# Rank Your NBC Mystery Movie In Order **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913 "2020-05-16T11:06:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_Taggart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9dc877/32.png) [@Jim\_Taggart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Taggart)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/1 "2020-05-16T11:06:37Z")
Me: 1. Columbo 2. McMillan and Wife 3. Banacek 4. McCloud ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/2 "2020-05-16T11:29:30Z")
My top four would be: 1. Columbo 2. Hec Ramsey 3. Lannigan’s Rabbi 4. McMillan and Wife ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/3 "2020-05-16T12:55:13Z")
**Columbo McCloud** (I’m a sucker for “fish out of water” stories) \*\*McMillan and Wife \*\*(No love for his solo outings) **Banacek Hec Ramsey Cool Million** I’d love to rate **Hec Ramsey** higher, loved the premise of a frontier lawman using modern scientific techniques, but I don’t recall any episodes after the pilot. It sounds almost Steampunk, though! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/4 "2020-05-16T13:04:30Z")
The 14 selections from the original run and the 8 from the 1993 revival can be found [here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NBC_Mystery_Movie) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/5 "2020-05-16T22:32:01Z")
Columbo McCloud Quincy, M.E.\* Amy Prentiss \*Quincy is a cheat, because there were only four episodes before it was turned into a one-hour weekly series. But I liked it in the early seasons, so it’s on my list, by gosh. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/6 "2020-05-16T23:07:30Z")
McMillan and Wife because I had and still do have a mad crush on Susan St James McCloud Loved the chemistry between McCloud and Clifford and there was humor Columbo If quality was the criterea this would be #1 but I enjoyed the first two more Banachek The Snoop Sisters ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/7 "2020-05-16T23:26:24Z")
\*\*\*Columbo \*\*\*was the only one I ever watched. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/8 "2020-05-16T23:40:41Z")
I was only a kid when the series aired, I used to be afraid the that Ominous Man slowly coming toward you in the opening credits. Columbo Banachek Cool Million Hec Ramsey ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/9 "2020-05-17T00:47:34Z")
**Banacek McCloud McMillan and Wife** Never watched the others much, and I hated **Colombo**. _ **Thomas Banacek:** A duck with three wings and a loaf of bread is brother to the turkey._ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/10 "2020-05-17T00:51:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > \*\*\*Columbo \*\*\*was the only one I ever watched. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/11 "2020-05-17T05:42:47Z")
Banacek Columbo McCloud McMillan & Wife Banacek was my favorite show at the time. The football player disappearing in the tackle is a classic. I didn’t appreciate Columbo as much as I should have when it first aired. Only later going back and rewatching helped me realize what a great show it was. Indeed Columbo wasn’t a mystery at all. It was something else, new and different. It was a battle of wits. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/12 "2020-05-17T06:28:23Z")
Columbo McCloud MacMillan and Wife Banacek Honorable mentions: Quincy, M.E. and Hec Ramsey These were all satirized in MAD Magazine as Clodumbo, McClod, MakeMillions and Wife, Banapole, Queezy, M.E., and Hack Ramsnose. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/13 "2020-05-17T13:57:28Z")
\*\*Colombo \*\*was the only one worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/14 "2020-05-17T19:13:26Z")
The one that no one remembers is Madigan. I seem to recall that when the show made its debut, they alternated Madigan and Banacek; the others came later. McCloud Hec Ramsey Banacek Columbo Madigan - if Quincy ME counts, Quincy goes top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/15 "2020-05-17T20:53:13Z")
MacMillan, With or without Wife Banacek Cool Million I loved McCLOUD when I was a kid, but boy they don’t hold up at all.The stories are incredibly stupid, and McClod is a real asshole, actually. Despite my love of the show, Banacek is not a “fair play” detective show. Often, the first time we see the crime, the scene does not match the “here’s how it happened” explanation at the end. Important clues are changed or omitted. The show was not written for repeat viewing, that’s for sure. Colombo bugs me. Most, but not all, cases would never go to trial if the perps just SHUTUP. My dad used to compare him to the KGB - he finds a person he thinks is guilty, and hounds him. until he confesses. ( Yes, yes, we the audience know the killer is guilty, but Columbo doesn’t have the benefit of seeing the show opening.) ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/16 "2020-05-17T22:31:38Z")
I still watch pieces of Columbo. It’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-your-nbc-mystery-movie-in-order/853913/17 "2020-05-17T23:58:49Z")
I was going to say Kolchak (the old Darren McGavin series), but it wasn’t one of this series.