Remember the detective show "Simon & Simon"? Probably not. But you may recall the opening credits: a montage of silly scenes of the duo detectives in action.
Now with the help of "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm and Adam Scott from "Parks and Recreation," the cheesy opening sequence can be enjoyed again. An "Adult Swim" video meticulously -- one might even say lovingly -- redid the cheeseball '80s credits, shot for shot.
To help set the mood and build suspense for what the video dubs "The Greatest Event in Television History," there's a hilariously bizarre mockumentary introduced by Jeff Probst detailing the filming of the re-creation. Paul Rudd, who plays the director of the project, admits that he thought he was getting Aziz Ansari, not Scott. Rudd as "director" also reveals that the remake was $9 million over budget.
Hamm hams it up, saying things like this of "Simon & Simon": "It's a seminal television program, and the fact that we get to work on this homage, it's just important."
The spoof also has a running gag that Hamm won't acknowledge Adam Scott, who keeps trying to introduce himself as they prep for the shoot.
Scott told the blog Vulture that what started as a joke idea turned into a real project. "Opening credits sequences are kind of a lost art now, because when you're a kid, you're just watching opening credit sequences over and over again, and that's what you remember, and this one -- it kind of seems like the One ... It's kind of untouched, so it's a fun one to do."
The TV show, which ran from 1981–1989, is about two brothers: A.J.( Jameson Parker) and Rick (Gerald McRaney), polar opposites who run Simon & Simon, a private detective agency in San Diego.
The remake is obsessively accurate. The two found all the original locations and costumes. Just as in the original, Jon Hamm -- who plays Rick -- sports a moustache and a cowboy hat. Buttoned-up Adam Scott plays A.J. as a blow-dried blond.
The two breeze through the stylized opening sequence, which includes shots of the two driving to work on the freeway, riding in a hot air balloon, hiding behind enormous menus, peeking around doors, being nuzzled by a killer whale, and breaking down a wall with a bulldozer. You get the idea. Even if it's not the greatest television event ever, it is still pretty great.
Note: The mockumentary, which runs first, contains adult content.
