# Cheesy whodunnit shows that you like to watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636 "2003-03-27T23:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/1 "2003-03-27T23:04:40Z")
Diagnosis Murder I like the way the detective can afford to have a different designer suit for every day of the week… and what’s the deal with his hair… dyed? I like the show anyway, it’s normally good for a few laughs. The chemisty between father and son is good also, as they are real life father and son. Murder, She Wrote If I was Jessica Fletcher I’d be a little concerned. Every time she goes to a new town, someone gets murdered, normally in the same house as her! I love the way the show intruduces “subtle” clues to the viewer, and everything ties in at the end. Jessica always ends up in some apparantly vulnerable situation, acting as bait, but the killer is always foiled at the last minute. Quincy How cheesy and non PC can you get? From the opening titles, where Quincy is apparantly examining a body, and the camera pans out to reveal some bikini-clad babe on a yacht. And the show always ends in that restaurant, with some awful all-boys-together wisecracks between the owner and Quincy. I think it’s the quirks and non PC-ness that give this show it’s charm. Columbo Not really cheesy, more just a classic detective show. I like the way Columbo always appears to be a bumbling, shabby buffoon, when really he is super sharp. They keep you guessing who the killer is right up to the last scene. The last scene always has Columbo talking casually to the killer, and he slowly reveals the evidence that he has, without the killer even knowing that he is being accused until it’s too late. Good stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/2 "2003-03-28T03:12:40Z")
This really isn’t per the OP, but did you ever read the “Encyplopedia Brown” books? They are somewhat like the shows you mention: rather formulaic, with local badguy Bugs Meany always putting in at least one appearance, and getting his congame foiled by the title character. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/3 "2003-03-28T05:20:50Z")
**Banacek** George Peppard as a free-lance Boston insurance investigator. At the beginning of every episode, some valuable object, insured for millions, vanishes in some impossible way. Peppard spends the next hour or so smoking thin cheroots, eating expensive meals, outsmarting the cops, bedding beautiful women, and beating up hired thugs without mussing his caesar-cut. Then he gets everybody in one room and reconstructs the crime, delivers the missing goods, and pockets a check for 10% of the insured value. They only made 16 episodes over 4 years (plus the pilot film, which I’ve never seen). A&E was showing it on Tuesdays several years back, and I watched every episode 3 or 4 times. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/4 "2003-03-28T13:44:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Rieux \* > \*\ ***Banacek** > > George Peppard as a free-lance Boston insurance investigator. At the beginning of every episode, some valuable object, insured for millions, vanishes in some impossible way. Peppard spends the next hour or so smoking thin cheroots, eating expensive meals, outsmarting the cops, bedding beautiful women, and beating up hired thugs without mussing his caesar-cut. Then he gets everybody in one room and reconstructs the crime, delivers the missing goods, and pockets a check for 10% of the insured value.\*\* The problem with Banacek (other than the fact that the writers seemed to think it was an obviously Polish name) was that every mystery had the exact same solution. The item was stolen long before everyone thought it stolen. In other words, if everyone thought the twenty-ton statue was stolen from the flatbed truck as it went under the bridge, it turned out to have bee taken some time before, and a giant balloon replica put in its place. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/5 "2003-03-28T15:25:48Z")
Quincy and Columbo were always my favorites, but Spenser:For Hire deserves a mention here, too. I just loved that one. Robert Urich and Avery Brooks were both pretty well cast as Robert B. Parker’s characters. I seriously wish the series was available on video or DVD, but I don’t think it was popular enough to merit that. It turns up occasionally on A&E, runs its course and then vanishes for another couple of years. I’m eagerly awaiting the next round. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/6 "2003-03-28T15:44:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by samarm_ > **If I was Jessica Fletcher I’d be a little concerned.** I wouldn’t be concerned if I were Jessica Fletcher, I’d be concerned if Jessica Fletcher came to my town! Especially if I’m her nephew! The inspiration for my _nom de SMDB_, Brother Cadfael, is a twelfth-century monk who suffers from Jessica Fletcher’s disease…when he comes to town, people conveniently drop dead at his feet!. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/7 "2003-03-28T16:01:49Z")
