There’s a long-standing tradition of fictional police officers, most of which come in one of two flavors: Implacable icon of wisdom and fairness or corrupt jerkface with no scruples and no shame. We call this the “Benton Fraser/Lucas Buck” paradox, and it is the basic skeleton of the drama in most shows featuring such characters. It should be noted that I prefer my police, both fictional and otherwise, to be on the up-and-up, even if it means that they’re not the brightest knife in the barrel, as with Inspector Gadget or even the well-meaning Deputy Bernard P. Fife, which raises today’s jurisprudential query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) wouldn’t mind hanging around in the jurisdiction of the wise and mirthful Sheriff Andy Taylor, now that you mention it, asking: What pop-culture peace officer would you most want protecting your hometown?
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Hey, I can actually say Dekarangers yet again since they are technically a sort of intergalactic police force (Special Police Dekaranger)! If I can only choose one, though, I’d have to choose Doggie Kruger (DekaMaster).
http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Doggie_Kruger
Strength of the bear!
Dayshift: William O’Niel. Federal marshall IN SPACE.
Nightshift: Nick Knight. Equally comfortable in plate mail and a goth club.
Hi!
Oh my god, I love you for picking Nick Knight!! The only reason I didn’t pick him was because of the vulnerability to sunlight (and crosses and… well, you know), but I didn’t think about different people for different shifts.
Although he could always find some way to overcome those limitations, such as the woman with DID that was human in one personality, vampire in the other. Or when in the novel “Intimations of Mortality” he kept slipping between his world and an alternate world where all the vampires were mortal and all the mortals were vampires and elements of both began slipping through in the end (he gained some of his vampire abilities in the world he was mortal and vice versa). I figure if someone like Jeanette can become fully mortal again, someone like Nick would probably find some halfway point (probably completely by accident).
Hmm, tricky one. I’d usually go with a standard issue movie tough guy but the way the question is worded makes me want to reconsider, would I really want to love anywhere that Judge Dredd or Robocop are considered good guys? No, what I really want is a law enforcer from a kinder happier more playful age, the one and only sheriff Woody. Yee-ha!
An inspired choice!
Togusa from The Ghost in the Shell manga and anime. He doesn’t rely on cybernetics as much as the rest of Section 9 and he still carriers a six shooter. Old school, yeah.
I’d go with Officer Yui-Nisan from Lucky Star. I pity the fool who don’t know who she is…
I always liked Sheriff Lobo. Not the smartest or bravest guy but definitely the luckiest [unless BJ rolled into town].
James Garner’s sheriff in support your local sheriff would be 2nd for similar reasons.
Green Lantern!!! He’s OP.
Crockett & Tubbs from Miami Vice, those guys are the coolest.
If Andy Griffith was the cop in my town then could I assume that I live in an inherently safe place? I mean Robocop would be sweet as all get out but I woul drather not live in a community where robocop was needed.
That’s a good point. I mean, I’d like to have Bulletproof and his C.O.P.S. team handling my security, but don’t wanna live in Empire City…
Wasnt there an episode of that show where the bad guy’s son (?) got hooked on drugs and the cops and the crooks had to team up to battle the drug peddlers?
Big Boss’s nephew, Berzerko. And that was a pretty huge moment, too, as even the crooked wouldn’t stand for drug dealers in the 80s.
I would watch that show in a half awake state every morning before school. 1) thanks for being one of the few people who remember it and 2) for some reason that episode is burned in my brain
I used to watch C.O.P.S. afterschool, and I’m still annoyed at how hard it is to find the Season Two episodes…