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Robert De Niro stars as Mitch Preston, a no-nonsense LAPD detective, forced to star on a reality-based TV show with Trey Sellars (Eddie Murphy), a frustrated actor-turned-LAPD patrolman in "Showtime," another buddy cop genre spoof. "Showtime isn’t a great action/comedy film in the tradition of "48 Hours" or "Lethal Weapon," but it does have its own wry comic energy projected by De Niro and Murphy who satirize their own movie personas. The unlikely pair meet when Sellars accidentally blows Preston’s undercover drug operation. A TV news camera crew catches a running gun battle ending with Preston shooting the television camera out of the cameraman’s hands. Preston’s gruff, lone wolf tough-as-nails personality inspires Chase Renzi (Rene Russo), a cheesy and sensationalizing network producer, to follow Preston and Sellars on patrol, hoping to capture the odd couple’s edgy banter and wild west gunplay for her television audience. The partners stumble upon LA’s top drug dealer and gunrunner (Pedro Damian) who provides the reality show with plenty of car chases, explosions and gunfights. Johnny Cochran and William Shatner ("T.J. Hooker") playing themselves provide the film’s most inspired moments. OK. Buddy cop movies are pretty much played out these days, however, "Showtime" which fails to revive the energy of "48 Hours" and "Lethal Weapon" isn’t bad escapism for a Saturday afternoon.