Whoa, there were only 16 **Banacek** episodes!? How about **Magnum, P.I.**? That cheesy theme song. The half-buttoned shirts. Those tight shorts. The wacky dialogue between Magnum and Higgins. The swinger Rick. TC and his oft damaged chopper. The cheesy guest stars. O, it was all so great! One of my all-time favorite shows! 162 glorious episodes. I still fantasize about being Magnum, driving that car, living at **Robin’s Nest** , shagging all those babes, having Rick and TC as your best buds. [sniff]. BTW, How many times was Magnum arrested by the local police? Anyone know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/8 "2003-03-28T19:02:47Z")
I was a fan of **Banacek**. It’s a shame that only 17 were ever made, but then again thinking up ‘impossible’ crimes is a tough challenge for writers. I disagree with **Reality Chuck**. I think the solutions were much more varied than that. Here in the UK Banacek episodes tend to turn up as random schedule filler if they turn up at all, and even now I’m not sure I’ve seen all 17. I’d love to find a list somewhere of the ‘impossible’ crime in each case, and the solution, but I’ve trawled the net without luck. I’ve only found ‘bare bones’ episode lists, containing dull stuff like air dates and guest stars, but nothing that fills in plot details and solutions. I’m puzzled by what **samarm** says about ‘Columbo’ keeping you guessing ‘whodunnit’ right until the end. On the contrary, almost every Columbo shows the viewers who the killer is right at the start. It’s not a ‘whodunnit’ show - it’s a ‘spot the clue that will give the killer away’ show. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/9 "2003-03-29T01:21:14Z")
There were only seventeen **Banacek** episodes because it was part of an NBC Wednesday night “Mystery Wheel” (or some such title) which originally included **Cool Million** and **Madigan**. I rather liked the “impossible crime” solutions, myself. I remember falling asleep near the end of one episode and going nuts trying to figure out the solution. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/10 "2003-03-29T02:42:54Z")
I think that’s what I liked about _Banacek_, the solutions were so Rube Goldberg-like in complexity, they reminded me of _Scooby Doo_ episode solutions. The episode with the football player who vanished during a live game on TV, didn’t have quite the same solution, as posted earlier in the spoiler box. Plus, Peppard looked to be having such fun hamming it up, as the legendary insurance investigator who didn’t have to answer to anyone. He was freelance and loaded. Pure fantasy, but fun. I wish A&E would bring back or find some other detective or cop shows (or even some cool sitcoms) to flesh out their daytime schedule. This mix of played out movies and Jessica Fletcher reruns drives me away. _City Confidential_ doesn’t do much for me either. I saw a stand-up comedian say that they should change the title of _Murder She Wrote_ to _Murder She Caused_. My theory is that Jessica Fletcher is a serial killer as well as a master brainwasher; who kills for inspiration for her mystery novels, and secretly manipulates and drugs people to find motives, doctors evidence, and makes them confess to killing her victims to get away with it. Come on, you saw Angela Landsbury in _The Manchurian Candidate_, she’s sneaky, twisted, and evil! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/11 "2003-03-30T08:27:10Z")
Despite solid ratings, Murder She Wrote was cancelled because it had an “older”, unpopular (for the all powerful 18-49 year old core advertisers) audience - and then they replaced it with Diagnosis Murder…go figure. Some of the Murder She Wrote episodes were actually pretty good, although a few bordered on being episodes of Love Boat with all the out-of-work actors. I don’t know what happened with MONK, but it is/was pretty good. There really aren’t any good mystery series being done anymore…unless you are trying to figure out the “mystery” of why these reality shows are still on the air. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/12 "2003-03-30T18:54:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrotherCadfael \* > \*\*The inspiration for my _nom de SMDB_, Brother Cadfael, is a twelfth-century monk who suffers from Jessica Fletcher’s disease…when he comes to town, people conveniently drop dead at his feet!. \*\* One of the many shows that rerun periodicly on PBS “Classic Mystery Theatre”. As well as Agatha Christie’s detectives. But my favourite has to be **Hetty Waithrop Investigates** (or is it Heddy?) This show has to be akin to Murder She Wrote. Older ladies investigating crimes. Of course Heddy does more than murders. (But no mucking about with scandals and industial espionage) My guilty pleasure in this show is her sidekick Geoffery, played wonderfully by Dominique Maughm (Sorry about that spelling). Yowch! Since LotR came out I’ve been jonsing to see it but, sadly I have been without. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/13 "2003-03-30T19:44:24Z")
