I don’t generally make a final decision on a show until I’ve watched a whole season, but just five episodes in to Lethal Weapon, I can without a doubt say it’s the best guilty-pleasure show of 2016. It’s not the acting, dialogue, or even production that make it so good; it’s the fact that the show is a throwback to the basic fundamentals of a procedural—that for one hour each week, I know that I can be entertained without fear of missing a crucial plot twist or having the whole series ruined for me on Facebook if I don’t watch it the same day. Ultimately, there’s something satisfying about the simplicity of watching a show that doesn’t require an immense emotional or mental investment.

In case you’ve forgotten the premise of the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover–led Lethal Weapon franchise, here’s a refresher: Roger Murtaugh, played in the show by Damon Wayans, is a veteran and family man who’s considering the slow transition into retirement and getting out of the field. Martin Riggs (Clayne Crawford) has just lost his beloved wife in a tragic accident and is young, reckless, and suicidal as a result. It’s the story of two cops in very, very different places in their lives, but when they’re partnered up together, they must put all their misgivings aside in order to focus on the main objective: to protect and serve the city of Los Angeles.

While the TV adaptation, which airs weekly on Fox, retains much of the plot of the long-running movie franchise, it requires no advance knowledge of any of the movies and operates as a stand-alone adaptation. In other words, it’s not a Marvel show, and you’re not expected to know everything about the main characters right away—if anything, you actually get more background in the 2016 show than you did in 10 years of blockbuster movies.

Back in 2011, it was widely speculated that a reboot of the Lethal Weapon films was in the works, and that it was possible that Mel Gibson might once again be attached. But his absence was ultimately something that was much needed for the show: The new blood has brought new life to the franchise. While Crawford, who plays Riggs, is just as reckless as the character that Gibson played, he brings new depth to the character: Riggs is trying, desperately, to make himself normal.