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Who's that guy? Michael Ealy

Dynamic duo fight crime & each other

By Thirosha Pillay | Fri, 22 Jun 2012

In the new buddy cop show Common Law, starring Michael Ealy and Warren Kol, two police detectives who can’t stand each other are sent for couples counseling by their captain.

We get to see them iron out their differences, probably not with an actual iron, but we're making no promises...

They’re the latest in a fine tradition of bickering cops on the silver screen, let’s take a closer look at some of our favourite crime-busting team-ups.

High on our list of funny guys are Danny Glover and Mel Gibson, who were cast opposite one another in the Lethal Weapon franchise.

Gibson plays detective Martin Riggs, who after losing his wife turned into a loose cannon with a death wish, while Glover plays Roger Murtaugh, a calm, family-loving man who was partnered with Riggs in a bid to calm him down.

The pair develop a love-hate relationship in which they constantly disagree, bicker and bring down the bad guys in the process.

Their zany onscreen chemistry in the original film was lapped up by audiences young and old, which subsequently led to three sequels spanning more than a decade from 1987 to 1998.

Danny Glover and Mel Gibson at loggerheads.

Another pair of comedic detectives who split our sides while beating up the bad guys is expert stuntman Jackie Chan and the crooked-nosed, hilariously entertaining Owen Wilson.

The two were cast opposite one another for 2000’s Shanghai Noon, in which Chan plays a warrior who travels from China to the Wild West to rescue a kidnapped princess.

Against his better judgment, he teams up with Owen Wilson’s gung-ho cowboy train robber, and together they take on a Chinese traitor and his corrupt boss.

The sequel to this was the 2003 hit Shanghai Knights, where we rejoined the bickering pair who ultimately prevail because no matter how much they fight each other, working together to beat the baddies is was what they do best. That and making us laugh!

Just hanging around...

Of course, we wouldn’t dare do a comedy detective roundup without Ben Stiller!

Stiller was also cast opposite Wilson in a spoof of the TV series Starsky and Hutch, in which two streetwise cops - in a super-fly red and white Ford Torino - nab criminal overlords.

These two will be bringing more laughs your way with the long overdue Zoolander 2, which is set for release in 2014.

Starsky and Hutch show their stripes, and get an earful from their captain, check it out: