Television series
Double Dare
A slick 1985 CBS crime drama where Billy Dee Williams plays an elegant cat burglar forced into undercover work for the SFPD. It's a buddy-cop show with stylish heist DNA, built on the chemistry between two charismatic con men learning to work for the law. Glossy, breezily entertaining, built for viewers who want charm over grit.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy a smooth operator's banter, the kind of 1980s caper where style and slippery loyalties matter more than the plot's gears turning.
Skip it if you need tight plotting and modern pacing, since this is a slight, six-episode hour that leans on charm and period flash rather than mystery or suspense.
What it asks of you: Six hour-long episodes make it a light, easy commitment; it moves unhurriedly and wants you to savor the banter and 1980s San Francisco gloss more than chase clues.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Miami Vice1984
The template for exactly this kind of show: stylish cops and criminals, electric chemistry between leads, a synth-soaked world where everybody looks great doing morally complicated things. Launched a thousand imitators.
But The first season is genuinely brilliant; it gets repetitive quickly. Also genuinely bleak in ways Double Dare never attempts.
Magnum, P.I.1980
Tom Selleck as a charming rogue operating in a world where rules bend if you're smart enough and likeable enough. Same DNA: two men, wits, loyalty, the pleasure of watching someone improvise out of trouble.
But It's gentler and more sentimental than Double Dare. If you want the sharper edge, this might feel soft.
The Rockford Files1974
James Garner as a former con turned detective who works the margins between law and underworld. The spiritual ancestor of every show about a charming criminal aligned with the law. Perfect rhythm, real warmth.
But It predates Double Dare by a decade and shows its age. Slower pacing, different sensibility about what a scene needs.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Double Dare
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Flim-Flam Man1967
Both are fundamentally about the aesthetics of the con—the idea that style, wit, and confidence matter more than violence. Both believe a clever person can talk their way through anything.
George C. Scott as a con artist who mentors a young drifter in the arts of the grift. A film about charm as a weapon and con men as philosophers. It's about the pleasure of being smarter than the room, which is Double Dare's true engine.
But A 1967 film that moves at its own pace and assumes you'll watch it on its terms. No action, no music scoring your emotions. Requires patience.
More like this (8)
Scarecrow and Mrs. King1983
Spy-adjacent buddy show where two people from opposite worlds—one official, one civilian—have to learn to work together. Same pleasure in watching people spar, align, and discover they actually like each other.
But Leans harder into romantic chemistry and network TV restraint. Less morally flexible, more earnest.
Wiseguy1987
A more serious take on the same idea: a cop goes undercover in organized crime, and the work corrodes him. Shows what the other path looks like—what happens when the boundaries between cop and criminal actually do blur dangerously.
But It's genuinely dark and demands you care about consequences. If you want lightness, this demands too much emotional investment.
Tango & Cash1989
Two cops, incompatible, forced to work together. Stallone and Russell Kurt swagger through a plot where the real pleasure is watching them bait and duel. Late-80s buddy action with real personality and impossible chemistry.
But The plot dissolves and the dialogue can clang. It's watching two stars work, not a tightly constructed script.
48 Hrs.1982
Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte: a cop and a convict sprung from jail to solve a crime in 48 hours. Explosive chemistry, actually funny, genuinely suspenseful. The movie that proved this pairing could carry an entire film.
But It gets pretty violent and the tone lurches. Doesn't have the polish or consistent charm of the TV shows.
Pale Blue Dot
A con man framed and sent to prison returns to seek revenge on the system. More cynical than Double Dare, genuinely clever, with the satisfying pleasure of watching someone outthink everyone in the room.
But Harder to find, limited run, and the tone is more petty-vengeance than charming-partnership. Colder show.
BJ and the Bear1979
A trucker and his misfit crew drift through schemes and adventures. Loose, episodic, genuinely funny in a way early cable TV could be. Same spirit of two people against the world, making it up as they go.
But Even broader and sillier than Double Dare. Can feel aimless if you want actual stakes or momentum.
Palais Royale1988
Double Dare is a TV show about style first, plot second. Palais Royale is the opposite format—a film that abandons clarity for atmosphere—but shares the exact same priority: aesthetics before everything.
A French crime caper told as pure style and mood. Criminals, cops, the line between them, shot like fashion. No interest in plot coherence—pure aesthetic pleasure in watching beautiful people move through sleek spaces.
But It's genuinely difficult to follow. Dialogue-heavy in French with subtitles, and the narrative is deliberately fragmented. Rewards attention; punishes distraction.
Sneaky Pete2015
Direct spiritual heir: same era's approach to the same story. Shows you what the premise became when television allowed for complexity and moral texture. Where Double Dare was pure entertainment, this asks whether charm ever redeems anything.
A con man (Giovanni Ribisi) hides out with his estranged family, navigating between criminal underworld and legitimate life. It's Double Dare's successor: charm as currency, the friendship between two men as the emotional core, and the constant ambiguity about whether anyone here is actually good.
But It's darker and more genuinely sad than Double Dare. The consequences stick. Some will find it too bleak for what is otherwise a clever show about scams.
