Married TV writers Liz Garcia and Josh Harto found themselves with some time off during the writers' strike of 2007-08, so they decided to hit the road. They drove cross-country, including through Memphis, where Harto used to take trips with his country musician grandfather. They fell in love with the city, and the idea for a TV show was born. Memphis Beat, starring Jason Lee as loveable, Elvis-obsessed Detective Dwight Hendricks, debuted on June 22 and focuses on its characters as much as the crime of the week. Garcia talked to TVGuide.com about the show's origins and what's to come this season.

TVGuide.com: How did you and Josh come up with the idea for Memphis Beat?
Liz Garcia: It started with the idea of doing a throwback cop show. ... Something that was really about cops as characters and that felt more realistic in terms of how they get their job done than a show that heavily features very expensive, cutting edge technology. The next step for us is always, 'Where are we going to set it? 'That's really where we get our inspiration. My husband... had this child's memory of Memphis as this exciting, gritty place with these neon lights and great food and  music pouring out of every bar and restaurant. It's not far from the truth!

During the writers' strike of '07 we drove across the country, stopped [in Memphis] for several days and really, really fell in love with it. We like to listen to the music of the place as we're writing. We started getting this image of this city with two faces: on the one side there's crime to grapple with and then on the other hand it's this really eccentric place. The food is amazing, people love to have a great time, the music is incredible.  That's where the tone of the show came through. [It's] funny and dramatic like the city.