Thank you TV creators of Oz–first and foremost for the treat that is the Miss Fisher Mysteries. Bringing Kerry Greenwood’s Phrynne (pronounced Fry-knee) Fisher to the screen is a marvelous accomplishment. If you turn the sound down and just watch the scenery and the costumes you will be well entertained, but then you’d miss out on the stories that are well-crafted, based on intriguing history and well-acted.
Though it was only on for two seasons, Banacek is still memorable for its style, captivating plots and winning characters. George Peppard was Thomas Banacek, freelance insurance investigator equally at home in his palatial Beacon Hill digs, in a fight or climbing through windows.
David E. Kelley was a lawyer in Boston and then he got bored. He decided to write a screenplay and became a feature film starring Judd Hirsch (From the Hip). Not a big hit but the roots were there – outrageous courtroom behavior, humor and winning the case.
As a hint of spring hits the air, a bouquet of new TV shows hit the airwaves.
Close Encounters (SCIENCE)
Premiere March 4 10:00 p.m.
Dramatic recreations and a few experts explore UFO's that defy scientific explanation.
The BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’s Elementary provide two wonderfully divergent flavors of Sherlock Holmes, Watson, Moriarty et al. You might call them light and dark.
It started with Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983). The medical examiner (aka forensic pathologist) came out of expository cameos and into a starring role. With Jack Klugman as the lead, Quincy started as part of the classic NBC Sunday Mystery Movie wheel, rotating with Columbo, McCloud and McMillan & Wife. By mid-season it was clear the show was a hit and became a weekly series.
2013 was the year of binge streaming. In the past twelve months we crested the hill and coasted into time shifting, streaming, binge-watching and mobile viewing as day-to-day options for the masses. Not only can we see the latest and preview the upcoming but we can go back in time and revisit series from other eras – whether on TVLand or via Hulu, Amazon et al.
The town, a 21st century take on Chandler’s LA,
The PI–a tough, witty, former sportswriter, survivor of lung cancer–like her author.
In 1998 Private Investigator Zenobia Moses made her debut with Zen and the Art of Murder, jumping in with a grabber first line –
“It rained the day I said good-bye to my best friend; the kind of storm that was packaged in a San Francisco-like cold front. December in Santa Monica could blow in from the Pacific like the draft from a meat locker. Perfect funeral weather.”
James Spader is Raymond Reddington, former government agent turned criminal mastermind. After 25 years, he surrenders himself to the FBI, offering a deal. He will help capture some of the world’s most dangerous criminals and terrorists, but will only work with a junior profiler named Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). Reddington is a complete stranger to Elizabeth, but upon their first meeting hints that he knows a lot about her and her family.
Sleepy Hollow (FOX, Monday 9 p.m.) is a fantasy mystery drama based on the 1820 short story by Washington Irving. If your remembrance of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow involves a pumpkin and an awkward, scrawny Ichabod Crane, be prepared for a whole new way of looking at things.
