If there’s one single story premise that works in any decade, it’s the one that involves cop buddies. Police shows and movies have always been one of the most easily successful genres, but there’s just something about a couple of cops who play off each other that really make the whole thing shine. These are 12 of the most famous cop buddies — whether they were on the big screen or network TV, they’re still unforgettable.
Starsky and Hutch
It’s tough to choose between the dynamic of the original pair or the hilariously re-imagined duo, but the characters known as Starsky and Hutch are nothing short of timeless. Maybe it’s the names themselves that helped make this pair of cop buddies stick in our brains for so many years, or maybe it was just the 70s tinge that never goes away; whatever the reason, these two guys will probably still be remembered 30 or 40 years from now.
Riggs and Murtaugh – Lethal Weapon
When these two met in the first movie, things weren’t so good between them — you may remember a certain scene involving one holding a gun beneath the other’s chin. Over time, however, Riggs and Murtaugh became the epitome of cop buddies, and Lethal Weapon and its many installments became the de facto series for the genre. They couldn’t have been more mismatched, but their chemistry together just worked so well.
Axel Foley, Billy Rosewood and John Taggart – Beverly Hills Cop
At first, it didn’t seem very likely that Axel was going to mesh well with the rigid Taggart and inexperienced Billy Rosewood — but it didn’t take long at all for the three of them to become bosom buddies. Beverly Hills Cop was a great movie, hilarious as it was cheesy, but a massive part of that success was the chemistry between these three completely different cop characters.
Agents J and K – Men In Black
Though not badged, J and K were supposedly keepers of the peace on behalf of the entire planet so far as aliens were concerned, so these two make the list of buddy cops, and they do it with flair. J and K were nearly polar opposites at first, but with heavy amounts of head-butting and some tough love, the two of them wound up more alike than either would originally have thought possible. Their dynamic was only expanded more in the second installment.
Nash Bridges and Joe Dominguez – Nash Bridges
Any show that mixes semi-cheesy cop drama, comedy, car chases, San Francisco, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson must be a good thing. Sadly, Nash Bridges never quite became the pillar of cop shows that it set out to be, but that didn’t stop it from being heaps of campy fun — and it didn’t hurt that Nash and Joe turned out to be such perfect partners, either.
Sonny Crockett and Tubs – Miami Vice
Back in the ancient times, when Don Johnson was young and skinny, there was a show called Miami Vice — a show so infamously popular that kids growing up today are born with latent memories of the show’s title burned into their young developing minds. There was one thing that really made that show, and it was the cop duo known as Sonny Crockett and Tubs. It’s just that simple, and we’re not going to bother talking about the movie remake.
Carter and Lee – Rush Hour
Kitschy fun abounds in the Rush Hour series, and we all know that it never would have become the box office monster that is today if it weren’t for the unlikely pairing of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan as Carter and Lee. While the exploits of these two seems to always amount to something like accidental heroism, it just works, and they never fail in the long run.
Ivan Danko and Art Ridžić – Red Heat
There was perhaps never a more mismatched pair of cops than that of Ivan Danko and Art Ridžić — one a boulder of a man from then-Soviet Moscow, the other a lazy loudmouth detective from Chicago. After getting past their respective culture-clashes, the two realize that they make one hell of a team, and start kicking some ass. It doesn’t hurt that they’re played by the Governator and Jim Belushi, either.
Mulder and Scully – X-Files
If you haven’t noticed, there does tend to be a common theme in most cop buddy stories — they usually hate each other in the beginning, and grow a special trust over time. This couldn’t be more true than in X-Files, where Scully is chosen to partner up with Mulder for the specific reason that she would be completely skeptical of everything he believes in. It took them several years, but they became inseparable, and we loved every minute of it.
Cagney and Lacey
Cagney and Lacey was a true oddity in the genre of buddy cop shows — because both Cagney and Lacey were chicks. These days, it’s expected that one partner in a buddy cop drama would be a woman, but two women is almost unheard of even today, and this show began its run in the early 80s. The pair worked, though, despite the differences between Cagney (single, stubborn, workaholic) and Lacey (a married mother), along with the fact that Cagney ended up getting played by three different women throughout the character’s lifetime. Either way, the phrase “Cagney and Lacey” is still just as well-known today as “Thelma and Louise.”
Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey – Bad Boys
Marcus and Mike were a pair of cops who loved each other like brothers despite the fact that they could hardly ever get along. One was working-class and tried to be responsible, while the other was a trust-fund baby whose ego wouldn’t allow him to settle down and exit the party-life. Put together, they had a knack for trouble, but they always came out on top and no worse for wear. This pair was easily one of the most enjoyable to audiences, too.
Nick Angel and Danny Butterman – Hot Fuzz
When the best cop in all of England gets thrown to the countryside for making all the other cops in London look bad, he finds himself in a situation completely foreign to him. His partner is so completely opposite of what he is, that he mistakes him at first for a local drunk — and arrests him for a DUI. After some time, the two grow close, and wind up becoming the best of friends. Angel learns how to loosen up and enjoy life, while Danny, the dimwit, learns slowly absorbs everything about Angel that makes him such an awesome cop. Their relationship couldn’t have been better.
