# Find me a new detective show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257 "2009-12-07T00:50:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/21 "2009-12-07T10:56:19Z")
In Australia on SBS, which specialises in non-English dramas, we have had two superb series - the Swedish crime drama _Wallander_ and the Italian drama _Inspector Montalbano._ Both were shown with subtitles and are available with them on DVD in Australia - [https://www.fbo.com.au/movie.asp?ID=27761](https://www.fbo.com.au/movie.asp?ID=27761) although in PAL. I don’t know about overseas markets because I notice that BBC are remaking _Wallander_ with Kenneth Branagh. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/22 "2009-12-07T12:33:22Z")
Cold Case is good, as is Criminal Minds. Neither one are heavy on the character arcs, although Cold Case is probably better for “stand alone” episodes. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/23 "2009-12-07T16:03:47Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I’ll second Midsomer Murders, and suggest Ellery Queen if the idea of classical locked-room whodunits appeals. If so, you might also like the more recent Jonathan Creek, sort of a British Ellery Queen. Oooh I really like\* Jonathan Creek\*, too. I keep forgetting all the shows I’ve already watched. There have been so many 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/24 "2009-12-07T17:39:50Z")
I’m liking _The Mentalist_ and _Castle_ - both are episodic shows with ensemble casts with great chemistry; _Castle_ especially doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’ve never watched it, but a lot of people say [_Da Vinci’s Inquest_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Vinci's_Inquest)was good. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/25 "2009-12-07T17:55:23Z")
I saw Criminal Minds for the first time yesterday. I liked it, I’d recommend it. It’s on CBs, here’s a link: [CBS Shows - Popular Primetime, Daytime, Late Night & Classics](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/criminal_minds/) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/26 "2009-12-07T18:06:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m liking _The Mentalist_ and _Castle_ - both are episodic shows with ensemble casts with great chemistry; _Castle_ especially doesn’t take itself too seriously. > > \ I enjoy both of these as well. If I look too closely at them I feel that their convictions would be thrown out of court pretty quickly, but I try not to take them seriously. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/27 "2009-12-07T18:50:27Z")
Man, _Ellery Queen_ seems awesome (I read about it). Exactly what I am looking for. Only none of the TV shows or movies seem to be out anywhere for me to grab ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/28 "2009-12-07T19:08:01Z")
If you like your 70’s mysteries to involve werewolves on cruise ships who kill their victims not by biting them, but by throwing them off the boat, then **Kolchak**! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/29 "2009-12-07T19:54:23Z")
_The X-Files, Prime Suspect_ and _Foyle’s War_, definitely. Freaky aliens/supernatural mysteries, hardboiled British police procedural and WW2-themed crime stories, respectively. All good. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/30 "2009-12-07T22:19:20Z")
Well, _Prime Suspect_ is excellent but it’s not the sort of one-off mystery show the OP seems to be looking for. PS is more of a mini-series, with each series focusing on a single case (with the exception of, uh, series IV I think, which was split into multiple cases). It’s certainly a must-see for any mystery fan, as Helen Mirren and the rest of the stellar cast burns up the screen with brutal, unforgiving scripts, but it’s a time commitment. So I’ll third the A&E _Nero Wolfe_ series, because the mysteries run about two hours long (some of 'em are just one, IIRC) and there are really no continuing arcs. In fact there’s little continuity at all thanks to the repertory system, which I actually don’t like very much – but it’s really the only downside of the series for me. It’s a jazzy, light-hearted, theatrical 1940s-1960s period piece with the egocentric agoraphobic obese genius Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin, who I found too OTT in the role but he calms down considerably in the second season) and his dashing, down-to-earth, street-smart assistant Archie Goodwin (awesome Timothy Hutton, whose love for the books led him to co-produce the series). You might also enjoy _Campion_, another stylish, somewhat quirky period piece from the books by Margery Allingham, and starring the charming Peter Davison (aka the Fifth Doctor from _Doctor Who_) as disarmingly silly, secretly brilliant Albert Campion. They too have little continuity and these two-hour mysteries can easily be watched a few weeks apart. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/31 "2009-12-07T22:43:54Z")
I second Wallander, both the original Swedish version. and the three episodes (with more on the way) of the BBC version starring Kenneth Branagh. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/32 "2009-12-08T00:20:42Z")
> [@RockJonny](#): > > Veronica Mars? My first thought. The first season is fantastic. If you think it’s a teenybopper show, just watch the pilot; it sets the actual tone of the show quite well. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257/33 "2009-12-08T01:01:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Twenty replies and I’m the first to mention **The Rockford Files**? It’s a combination of the detective and con-man types. As is _Remington Steele_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-me-a-new-detective-show/520257.md?page=1)