'Scoundrels' tries to go straight and get laughs

The West family is on a first-name basis with the police force.

As ABC's summer series "Scoundrels" opens, the cops are joining the Wests for breakfast. Sort of.

"Why don't they just move in and save on gas?" asks teenager Hope (Vanessa Marano) as she's rousted out of bed because the police are at the door.

And then, as the breakfast cereal is being poured, she inquires, "What'd we steal this time? The raisins?"

No. But there's a reason the cops are on a first name basis with the Wests. They are indeed crooks.

So ... the family that steals together, congeals together?

Husband/father Wolfgang "Wolf" West (David James Elliott) is the head of the clan, and he's raising his kids to join the family business. His wife, Cheryl (Virginia Madsen), is supportive.

Their 20-something twin sons, Logan and Cal (both played by Patrick John Flueger) are opposites. Logan is about to join the bar; grungy Cal is more likely to be hanging out in a bar. The plan is for Logan to be the family's lawyer, while Cal will be the next criminal mastermind.

Despite the fact that he's not all that smart.

Speaking of not all that smart, there's 20-something daughter Heather (Leven Rambin), whose goal is to become a supermodel. Weirdly enough, she might be smarter than she acts.

Hope — who's still in high school when she chooses to go — is the smart one.

They're crooks, but they're relatively nice crooks. When police Sergeant Mack (Carlos Bernard) questions whether Cal might have been involved in a violent crime, Cheryl takes offense.

"I know what you think of this family, sergeant," she says. "But we do not beat up old ladies."

"That's right. I forgot. West code of honor," Mack replies. "No violence, no drugs. Just forge a few bad checks, rip off a few overpriced hotels."

Yeah, that sort of thing.

And, later, Cheryl takes Cal to task — after she almost runs him over with her car — when she thinks he broke the family code.

"There's two rules this family lives by. One, we do not invade homes. At least not while people are in them," she says. "And, two, we never, ever use violence!"

Weirdly enough, the Wests seem like a very functional family. All families have their idiosyncrasies, right?