Quincy

So every episode seemed the same? Every episode of I Love Lucy was the same too, and that's a classic. Heck, 90% of TV is the same episode over and over again. This show is great. Before a couple years ago, I wasn't a huge fan of 70s TV, especially dramas, but I'm hooked on this show. The cast is great, the characters delightfully predictable and occasionally over-the-top, and the storylines intriguing. Great stuff. And I got a huge kick out of the fact that Garry Walberg (Lt. Monahan) was also Speed on The Odd Couple. Guess he and Jack followed each other around. LOL

This show was more influential than most shows of its genre on TV. In many ways, it was the predecessor to the current CSI and CSI: Miami, with its emphasis on science and the forensic approach. In fact, many of the episodes dealt with forensic methods which were just coming into being in the 70's, and for the first time let the audience of the series see these new techniques and research, including the build-up of a skeletal face to what the person could have looked like, looking for evidence of where a person has been by looking at the residue on a person's shoes and other forensic methods we take for granted nowadays.

What's even more interesting is that many of the topics of these episodes, some 25 years old, show a great amount of relevance even now. Such things as airplane safety, epidemics, political influence, riots, runaways and child pornography, post traumatic stress disorder as a result of a war experience, migrant workers, crash diets, child abuse, and much, much more.

This show was and is a great forerunner to many other shows over the past twenty-five years. In many ways, the current resurgence in shows about forensic science can be attributed to this show. Not only the commercial successes of CSI and CSI:Miami, but shows like "Forensic Files," "Cold Case Files" and other such shows. With the amount of technology which we presently have available to us now, it's amazing that a lot of it has only been available since Quincy debuted on television, less than 25 years ago.

I absolutely loved this series about a coroner's experiences, and have tried in recent years to find a TV replacement, all to no avail. Cold Case Files is bearable (but no Quincy) while CSI is both dark & stark and far too graphic. No opportunity is lost to display blood and guts, generally at the expense of character and plot. Why people view this as entertainment befuddles me. Crossing Jordan is yet another dark tale and generally as concerned with Jordan's sex life as with crime investigation.

By contrast, Quincy is very engaging but also optimistic. Yes, Quincy has his 'relationships' with beautiful young women, but they are portrayed light heartedly, with humour and minimal focus. Jack Klugman is brilliant in the role of the smart & tough, kind hearted & principled, grumpy but charismatic coroner. He is always the underdog's champion, indignant at the crimes & cover ups of the wealthy and influential, and not hesitant to ruffle a few feathers. Quincy is always professional but also personally engaged in the victim's plight. Each episode sees him ferreting out some new case of foul play, aided by his faithful Oriental lab cohort, Sam, engagingly played by Robert Ito. The pair enjoy a touching friendship.

The series gave us a glimpse into the forensic techniques and research of that era. (These may have improved during the intervening decades but alas, the TV series portraying them have not.) Also, many issues equally relevant today were explored, including child abuse, fad diets, alcoholism, child pornography, and so forth. Who cares whether aspects of the show are predictable or whether it is particularly realistic? I for one remain a great fan of the series. As I see it, all the forensic dramas of today pale by comparison.

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.

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.