Quincy M.E.

..."Thank God!" some people might think, well, not me. "Quincy" is one of my favourite shows of this kind (second only to the excellent "Columbo"). Jack Klugman is unforgettable as the intense and often angry Dr Quincy and is brilliantly supported by Robert Ito as the idealistic Sam, John S. Ragin as the by-the-book Dr Astin and Garry Walberg as Lt Monahan. Occasionally hammy but always enjoyable.

"Quincy,M.E.",premiered on NBC-TV in October of 1976,and ended its run in April of 1982. The original was one of the last series to be created for the NBC Mystery Movie strand which consisted of the shows,"McCloud", "MacMillian and Wife","Banacek",and also "Columbo" which was on the same network. However,the series became part of a two-hour movie series intitled "Quincy",but the name changed after the Peacock network cancelled the movie series in 1976. This is where the series takes off and it was a combination of several things that may this a great show. First off,Quincy was played by the great Jack Klugman,who before the series aired was Oscar Madison for five seasons on the TV version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple",which was on a rival network.

Klugman had a style and substance to the role where he can make his character looked serious and sometimes humourous at the same time(watch the episodes to see my point),but had a knack for solving cases for the police,uncover the proof of foul play against impossible odds,and go beyond the lengths to help the authorities catch the killer or suspects that were involved. Then after solving another grueling case,he's back onto another one leading to more clues and surprises at every turn.

This show during its run was in the top ten and was a grand favorites against competitors like from other detective shows like Kojak,Barnaby Jones,and Baretta,not to mention Starsky and Hutch. However,the show was a inspiration for such shows today as Crossing Jordan and CSI:Crime Scene Investigation,not to mention in this category Diagonsis:Murder.

Its is amazing that they don't make shows like this anymore,but Quincy was very good. One of the best from the mid-1970's. However,during its last season,the ratings slipped,and in 1982 the show was cancelled,and its replacement show over at NBC was that of a man and his talking car which....well you know the rest of the story...............

Catch the episodes everyday on the Hallmark channel.

I watched "Quincy" when it was on the first time round with my mum, dad & sister. I didn't quite get it the first time around as I was a young lady in those days. However I was fortunate to see it on digital TV in England, and have realized the true, raw, emotion that is Quincy, coroner & all-round good guy.

Quincy is insightful. Before all these "CSI" & "Cold Case" programmes, there was Quincy. Was he one step ahead? Let's just say he was on the ball. He knew the truth behind the lies, the evil from the good and the down-right guilty from the innocent. When he had a hunch, you'd better believe he was right. Had a crime to solve? Quincy was your guy.

Quincy get what he wants. If there was someone who was holding something back, Quincy had enough on them to solve the case & get the job done.

Quincy was a man's man. With soul. He lived & loved like a man who's time was almost up, and it showed. He solved the case when no one else thought it could be done. He felt for the deceased & gave them a voice when everyone else thought it had fallen silent.

Quincy has charisma. There was no other man on television who had a hand that was as good with a woman as it was with a dead body.

Quincy cares. Sure, Quincy was a man's man; he would be at the bar buying a round for the guys, but he hurts like the rest of us. He just kept it all inside.

So there you have it - the man & the myth that is Quincy. There will never be another... all those copy-cats? Well the men want to be him, & the women want to be WITH him. Quincy, you're the best.

The laws of 'Quincy'

1. No more than 5 minutes shall pass before Quincy yells 'Dammit!'

2. At least once an episode, Sam (Quincy's Asiatic sidekick) has to say 'I don't like it Quince'

3. Every woman, even if they are young enough to be his granddaughters, has to find Quincy unbearably attractive

4. No cop is allowed to point out that he is a pathologist, and investigating crimes is way outside the limits of his job

5. There shall never be a suprising death

6. Quincy's boss always has to object to his investigation at first, be won slowly round, and then appear, supporting, in the final denouncement

7. Not one person is allowed to point out that there are probably bodies rotting in the aisles, considering the amount of time he spends investigating just the one death

God I love this show......

In the beginning, the show was usually about a crime that Quincy solves using his skills as a medical examiner., sometimes officially, sometimes not so officially, as he did when he was on jury duty on one episode. Honestly, who would allow a medical examiner to sit on a jury in a criminal trial? But I digress. These whodunnit based episodes were interesting, and Quincy is one of the first of the CSI style shows that I can recall - it really was ahead of its time. But, especially in the last couple of years of the show, there was a shift and Klugman started doing lots of issue shows with lots of pontificating. This was probably partially due to the changing times, partially a reaction to the Reagan administration. You can see the same kind of thing happen to the show Lou Grant and its star Edward Asner during the same time frame.

Of course, crime scene investigation techniques have changed a lot over the years, and the ability to analyze DNA evidence was a ground breaker that was far in the future when this show debuted, but it is still worth it for the acting and the amazing Jack Klugman.