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Recently I have been watching McMafia(c) which is very well made, with excellent performances, dramatic, chilling and really rather depressing.
This put me in mind of various detective/crime shows I like which are a lot more cheerful
1. Death in Paradise -- This apparently is the most popular programme in the UK. Each week the sunny Caribbean island of St Marie is plagued by a grisly insoluble murder which the detective wraps up in an hour with the help of his leggy French sergeant and a couple of local constables.
2. Midsomer Murders -- Midsomer is the English rural idyll but behind the wisteria and mullioned windows there are seething passions, hatred, black magic, country music festivals, and English Civil War re-enactment! This leads to the highest murder rate in the western world.
3. Father Brown -- in 45 minutes per episode, the redoubtable Roman Catholic priest investigates and solved the latest murder to plague the sleepy Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty during the early 1950s.
Does anyone have any recommendations for detective/crime shows that combine drama, comedy and great locations?
Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but did you ever watch Pushing Daisies? it had comedy, beautiful set design and was definitely a kind of crime/detective show.
Bender wrote:* Realise that despite the way people talk, this is not a professional sport played by demi gods, but rather a game of toy soldiers played by tired, inebriated human beings.
.. I'll grant you it's not a light hearted capering kind of affair , but it's not especially grim and gritty.
Very well cast too.
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amazingturtles wrote: Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but did you ever watch Pushing Daisies? it had comedy, beautiful set design and was definitely a kind of crime/detective show.
It's still one of my favourite shows. They were also able to pull of some subtle funny moments, some adorable ones, some rather grim moments, and also about a dozen clowns out of a tiny car.
If you don;t mind a bit of the supernatural element with your detective work then try Lucifer - good fun, lots of comedy and some great characters.
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Cheerful detective/crime shows?
There are a few that immediately spring to mind.
Spoiler:
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"Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me." - Twin Peaks
"You listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." - Twin Peaks
1) Diagnosis Murder - Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan solving crimes and saving lives. Certainly fits the comic/entertaining crime drama bag.
2) Quincy - Whilst not so much comic its in the same sort of boat as Ironside and many crime dramas of that era. In this Quincy is the medical examiner who does the autopsies and who often carries a one-man-crusade against some kind of institutional wrong or issue.
3) NCIS - one of the few more modern USA crime dramas that I do enjoy - even if they take insane liberties with science (and logic). The actors in this make it work and really you watch it more for their dynamics than just for the crime. More modern and with a bigger budget so you get some fun locations and good production. There's a series of 2 other NCIS spin-off series (set in other regions) as well as the JAG series that NCIS spawned out of.
4) JAG - Mentioned it above and I'll throw it in as well, much like NCIS but with a much stronger military feel to it (with NCIS whilst its all military the actors never feel as "military" as in JAG - the Spin-off NCIS feel even less military again and even the crimes feel like the writers clutch a bit at straws to give them a navy link)
5) Heartbeat - a police soap. That's basically what it is, set in the Yorkshire Dales (ticks the box for setting) and generally upbeat for most of its storyline (big dramas tend to be an end of series major event). You don't get many murders or serious big crime, but its police focused.
6) Murder She Wrote - Father Brown - Columbo - Monk - I'll second all those suggestions!
After that on the slightly less comical but still very worth while watching I'll throw in the other crime dramas:
1) A Tough of Frost - : David Jason stars as a detective who is somewhat amusing in his way, yet its a serious show overall. What's interesting is that unlike most murder dramas where there's often a series of killings all linked together; Frost often has two or three totally separate crimes to solve all at the same time; the murder is the big one, but there's other crimes as well that require his attention.
2) Morse - a much more sombre and serious detective, though impressive in scripts and its classy Oxford style.
3) Sherlock Holmes - the ITV series. I'd put this one in because its a very faithful (to the original stories) adaptation that is very well acted and presented. It certainly ticks the drama and great locations and sets. I actually started reading a few of the original stories and was honestly amazed how close they've kept things
4) Cadfael - A true Monk solving murders set against the backdrop of civil war. Great series, if sadly somewhat short.
5) Without A Trace - fairly dark stories of missing persons and abduction as you follow the team finding people who go missing!
I'm sure there's a few I'm forgetting or missing of the ones I have seen. Law and Order, CSI (and its spin offs) and that one with a serial killer who also performs the autopsies who's name I totally forget now.
The Glades, White Collar, and The Finder all more or less fit (a few serious episodes but mostly 'fun'. Don't expect super realism but worth watching (wife and I enjoyed them). Magnum P.I. probably would work for you too, if a bit older.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Blue Bloods is a another to consider. More realistic and has some darkness, but always tends to have an overarching 'good' message for the episode.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/01/17 01:20:46
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3) Sherlock Holmes - the ITV series. I'd put this one in because its a very faithful (to the original stories) adaptation that is very well acted and presented. It certainly ticks the drama and great locations and sets. I actually started reading a few of the original stories and was honestly amazed how close they've kept things
That's the Jeremy Brett ones, right? He's still who i think of as basically the perfect Holmes.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
3) Sherlock Holmes - the ITV series. I'd put this one in because its a very faithful (to the original stories) adaptation that is very well acted and presented. It certainly ticks the drama and great locations and sets. I actually started reading a few of the original stories and was honestly amazed how close they've kept things
That's the Jeremy Brett ones, right? He's still who i think of as basically the perfect Holmes.
