you can find that post here. I quoted Tim Minear's "open letter to the Grass Roots" regarding Wonderfalls. If you own that show on DVD then you have probably watched the bonus features which include declaration that they started a 'save our show campaign' after the first episode. It didn't go so well. After the fourth episode the series was cancelled. A massive swelling of the grass roots resulted in the show being released on DVD. Cast and creators even participated. Those were the days before twitter and the intricacies of most social networking sites that we see today. savewonderfalls.com is still alive for anyone who wants to review a piece of tv history, though some external links and their forum are now dead links.

Where is The Good Guys different from Wonderfalls? The complete first season was shown on tv. That is a pretty big difference. Wonderfalls waged a 'please don't cancel / release on DVD' campaign. The Good Guys is facing a 'please renew / release on DVD, HD DVD, BD' campaign. And yes i am including a request that the show be released on HD DVD as part of it's "retro is cool" theme. That and i prefer HD DVD to BD. There are 2 more episodes this season. To steal a line from Bryan Fuller, "get your words out". Tell your friends, bribe your co-workers with some barbecue, maybe even bust a punk or two yourself :) with an orange water gun :D :D :D

Best of Dallas

Best Hero

His biggest career accomplishment? Saving the governor's kidnapped son all the way back in 1985. And, OK, maybe he's been riding that train about 25 years too long at this point. But the fact remains: Dan Stark is a goddamn hero, folks. And it's not just his mustache, his always-present aviator shades, his sweet 1979 Trans Am or the fact that he lives in a trailer in the shadow of the Fair Park Ferris wheel that does the trick. No, it's that somehow, against all odds, Stark and his straight-laced partner Jack Bailey, despite being pinned with petty crime investigation after petty crime investigation, manage to bust big-time punk after big-time punk—and at a clip of about once a week, no less! It's impressive to say the least. Add in the fact that he does this while bedding female witnesses left and right—while drinking on the job—and, really, that's a man worth decorating. The guy's already had one TV movie made in his honor. At this point, he deserves a ridiculously highly rated TV series. Maybe on Fox?

from: Dallas Observer's "Best Of Dallas 2010"

8 September 2010 - EPK interview clips

As a little treat in anticipation of the autumn season premiere on Friday, 24 September @ 9/8c on FOX i thought to offer the EPK clips from the spring season premiere in May. For convenience of coding and so that you can leave comments if you wish, they are available for viewing on the blog. There are also some links and little bits of news and rumour about who the guest stars for the upcoming episodes will be, and a few other things.

29 August 2010 - September repeat schedule

A partiall ist of the forthcoming repeats leading up to the autmn premiere is available.

29 July 2010 - Whitford on The Kilborn File TONIGHT

Bradley Whitford, who plays Dt Dan Stark on The Good Guys, will be the guest on tonight's episode of The Kilborn File. If you find yourself saying that sounds familiar but when is it on then let me answer that for you. Mr Craig Kilborn was the first host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central and the second host of The Late Late Show on CBS. He is back with a half hour show much like TLLS was when he hosted it. It airs on FOX owned and operated stations in select markets in the USA and as far as i know no international markets.

If you happen to not live where The Kilborn File is shown on tv then there is the option to download it from a variety of places. I am going to see what clips end up on the show's website before i blatantly link to download options because FOX understandably doesn't really like that. If The Kilborn File where in more than a handful of markets this wouldn't be an issue.

28 July 2010 - Summer season ending sooner than first announced

Well the rumours are not so much rumours anymore. The Good Guys was to have new episodes through 23 August but now that has been changed to 2 August. Those 3 episodes are now part of the autumn season on Fridays at 9pm.

While the ratings have not been spectacular for the first 8 episodes we have to remember that summer is not the typical time of comedy or drama success. This is when wacky reality shows and second rate competition shows like Last Comic Standing and America's Got Talent rule the ratings. FOX doesn't have the reputation for comedic drama like this. The Good Guys is somewhat of an experiment for the network. Taking a genre that works on cable and bringing it to a primetime broadcast network is something different. From the many fan comments that can be found about this on various forum and blogs it is clear that there is a very loyal and growing fan base.

Initially there was an order for 13 episodes. That was extended to 20 before the series even premiered. What was to have aired on 23 August would have been episode 12. That left the 13th for the autumn season in late September. Now it is episodes 10-20 that will show in the autumn. From the FOX schedule release for 9 August, which is the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, i quote, "[EDITOR’S NOTE: THE GOOD GUYS completed its summer run on August 2, and the previously scheduled episodes will now air this fall.]"

12 19 May 2010 on FOX and Global

Matt Nix's new series débuts in less than three two months three weeks four three two days! It has had a few title changes and a location change along the way. First it was set in Los Angeles and was to be filmed there then it was set in Dallas and is now filming there. The name has changed a few times too. Originally the series was titled Jack and Dan which then became Code 58 and as of today (22 February 2010) the show is known as The Five Eight. The cast hasn't changed though a few characters have been renamed.

Update: Surprise surprise!!!! The show has been renamed yet again. We now await the premiere of The Good Guys.

And if i may permit myself a moment of commentary, this has to be the worst of all of the names so far. It is bland, ambiguous, completely unGoogleable, and honestly has me a little less interested in the show now. Sure there is some bias for the previous names. I created the article on Wikipedia under the name "Code 58" and i have this site under the name "The Five Eight" but honestly even "Jack and Dan" is better, even with it's homo-erotic pun. Matt Nix's previous show Burn Notice has a very good title. What the hell is going on here?

And just for some good measure, let me quote the bloke from the Dallas Observer who has been covering production of the series, "Hey, Colin Hanks, your show has a new title. In case you missed it."

Update 31 March 2010: Having seen the logo for the show, i can't help but think that FOX has turned this series into a parody of itself right from the start.

Update 1 May 2010: Having seen a promo clip for the show during, i think it was, BONES the other week i am coming around to understanding why they settled on The Good Guys. The other titles are too serious for the comedy show that just happens to be about cops. I am more into the serious cop shows so i don't know if this will be "my thing" but for it's somewhat quirky genre it seems pretty good.

Update 15 May 2010: For anyone who may have missed it, FOX has extended the order to a(n almost) full season 20 episodes, before the first episode has aired!

Update 17 May 2010: This morning FOX announced the fall 2010 schedule and The Good Guys is in it. There is however some pause for concern. It has been placed in what is well known as The FOX Friday Death Slot, yes that non-covetted time of Friday 9pm. In the words of Tim Minear, "Some of the folks at the network are telling me that Wonderfalls is the best reviewed new series they've had in ages – maybe ever. I'm currently sitting on a stack of rave reviews from all over the country from major magazines, newspapers, small dailies, internet sites, etc. They seem to be doing me no good." The majority of critics are singing praises for The Good Guys along the lines of "best new series of the summer, trumps reality tv". Having swung back and forth during the pre-production days, mostly due to the forever changing title of the series, i concur. The preview clips (which you can view here) have turned me back on to the series. Not knowing anyone from Dallas it took a bit to get used to the dialect but after that i found myself wishing there were more clips. I spent hours searching the internet for a PREAiR version of the pilot to download – sadly i don't get full episodes in advance. Tell your friends. Watch the premiere this Wednesday. Watch the encore on 31 May. Episode 2 comes June 7th. Maybe we can convince FOX to move the series from Friday before the fall comes around.
For the fans in Canada you can catch The Good Guys on Global>¹ at 8pm (yes, an hour early thanks to a 2 hour Celebrity Apprentice) and then enjoy it again right away at 9pm on FOX. :D It is worth the instant repeat viewing. Check your local listings as it may not be on earlier in some time zones.