Confession: last night's episode of The Good Guys, "$3.52," was the first episode that I managed to catch from the beginning, i.e. the moment that we rewind from and catch up to. As a trope, I don't much care for it, but even I had to wonder why Jack and Dan were in candlelight and preparing to jump out of . . .  something . . ., guns blazing.

More importantly, I laughed out loud twice (!) last night. Thanks to Colin Hanks and particularly Bradley Whitford, the show often manages to salvage jokes that someone should have thought about for two more minutes, but even then it's rarely beyond the level of a guffaw. Of course, Whitford was responsible for both of those jokes, so that may have helped.

I should also admit that I just sort of love Julius, so, when Dan tackled him into garbage, complaining that having to chase him down in a mall parking garage really puts a damper on their cop-informant relationship, I'll admit that I was just pleased to see Julius. But then when he delighted asks (!) to hug Dan, Whitford's hesitation really sells the moment. Of course, Dan must become a hugger by episode's end and act like Jack's the one with the problem, but even that worked for me.

When I watched what I was pretty sure was the The Good Guys première, "Bait & Switch," last Monday (IMDb is kind of confusing me about episodes and air dates), I wasn't too sure about this low key workplace comedy/procedural. Part of the problem is that I have no nostalgia for the 70s cops shows it is lovingly sending up because I wasn't around in the 70s. The other part of the problem is that I wasn't sure about the deployment of Bradley Whitford.

See, I love Bradley Whitford. I would like to see him optimally deployed at all times. Optimal deployment includes, but is not limited to, arrogance, loyalty, and being ensorcelled by Mary Louise Parker. I will, however, accept other Whitfords, largely because Whitford is an immensely talented actor. The Good Guys hits two out of the three (Dan has yet to be ensorcelled by anyone but himself).

To enjoy the show, you have to get down with its low-key vibe and humour. Its procedure goes like this: Jack (Colin Hanks) and Dan are assigned a minor level, possibly victimless crime to investigate, only to stumble onto a much larger crime. They then fumblingly, often amusingly, go about solving this larger crime and trying not to get killed in the process (there's a lot of gun violence in Dallas, it would seem).