Skip to main content

The Best TV Detectives

Television mystery shows have been a staple of my existence since, well, as long as I can remember. They are one of the few commonalities my father and I shared, and so they hold an extra special place in my heart. And with yesterday having been Father's Day and what not, I was thinking about all the mystery programs on TV that I currently (and used to) watch and, of those, which ones featured the best detectives. You know me, dear reader.... never one to miss an opportunity to do a 'best of' list. So, here goes: my favorite television detectives!

1. Columbo



The every-man, the quintessential American copper. With his rumpled raincoat, absent-minded demeanor, junky-looking car, his dog with the name Dog, and overall genial nature, Columbo was aces at putting a suspect off their guard -- until it was too late. I could watch his mysteries all day.


2. Endeavour Morse



An Oxford graduate-turned police detective, Morse used his education, his love of words, his intellect, his passion for seeing things through, to help solve the murders on his patch (not without the help of his sidekick Robbie Lewis). His mysteries are a perfect blend of classical music, a beautiful (yet sinister) academic setting, and a troubled man.


3. Tom Barnaby



From the pen of Caroline Graham to the screens of ITV viewers in the UK, the character of Tom Barnaby held down the fort on Midsomer Murders for 14 years, investigating over 200 deaths along the way. True, the body count was rather high for such an idyllic-looking place, but with Barnaby on the job, the criminals were always caught. Or were they? At times, he could be lenient on those whom he felt were generally good people. He also had a stable home life, which makes for a nice change from most of the frustrated detectives that grace our TV screens.


4. Jessica Fletcher



Whether she was solving crimes in her quaint hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine, or on the French Riviera, Angela Lansbury as J.B. Fletcher was always the consummate lady: polite, curious, and never afraid to stand her ground. She made 12 years of classic television so enjoyable for so many people.


5. Ellery Queen



Sure, the cases were somewhat obvious, the dying clue was pretty contrived, and the period setting was done up rather hokey, but Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen had a charm and charisma that carried the show. It was just plain fun to watch.


I could go on, of course. There have been so many exciting and enthralling detectives on television over the years: Joe Friday, Andy Dalziel, James Hathaway, The Equalizer, Sherlock Holmes, etc., but the aforementioned five rank as my favorites. If you haven't had a chance to check them out, they're all available on DVD, and even some can be streamed. So, get to sleuthing!




Labels:

Comments

  1. LornaJune 18, 2012 at 2:21 PM

    I think we could watch tv together with no problem. Not as familiar with the Brits, but take your word on them. My only addition would be the quirky Monk. ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yesterday's Restaurants

The local newspaper has a feature from one of Champaign-Urbana's most legendary restaurateur's, John Katsinas, on what his favorite area restaurants were that have now since closed (or will soon be closing).  It's a nice little read, and has made me stop and think about the restaurants that have come and gone that have left an indelible (and edible) impression on me throughout the years. Here we go....
Post a Comment
Read more

Watching The Hours

A Twitter friend named Paula has asked for folks to submit ideas for a blog-a-thon about what we think will be the classic films of the future. In other words, what relatively recent movies (namely, from the 21st century), do we think will be considered classics in the decades to come, possibly airing on such venerable stations as Turner Classic Movies ? While a number of films come to mind for such a category, one in particular stood out from the rest, and thus is my entry for Paula's blog-a-thon.
5 comments
Read more

She's Madonna

Today we're going to talk about something very important. We're going to talk about Madonna. "Madge," as she's affectionately known around the gay scene, has been making music for over thirty years. I grew up with her songs, many of them pop classics. In recent years, it can be arguably said that her popularity has waned a bit. During the past decade, Madonna has put out seventeen singles. Of those, three have charted in the US Top 40. Ten Failed to chart at all on the Billboard Hot 100. We now have at least one possibility offered as to why Madge's chart power is waning: Ageism. At least, that's what Diplo (just, Diplo), a producer of some of the tracks off her latest album, thinks . I know it's difficult to be objective about something you've worked on -- whether you were the producer or the artist -- but, as a listener/fan, I have to say that Madonna's most recent work has simply not been that good. Still, we'll hear what ...
Post a Comment
Read more