When your life is in danger, you hope cops like Riggs and Murtaugh from the "Lethal Weapon" movies will be on your side. If the bad guys are making their move, you want John McClane, Serpico or Axel Foley to come to the rescue. They're the best of the best, the top cops.

But when MTV News visited the set of an upcoming movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, we learned that their film isn't about those types of policemen. Instead, the 2010 comedy, featured on MTV's "Behind the Screen" on Wednesday (December 16), is about "The Other Guys."

"I think they're more like Cagney and Lacey," Ferrell grinned, making reference to a pair of female cops who starred in their own '80s TV series. "As a kid, I wanted to be Cagney — or Lacey."

Recently, MTV News was the first outlet allowed on the set of the comedy from Ferrell and his "Anchorman" director Adam McKay. The comedy tells the story not of two gung-ho cops who get all the action, car chases and girls, but the two wannabes whose bumbling keeps getting in the way. It's an interesting project, because Ferrell is used to comedies and Wahlberg often plays cops — but now, the two stars are exploring the other's turf.

"That's all I can play: cops or crooks," Wahlberg laughed. "[In this film] I just break sh--. That's all I do. I get mad at him, and I break sh--."

In "Guys," Ferrell plays Allen Gamble — an NYPD detective who works in the forensic accounting department and is happy to rarely see any action. Wahlberg is Terry Hoitz, a tough-thinking cop whose itchy trigger finger gets him partnered with Gamble after he accidentally shoots Derek Jeter.

"What they do to torture me is make this guy my partner," explained Wahlberg, who in real life is a die-hard Red Sox fan. "It did bring me great pleasure to shoot Derek Jeter."

"It's a great feeling of self-esteem to walk around these streets with a badge and a gun," Ferrell said of playing his first policeman. "I've been asked to leave the props at home, because I apprehended a couple of suspects last weekend, and it's truly none of my business. I've really become a vigilante for law and justice.

"I'm like Batman," he added, "but without any of the skills, whatsoever."

Co-starring a cast that includes everyone from Samuel L. Jackson to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Paris Hilton and Steve Coogan, "The Other Guys" seems poised to become one of the funniest flicks of 2010 when it hits theaters in August. But, according to the stars, the film is actually secretly being assembled as Oscar bait.

"There's action, there's drama, there's suspense," Wahlberg said. "Amazing suspense, drama, crying scenes."

"We're looking to get a BAFTA Award out of this," Ferrell agreed. "Maybe a couple of BAFTAs, some Canadian Junos and some Australian Logies."

Wahlberg, in fact, promised us nothing short of perfection. "I can guarantee a Best Picture Oscar," he grinned, pointing toward an appreciative Ferrell. "And Best Actor."

Check out everything we've got on "The Other Guys."

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