Good Guys Bad Guys

Elvis shows that it is hip to be moral as he rips into the bad guys and stands up for the underdog. The show has a swaggering energy and I wish they had made more than 2 series.

I grew up in a regional city in the 90's and this show is at least one of the reasons I always wanted to live in Melbourne, which I now do. It has this off-beat almost noir quality that captures the city well.

It's about an ex-cop (called Elvis) from a well-known catholic crime family who quit the police to run a dry-cleaner, but still uses his crime solving abilities to get his colourful mates out of trouble. He lives in a deco flat in St Kilda, drives a burgundy Valiant and has a new girlfriend every episode.

I'm not into shows like Underbelly, which seem full of drama school boys pretending to be tough (although I am a fan of Blue Murder, the Boys, Animal Kingdom and others). Good Guys Bad Guys isn't like this. I doesn't go for realism, the crooks are more like caricatures.

The show also has a lot of quality guest stars like Ben Mendelson, John Waters, Sam Johnson, Vince Collismo, Magda Szubanski and others. I sometimes listen to the soundtrack in the car (which is great by the way and all Australian) and will often be driving past landmarks from the show. It's a classic.

There is something about this show that is different from your usual shows involving cops. Elvis McGuiness is an ex cop for one, but the plots pull you in and Elvis' character makes you want to go along for the ride.

I love(d) this show so much and find it really sad that it only ran for such a short period. Everything about the show was just... cool... but without feeling forced. (i.e., not a Charlie's Angels "cool").

One of the only good Australian TV shows, ever.

Certainly when this show first aired on Australian TV, it was unique as a Ex-Police officer, turned Dry-Cleaner / Private investigator (sort-of, mostly) called Elvis, having an off-sider, Ruben, with Tourette syndrome, and a frustrated assistant Stella, who is trying to run the Dry-Cleaning business despite Elvis' disruptive activities.

Marcus Graham playing Elvis in the central role carried the series very well, and while the series lifespan was short at 26 episodes, a short series usually means the episode plots are kept fairly unique and fresh.

Once of the key factors in the show's enjoyment for me was Travis McMahon's execution of Ruben's condition, the timing and nature of his "tics" being played for light comic relief in tense situations, not to belittle the condition though.

A good series, that I remember enjoying during it's initial broadcast, and enjoying again on a DVD release, now over a decade later.