Il commissario Manara

This series is so Italian, they should call it "Inspector Marinara". Even the cops are simpatico. I love the aunt that solves all the crimes. The women are drool-worthy. The locale is Tuscany. The crimes mostly involve Italian music, art and culture. Did I mention how evocative the cinematography is? A winner!

8 for me is pretty high. I've seen some Italian comedy, msytery drama, that are truly unwatchable. I have reservations, bec so much is very sterotypical formula. Guido, Luca, is likeable, sexy, good hearted, a good dectective, a womanizer without being cruel. There he is in a small town in Tuscany, the Burbs, and there are woman who look like Italian Lingerie models, could give Heidi Klum a run. Even the sandwich girl in season 2, on screen only a few minutes, Looks just like the Inspector Marta, season 2. This series depends on the likeablility of Luca, Guido, and whether you can buy him as a respected, effective Dectective.

No one is hurt by his philandering. Well he is 36, 38, a healthy single man, why wouldn't he be busy. The Coroner, looking like a 5'10" high fashion, Victoria Secrets model, a free spirit who takes her sex like a man, is treated pretty casually by Luca. As if she has no feelings, but is never hurt or offended. Luca's escapades are 1/3 of the series. He is an idealized italian, liked & respected by everyone, even if with a wink at his boyish nature. Good at his job. Solves mysteries with sympathy for the perpetrators. Just as a comment, Guido, 6'1" or 2", tall slim, atheletic, sportif, looks good in shorts (I hate skinny men's bird legs.) They show his chest in an open shirt, but never shirtless, no abs or chest or arms. Not enough muscles, probalby skinny arms, we'd see hi shirtless. Just saying. The messy curly hair is often too much, and the mustache which suits him, looks like 80s prono man, or 90s cop.

I agree with another reviewer, that the off again, on again, I like you, do I love you, can I trust you between Inspector Lara and Luca is a bit tedious. Gets a lot of screen play.

There is a Top commissoner, a charactature, 5 feet tall, pudgy, older with a young sexy wife. 2 uniform cops, give comic relief, loyal 2nd in cimmand, hen pecked by his also policeman wife. Auntie, a crime solver, and Ada, Doting Landlady.

There are no homeless. No one is out of work, or struggling for money. Everyone is middle class. No astrocrats like in Midsommer mysteries. Yet there are a lot of murders for a quiet sleepy town, any other crime? We don't see it. OK, maybe life in the countryside of Tuscany is Utopia. And they don't have street crime, drugs, gang, influences from the big city (Milan) homelessness, provety. Also no children around on the street. No cars, no traffic. No business center.

Me, I enjoyed Guido, the Italian spice, the fun, the whimsy, the counryside. Gppd way to learn Itralian. Some might not like it.

Ragazzi,buongiorno..:) This is something to enjoy during late evenings when you got some trouble to sleep..Something to enjoy and do not expect too much from light series that was created not for serious film festival rewards, but for general public just to relax.. You will be surprise how good comedy Italians can create...!!:) do not pay attention to minor inconsistencies, even illogicalities and inconsistencies in the narrative ... After all, who worries about it as one can laugh and enjoy the situations.

Very well matched actors for the main roles, that is Manara and his girlfriend Lara .. Both are former Italian models so it's no wonder they look sooo good. !!

Guido Caprino in his best years, he looks fantastic with a storm of constantly tousled curls .. :) With very strong female gaze...!! Do not know from where it comes,but is a bit disturbing.. This is what commissario Manara looks like and nothing better .. He is a really good actor, just look at how he copes with dialogues, how he interprets the text wonderfully! !!, when he collaborates with other actors on the set ... He's just great. It's a shame that you don't see him on the stage of Shakespeare's great comedies ... but he can also be Macbeth ..!well, sky is the limit..!!

Hello..!! Directors..!!!

Roberta Garrusso as Lara is a bit in the shadows .. but also shows a comic talent .. apart from that she is very beautiful and nothing else would count ... :) The other actors are also doing well .. and the inspector Toskani is a real comic gem ..!!

The character of the coroner is played by an actress with very bad teeth ala Dracula, whether he is actually a guy disguised as a woman .. it is not known .. although my guess is that he is actually a man.

. For the viewer it may be an additional attraction and own investigation :)) To sum up ... you can really have fun... and not have a grudge ... :)) And a good opportunity to practice your Italian language!!

E una buona opportunità per praticare la tua lingua italiana..!!:)).

This is a frothy bit of superficial rubbish from RAI. It's filmed in the style of a 1970s American detective show, a bit like Magnum PI or similar. It was just not engaging enough to hold attention. After a while the silliness of it all becomes annoying and not worth watching.

My first impressions weren't too good. There was too much sentimentality and comedy and not enough crime. The programme seemed formulaic and it is. However, I stuck with it and came to like the series as what it is, a simple bit of fun.

It got to be a familiar theme. We opened with a gruesome killing which was solved in the end by Signor Manara and his principal helper whether the lovely Lara or her replacement in the second season the long legged Marta. Various players had bit parts in the clearing up of the crimes - a couple of buffoonish uniformed cops, the reception cop, the odd couple Sardi and Toscani, Aunty Caterina and (occasionally) Ada.

Throughout, Inspector Manara melted female hearts and seduced several woman and sometimes these conquests were instrumental in solving the whodunnit.

The sets and backgrounds were fabulous. It was shot in a truly unspoilt corner of Italy with old buildings and narrow streets set against the backdrop of the sea.

A third season was commissioned and written. Filming was announced to be starting on several occasions but the project was quietly dropped. It's a real shame. It will never happen now. I'd have loved to see the new episodes.

This is a nice, frothy confection that is easy to watch. I'm confined to barracks because of covid and it made an ideal way to while away some hours.