This series took a staple element of the detective genre - mismatched partners, and added the twist that they were brothers. Instead of setting it in a classic location for a detective series (NY, LA, Chicago), they took the 90 minute drive down the coast to the beautiful city of San Diego. What they found was a gold mine. Instead of the tired cliche locations, they banked on the little seen but widely known attractions of San Diego (the Zoo, Sea World, the Beaches, and the close proximity to Baja California). The pilot was set in Florida, but the series was wisely moved to the West Coast; Rick Simon, the older of the brothers, was a former marine that was the braun, while buttoned down preppy AJ (the embodiment of preppies in the 80's) was the cultured, refined brother. With Tim Reid as a supporting character (Downtown Brown) and Mary Carver as their mother Cecilia, this series produced many memorable episodes that not only entertained, but taught about the viewer history (WW2, John Dillinger, etc.). Catch it in syndication if you can.
Review of Simon & Simon