Yes and agreed. The perfect Holmes and Watson combo in that series.
Azreal13 wrote:Pie In The Sky and Hetty Wainthrop Investigates!
Yep knew I forgot some - I'll second these two in the lighter-hearted crime dramas. Though Hetty doesn't do murders, but other forms of curious and strange crimes
There's also Jonathan Creek, in which Alan Davies' magician's assistant character solves cases involving locked rooms, the suspects being in two places at once, ghosts and other such mysteries.
The odd episode of Murdoch Mysteries is OK, too - a detective in turn of the century Toronto solves crimes using new-fangled scientific methods while bumping into just about every famous person alive at the time, dealing with his more down-to-earth police colleagues and flirting with the (female) doctor.
And Hamish MacBeth; I'm not sure how much actual crime-solving goes on, but Robert Carlyle (pre-Begbie - that was quite the shock to see him like that when Trainspotting came out) is a police constable in a small village in the Scottish Highlands. Scottish scenery, a good cast, and a Westie; what else do you need?
Mr Morden wrote: If you don;t mind a bit of the supernatural element with your detective work then try Lucifer - good fun, lots of comedy and some great characters.
Seconding this, its essentially Sherlock with demons et al
"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."
AndrewGPaul wrote: There's also Jonathan Creek, in which Alan Davies' magician's assistant character solves cases involving locked rooms, the suspects being in two places at once, ghosts and other such mysteries.
Jonathan Creek is always fun and enjoyable. Good supporting/guest actors too.
A show that I loved in the mid 90's was Murder Most Horrid. This wasn't so much "cheerful detective", as "dark farce comedy murder mystery", but it was great.
Starred Dawn French in various roles over one-off episodes. Lots of interesting cameos as well.
I haven't actually seen it in years and years. I must track it down again, hope it still holds up.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/01/17 10:37:58
Are you into the old raido serials? Some of them are fantastic like Johnny Dollar, Dial M for Murder, etc etc? They play latenight here on the radio and I love them... especially J$
What about New Tricks? It's usually fairly light-hearted, although it does have it's grittier moments and a few ill-advised trips into spy thriller territory when Tim McInnerny shows up as an MI5 agent.
FabricatorGeneralMike wrote: Are you into the old raido serials? Some of them are fantastic like Johnny Dollar, Dial M for Murder, etc etc? They play latenight here on the radio and I love them... especially J$
Bob Bailey is best Johnny Dollar!
You can hear a lot of them on YouTube. Although, there were often some rather serious episodes of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, so I wouldn't normally list it as a cheerful show, but I suppose it usually does fall on the cheerful side of the line more often than not.
I would recommend Richard Diamond or Boston Blackie on the cheerful side of detective shows.
"Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me." - Twin Peaks
"You listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." - Twin Peaks
AndrewGPaul wrote: What about New Tricks? It's usually fairly light-hearted, although it does have it's grittier moments and a few ill-advised trips into spy thriller territory when Tim McInnerny shows up as an MI5 agent.
I'm baffled how I forgot to mention New Tricks!
I'd say its darkest is really the last series which sort of changed its overall theme in general - then again by the last season they'd lost a lot of the original core actors and were going through a lot of newer replacements very quickly. It still held itself together great, but it certainly ended when it should have rather than limping on forever.
The ten-part drama from BBC Studios, created by Paul Matthew Thompson and Jude Tindall, will see Frank Hathaway (Benton), a hardboiled private investigator, and his rookie sidekick Lu Shakespeare (Joyner) form the unlikeliest of partnerships as they investigate the secrets of rural Warwickshire’s residents.
Beneath the picturesque charm lies a hotbed of mystery and intrigue: extramarital affairs, celebrity stalkers, missing police informants, care home saboteurs, rural rednecks and murderous magicians, embezzling accountants and abducted au pairs, blackmail, comp claims and custody cases, all-night stake-outs and professional hits. Our odd couple of detectives will put the world to rights as they snoop and pry. They disagree on almost everything, yet somehow, together, they make a surprisingly effective team. Although they would never admit it.
amazingturtles wrote: Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but did you ever watch Pushing Daisies? it had comedy, beautiful set design and was definitely a kind of crime/detective show.
It's still one of my favourite shows. They were also able to pull of some subtle funny moments, some adorable ones, some rather grim moments, and also about a dozen clowns out of a tiny car.
Yeah, it's one of my favorite shows too! still wish it hadn't been cancelled, i feel like it almost came nearly a decade* too early. It might have had a better chance at surviving nowadays.
*also i just realized it literally is over a decade old oh god oh god
While not detective stories at all, it might be worthwhile to watch or, more likely re-watch, Jeeves & Wooster. I find it scratches much the same itch, thanks to the clever schemes Jeeves produces to rescue Bertie from various matrimonial entanglements.
amazingturtles wrote: Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but did you ever watch Pushing Daisies? it had comedy, beautiful set design and was definitely a kind of crime/detective show.
It's still one of my favourite shows. They were also able to pull of some subtle funny moments, some adorable ones, some rather grim moments, and also about a dozen clowns out of a tiny car.
Yeah, it's one of my favorite shows too! still wish it hadn't been cancelled, i feel like it almost came nearly a decade* too early. It might have had a better chance at surviving nowadays.
*also i just realized it literally is over a decade old oh god oh god
The series died because of the writers striker, similar to The Middleman. Both did okay-ish but didn't recover after the strike (if I remember correctly).
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
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