According to TV Guide online, the Banacek pilot will be airing on the Hallmark cable channel, Saturday, April 12, at 12:30 AM, which I presume is Central Time, since that’s what my cookie is set to. Here’s a pretty good general episode guide: [http://www.memorabletv.com/episodeguides/banacek.htm](http://www.memorabletv.com/episodeguides/banacek.htm) Here’s one with some spoilers for some episodes: [http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/banacek/episode.htm](http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/banacek/episode.htm) (Angelfire sites are popup heavy.) Banacek sound really interesting. I haven’t seen it, but I intend to get a look at the pilot. Thanks for the heads up. -Myron ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/14 "2003-03-30T19:46:56Z")
Here’s another, more detailed, yet spoiler free, episode guide. [http://epguides.com/Banacek/guide.shtml](http://epguides.com/Banacek/guide.shtml) It also lists “Old Polish Proverbs” which must have been some sort of running gag. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/15 "2003-03-30T20:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samarm \* > \*\* > Columbo > > (snip) > > They keep you guessing who the killer is right up to the last scene. \*\* A small nitpick here (or not so small for many Columbo fans). In Columbo there was virtually **never** any mystery about who the killer was. Almost every episode\* showed the killer doing his/her dirty work right on screen before Columbo ever shows up. The “mystery” was guessing which seemingly completely unimportant details Columbo would use to catch the killer. The fun was in the character, the “just one more thing”, the apparently bumbling nature, etc. - The only three episodes I can think of off the top of my head that **don’t** identify the killer up front are ““Last Salute to the Commodore”, “Undercover” (based on the Ed McBain novel “Jigsaw”), and “No Time To Die” (also based on an Ed McBain novel, “So Long As You Both Shall Live”). I believe the killer is identified up front in all the others. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/16 "2003-03-30T20:45:16Z")
Hmm yes you’re right of course. I don’t know what I was thinking of when I wrote that! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/17 "2003-03-31T01:45:42Z")
Columbo McCloud That old sherrif from the turn of the century MacMillan and Wife (They were all from the NBC or ABC (which one?) Mystery Movie shows.) The Night Stalker Law & Order - Criminal Intent Pinky and the Brain Scooby Doo please stop me ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/18 "2003-03-31T01:51:55Z")
That old sherrif from the turn of the century was Richard Boone as HEC RAMSAY. A vote here for the Jim Hutton ELLERY QUEEN ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/19 "2003-03-31T05:20:40Z")
Oh, man, I LOVED “Murder, She Wrote” ! My dad and I watched that every Sunday night for years. I wanted to be Jessica Fletcher sooo bad. I mean, that was the life, baby. Living in a charming ( yet totally fake ) small New England town, riding my bike around, solving mysteries, always catching the bad guys, and writing about it later! And of course, being a really sharp dresser, which I was, at least by Cabot Cove standards. Oh, yeah, and my best friend on the show was the sheriff, Tom Bosley, one of my favorite actors in real life. Yeah, I was sorry to see that show go off the air. I don’t have cable, and my TV really doesn’t work anyhow, so I don’t suppose I could watch reruns now even if they aired anywhere. Too bad for me, sigh! I raise a cup of tea to you, Jessica! ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636/20 "2003-03-31T08:19:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrotherCadfael \* > \*\*I wouldn’t be concerned if I were Jessica Fletcher, I’d be concerned if Jessica Fletcher came to my town! Especially if I’m her nephew! > > \*\* I wouldn’t be that concerned. All you’d have to worry about is being accused of murder and then cleared a few days later. Incidentally how did she manage to have 3000 nieces and nephews and no brothers or sisters? I vote for Columbo, partucualrly the original run (the murderous Dick Van Dyke! The murderous Ruth Gordon! The murderous Mr. Spock!! and that one where he gets the guy by tricking him into hinding the stolen goods in a room Columbo was actually renting (“These are _my_ shirts. This is _my_ underwear. This a picture of _my_ brother-in-law.”)) Of course you realize why he was such a brilliant detective and keen observer if you’ve seen “Wings of Desire.” 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesy-whodunnit-shows-that-you-like-to-watch/164636.md?page=2)