Simon and Simon

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Enjoyable 80s detective drama set in San Diego, California. Brothers Rick and A.J. Simon are partners in a private detective agency. They are polar opposites: bad boy Rick is a street-smart former Marine and Vietnam vet who has friends in low places and a love for cheap pleasures; golden boy A.J. is a book-smart college graduate, a former Vietnam protester (he wanted his big brother to come home safe) whose tastes run to the more upscale. Rick drives a beat-up old pickup truck, adheres to a casual dress code (including his ever-present cowboy hat) and lives on a boat parked on a trailer in A.J.'s yard with his dog Marlowe; A.J. drives a series of classic sports cars, has a yuppie wardrobe and lives in a tasteful little house near the water.


Tropes used in Simon and Simon include:

Town: "Raise your right hand and repeat after me: 'We're deputies.'"
Simon Bros.: "We're deputies."
Town: "You're deputies."

  • Cool Car: Rick had his Dodge Power Wagon, and AJ had a series of them: a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, later a customized Chevrolet Camaro Z28, and then a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible in a two-part episode ("Pirate Key").
  • Crossover: With Magnum, P.I.. First the Simon Brothers appeared on Magnum, and then Higgins appeared on the following Simon and Simon episode.
    • Also with the nearly-forgotten show Whiz Kids.
  • Dawson Casting: Of a sort. AJ is to be several years younger than Rick, but in real life the actors were only born months apart.
  • Friend on the Force: Assistant D.A. Janet Fowler in the early seasons, followed by Downtown Brown and then Lt. Abigail Marsh for the last two.
  • Horrible Hollywood: Rick Simon routinely refers to Hollywood as "Hollyweird".
  • Knockout Gas: In the episode "Under the Knife" has A.J. gassed in a hospital room and in danger of unnecessary surgery when the brothers get too close to the truth in a malpractice scam.
  • Name and Name: Same and same.
  • Nice Hat: Rick's.
  • Private Detective: The brothers' line of work.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man
  • Sibling Team
  • Television Geography
  • They Fight Crime