Quick thoughts on The Good Guys pilot episode right after the jump!

Due other commitments and Lost hoopla, I didn’t get to The Good Guys pilot until last night, but I have to say, I actually loved it.

The episode was revolutionary in any way, but I enjoyed the fun combination of parody and celebration of ’70s and ’80s cop programs and despite some critical concern about Bradley Whitford’s ability to seem like an old-school tough supercop, I had no reservations buying into it. And this is coming from a guy who is simultaneously watching The West Wing. His performance seems like the just-right combination of unhinged insanity and intelligence and for a summer series, his character should be fun to watch. Collin Hanks was just fine as the straight-laced Jack and the two played off one another very well.

The action moments were also well planned and executed throughout, though I do have one concern about the series consistently having its characters walk into a shoot out that allows Whitford’s Dan to slide across a table firing his weapon. Surely there are more tropes from the old cop shows that can be aped in the future. While I’m at it, let me note my other problem with what the series could be going forward — the cases. The pilot was very self-aware in the sense that it constantly commented on small cases suddenly burgeoning into mass crimes or conspiracies, but I’m unsure of how that will play moving forward. There are only so many times a humidifier theft turns in to a major drug cartel throwdown. Well, I think so, but I’d be willing to watch something like that for another handful of episodes with the hope that the series would try something new in the future.

Finally, I loved the on-location shooting in Dallas. That’s an area that isn’t always represented in major media, so I’m hoping that it will continue to be a character in the series, at least to the extent that Miami does in Matt Nix’s other series, Burn Notice. It’s not like Dallas is the most beautiful city in the world, but it at least looks different from L.A. or Vancouver.

For the most part, I’m completely sold on The Good Guys as a summer series. I’ll be watching and hopefully blogging about it every week once it begins on June 7. However, I’m hoping it can evolve in the proper ways so that FOX’s decision to air it during the fall as well doesn’t look stupid come September. I’m in, but with some hesitation. How about you?