# On TV it seems like everybody solves murders but actual detectives **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [February 24, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641 "2021-02-24T14:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641/101 "2021-04-26T14:12:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Was it not advertised much at the time? Clearly a lot of money was put into making the movie. It even had its own pinball machine! > **[The Shadow (pinball)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shadow_(pinball))** > > The Shadow is a 1994 pinball game designed by Brian Eddy and released by Midway (under the Bally label). It is based on the 1994 movie of the same name. > This game featured new speech by Penelope Ann Miller (Margo Lane), John Lone (Shiwan Khan), and Tim Curry (Farley Claymore) (reprising their respective roles), as well as speech from the movie. The Shadow's speech for this game was provided by Williams/Midway voice actor, Tim Kitzrow. > The game's noted features include player-controlled ball div... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641/102 "2021-04-26T14:19:38Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It even had its own pinball machine! Who knows…how hard you can get away with hitting the sides…before the tilt alert comes on… The Shadow knows! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641/103 "2021-04-26T14:29:53Z")
Johnny Dollar (an old radio show) featured an insurance investigator who solved murders, burglaries and other crimes left and right (sometimes every day, sometimes over a week’s worth of story). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641/104 "2021-04-26T15:31:53Z")
I listen to a lot of of ‘OTR’ (Old Time Radio shows), and they have a lot of crazy professions solving crimes. The most “unintentionally wacky” was The Green Lama… I mean why _wouldn’t_ a Tibetan monk use his almost-magical powers of meditation to trap criminals? (And then abandon all the ‘Zen Lite’ philosophical lessons he’d been spouting, so he could punch them out at the end.) But my favorite was “Ted Drake Guardian of the Big Top”, I think he was just a photographer who hung around circuses until something fishy happened. Then everyone would talk to him as if he were a cop… no one said “Wait, why am I detailing my alibi for last night to this guy with a huge camera around his neck?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-tv-it-seems-like-everybody-solves-murders-but-actual-detectives/933641.md?page=5)