Revisiting Josh Groban

 The first time I heard Broadway actor Josh Groban sing, I became an immediate fan. I saw him as a guest co-host on the ABC morning show with Kelly Ripa. He was totally charming with a warm and breezy personality. Then I saw him act in a short-lived Netflix series. He's really got the right stuff. I added Josh Groban to my list of current actors who -- if they were in 1940s & 50s Hollywood when big studios were in operation -- would have never been out of work, especially in musicals. Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal are on that list.

Josh Groban played a Brooklyn police detective in THE GOOD COP. He's a highly intelligent bookworm of a guy known for going by the book to such as extent that he often exasperates co-workers. His widower dad was also a cop. But he strayed and wound up a convicted felon who did time behind bars. He's now on parole and lives in Brooklyn with his son. Tony Danza plays the tainted papa. There's a little tension yet also love between father and son. The tension is mostly generated by the son. Dad tends to act like he's a member of Frank Sinatra's old Rat Pack. We see a touch of melancholy about Groban's character. We get laughs in the episodes, but comedy is not forced. Each episode run about 45 minutes. The murders committed are quite clever and we wait to see how the son -- with a little help from his dad -- is going to solve the complicated crimes. 

I watched episodes a couple of years ago I was hooked within the first ten minutes of Episode #1. I felt THE GOOD COP would have been ripe to air as a series on NBC or CBS. Since then, I've seen new shows on the big three senior networks -- shows that can and, blessedly, went within a season or two. I revisited the first three episodes of THE GOOD COP on Netflix last night. I still loved it. I had more of an appreciation for how the murders were set up and committed. In the first episode, Tony Caruso (Danza) and Tony Jr. (Groban) may be suspect in a murder. A cop Tony hated was shot and killed ... with Tony Jr.'s gun. But the strait-laced young police detective doesn't recall having killed anyone. There's a terrific bit of business with some black olives from a pizza. In the second episode, a man is shot and killed in a hotel room while he's watching Billy Wilder's DOUBLE INDEMNITY (a great touch). Meanwhile, Tony is dating a rich, blonde Victoria's Secret model who's young enough to be his daughter. In the third episode, Tony Jr. has no idea that the big German woman renting the basement room in his house is really a man in drag. A man who escaped from prison.

Here's a trailer for THE GOOD COP.

 If you get Netflix, and you're up for a little pastime, give this 2018 show a look. You might like it.