Am I the only teenage boy who loves this show?
I'm 15 and I can't get enough of it
Seen more than a few episodes back in high school when they were airing the reruns of this in the early 2000s. The basement tv only got decent reception on one channel and this show happened to always be on when I went down there to use the the computer for essays/projects/gaming/etc.
shareI was a teenager when the share was originally on the air in the 90s (U.S.) and absolutely loved it!!! It still holds a dear place in my heart!!
shareWell I'm not a boy, but as a young girl I would always watch murder mystery shows when I was sick and couldn't go to school. I'm not sure when they started showing Diagnosis Murder here in the UK on BBC2, but I remember watching them when I was in Year 6, so I was at least 10-11. I use to watch Murder, She Wrote, Ironside, Quincy M.E., but Diagnosis Murder was my absolute favourite.
shareI would always watch DM when i was ill and had a day off from school too. :D
shareI used to watch it with my Grandparents when I was homeschooled in 5th and 6th grade. We were disappointed when the show ended.
"You want me to roll 6,000 of these!? What? Should I quit my job!?" George Seinfeld
I remember watching the show on PAX some years ago, and I'm enjoying it again now that Encore Suspense has been running it every weekday at 10 p.m. (since it's really a movie network, not a classic TV shows network, I really don't understand why they don't air the several "Diagnosis Murder" movies which were made prior to and following the show).
Some people here have mentioned "Columbo" and "Murder She Wrote". Frankly, I liked those shows way better. Once you got past the suspension of disbelief over the basic premise (homicide detective always coming up with suspects from the ranks of the rich and famous, and a widow from Maine turning up bodies at every turn), William Link and Richard Levinson would provide some tight and intelligent storytelling. (Another show predating Link's and Levinson's efforts, "Perry Mason", had much the same characteristics).
However, shows by Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove (the "Perry Mason" movies, "Matlock"--another show mentioned here--and "Diagnosis Murder") were a different animal. They certainly knew how to be entertaining, but their shows tended to have eye-rolling moments (like a prosecutor impossibly showing up in jurisdictions far from his Los Angeles jurisdiction to enjoy the privilege of losing to Perry Mason every time). Silverman clearly showed traces of his days scheduling "Scooby Doo" in CBS's Saturday morning lineup, and Garry Marshall's and Aaron Spelling's hit shows in ABC's evening lineup--which had its good side and bad side. Silverman and Hargrove were at their absolute best when they used "Diagnosis Murder" to mercilessly lampoon their own industry (which they did over a number of episodes).
Dick Van Dyke made a promo for Encore extolling the show. Frankly, it's not quite accurate, but it is true that episodes which followed the formula he describes (a whodunit with several suspects, filled with humor, and none of the regular characters treated too seriously) were pretty much the very best ones. It's a shame that Dick Van Dyke and Barry Van Dyke didn't work together more. Father's impish physical slapstick and son's wry sarcasm were perfect comic foils for each other. When the show took itself too seriously, and tried to ape the how-are-they-going-to-catch-him programs like "Columbo", "Barnaby Jones" or "Hawaii Five-O", the show seldom hit the mark. The working style of the production crew and cast just didn't fit the frentic tension of the latter two shows, and Dick Van Dyke usually didn't have a couple hours at leisure to effectively pester a suspect the way Columbo had. (I might mention that another favorite show of mine from yesteryear, "Remington Steele", probably came the closest to effectively using the "Diagnosis Murder" mix of comedy and whodunits).
As for the controversy of whether Drs. Travis or Stewart were better--I can't resist one observation. Dr. Stewart's background of growing up in a mob-controlled neighborhood was the source and means of spicing up a lot of story lines. Which makes it surprising that Dr. Travis' background remained largely a blank. The only thing I recall impacting storylines was Travis' strained relationship with his father, which did lead to a great episode about former spies (by the way, one of the great charms of "Diagnosis Murder" was episodes centering around reunions of characters from old classic shows--Ben Matlock dropping by for two episodes was sort of coming full circle, because an episode of "Matlock" became a pilot for "Jake and the Fatman", which in turn gave birth to "Diagnosis Murder"). That's not to say Dr. Travis wasn't used effectively in the storylines, just in a bit of a different way from Dr. Stewart.
During my college and university years, my days didn't feel complete without a Bargain Hunt and Diagnosis Murder fix.
shareI was probably 4 or 5 the first time I remember seeing Diagnosis Murder. We had an antenna that only got 4 or 5 channels, one being PAX (which I loved). I watched the reruns on PAX and I also remember watching the last few seasons when they actually aired (show ended when I was 8). Continued to watch the reruns on PAX until they took it off the air. Now, as a 23-year-old, I just bought the complete 8 season set last week and I'm already a season in a half in (while currently in PA-school--it is my break from studying). The best part is, I usually remember who the killer is within the first five minutes, but I still just love to see all of the crazy shenanigans Mark can get himself into. Let's just say Doc Sloan may have had a bit of an influence on me when I was young and was the doctor I strived to be (even though I had a change of heart along the way and going to be a Physician Assistant instead)
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