'Battle Creek' Stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters Reveal Their Favorite Buddy Cops of All Time

Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters are the latest stars to step into a cop drama in Battle Creek, only this one promises to be a bit quirkier than your usual network TV procedural. The pair chatted with ETonline about what sets their new CBS series apart.

"What I loved about the script is that it felt like the shows I grew up watching," Duhamel said. "It differs from what's out there in that it's a little bit more tongue and cheek. The crimes that you see on this show you won’t see on other shows. They're just a little bit abstract."

WATCH: Fergie Says Josh Duhamel Is Curious About Her Bikini Waxes

In his return to TV, Duhamel plays Special Agent Milton Chamberlain, a handsome and charming fella who opens an FBI field office in the down-and-out city of Battle Creek, Mich. Chamberlain partners with local detective Russ Agnew (Winters), who has complete opposite views of the world and crime-solving. Like most of our favorite buddy cop pairings, these two couldn't be more mismatched, which Winters explained is where the unexpected comedy of the show lives.

"It's like a buddy cop show where the two characters aren't buddies and probably won't be," he said. "It's like if Starsky and Hutch didn't like each other." A far cry from the comradery Duhamel and Winters, who many will recognize from his guest arc on Law and Order: SVU and his string of AllState commercials, built on set.

"[Josh and I] didn't know each other before this job but we got along famously from the beginning," Winters said. "There's a lot of differences with us but at the core Josh and I are very similar."

The quirky drama is the brain child of House creator David Shore and Vince Gilligan, who wrote the pilot in the 12 years between his first success (X-Files) and his second one (Breaking Bad). When the opportunity to work with the TV powerhouses came up, Duhamel jumped at the chance.

WATCH: 'Better Call Saul' Star Bob Odenkirk Spills on Shocking 'Breaking Bad' Twist

"For me, at this stage of my career, I want to work with people that will make me better and these guys definitely do that," he said. "They give us great material."

The series also stars Kal Penn as a cop and Janet McTeer as their boss. Watch the video to find out who Duhamel and Winters count among their favorite buddy cops of all time.

Battle Creek premieres Sunday, Mar. 1 on CBS.

Follow Denny on Twitter: @DDirecto.