Here's every TLC song accidentally (?) mentioned by Michael Keaton's Captain Gene in The Other Guys. The buddy cop genre existed prior to 1987's Lethal Weapon, but that became the defining example of the genre. Its mix of great dialogue and action made it a huge success, spawning three sequels and a host of imitators, including Red Heat, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Rush Hour and many more.
The Other Guys is a 2010 action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as mismatched partners who stumble onto a big case. The film reunited Ferrell with director Adam McKay following Anchorman and Step Brothers, and in addition to being genuinely funny, it also featured surprisingly good action scenes and a great supporting cast, including Eva Menda, Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson and Ice-T as the film's sardonic, unseen narrator.
Arguably The Other Guy's MVP in terms of supporting players is Michael Keaton (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Captain Gene. Pretty much every scene with Keaton's character is solid gold, including his silent fury at breaking up a fight during a funeral scene or working his second job at Bed Bath & Beyond, which seems to make him much happier. He also has a strange habit of quoting TLC songs during briefings with the main characters, but when he's questioned if the reference was intentional or not he always claims he has no idea who TLC are.
Captain Gene mentions four TLC songs in The Other Guys, including "Waterfalls," "No Scrubs," "Creep" and "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg." While the film leaves it a mystery as to whether or not Gene is dropping these references on purpose, Adam McKay explained the backstory of the recurring gag to MTV. It turns out that when Gene drove his son to college they were listening to a TLC greatest hits album, although the Captain had no idea who they were. He was subconsciously taking in the lyrics though, which is why he peppers them into conversations.
While there was talk of The Other Guys receiving a sequel shortly after its release, that seems unlikely now. Adam McKay and Will Ferrell returned for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues in 2013, which was generally considered inferior to the original. The reception to the sequel put the duo off the idea of making Step Brothers 2 also. While The Other Guys 2 - or a Captain Gene spinoff - sounds like it could be fun, it seems the filmmakers themselves don't want to go chasing waterfalls either.