Quirky television detectives have been around since Colombo made an appearance in the 1970s. The detective with the eccentric personality remains a popular genre today. Below are five TV shows from the past to the present who have detectives that stand out from the crowd.
Columbo: The Dishevelled Detective
Columbo aired regularly on NBC from 1971 to 1978. Peter Falk plays Lieutenant Columbo, who works as a homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. Columbo appears a disheveled and disorganized detective whose trademark is a tan, battered trench coat. Like the actor who portrays him, he has a glass eye. He drives a beat up 1959 Peugeot convertible, talks about a wife no one ever sees, and has an inert basset hound who rides along with him on several cases. His unassuming appearance, apparent naivety and absent-minded manner lead many suspects to underestimate him. Little do they know that behind the scenes he is using his keen observation to build up a case and trap the unsuspecting criminal. The shows centers around detection. An unusual aspect of Columbo is that the crime is revealed from the beginning and the story centers around Columbo's clever detective work and the clues that lead to the perpetrator's arrest. Columbo aired less frequently on ABC from 1989, with the most recent episode being broadcast in 2003.
Baretta: The Streetwise City Cop
Baretta is another American detective television show which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. It was patterned off of a previous ABC series called Toma, which gave a gritty portrayal of crime on the New Jersey streets. Robert Blake plays the lead role of Anthony Vincenzo "Tony" Baretta. He is a plainclothes cop who lives in a run-down hotel in an unnamed Eastern city with his unusual pet, Fred, a white, crested Cockatoo. The actor, Robert Blake, went on to play Perry Smith in the film In Cold Blood. In 2005, Blake was tried and acquitted for the murder of his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley.
Kojak: The Tough Guy
Kojak is another popular American detective series which aired on CBS from 1973 to 1978. It stars Telly Savalas as a detective with the New York City Police Department. Tough and incorruptible, Kojak is bald-headed and his trademark is a fondness for lollipops. This actually came about because of the anti-smoking movement. Savalas was trying to quit smoking so he substituted lollipops for cigarettes. He is also remembered for the phrase "Who loves ya, baby?" Kojak is known for his tough-guy image and relentless investigation of crime. Like Columbo, Kojak has made an occasional return to television, but the show primarily ran in the 1970s.
The Mentalist: The Psychic Detective
The Mentalist is a currently-running American police television series. Starring Simon Baker, the show made its debut on CBS in 2008. Baker plays Patrick Jane, a consultant for a California investigative agency. The show contains quite a bit of quirky comedy. Jane, who once worked as a psychic medium, maintains that he faked his skills as a psychic, but uses his keen powers of observation learned on the job to track down killers. He can be charming, but is not a team player, much to the frustration of his partner Teresa Lisbon, and his theatrics are often an embarrassment to the agency. As a back story, Jane's wife and daughter were murdered by a serial killer called Red John. Jane is committed to finding their killer while he hides his own emotions behind a bag of tricks and illusions.
Monk: The Obsessive-Compulsive Detective
Perhaps the quirkiest detective of all time is Monk. The series ran from 2002 to 2009. Tony Shalhoub stars as Adrian Monk. Monk, a detective for the San Francisco Police Department, suffers a nervous breakdown after his wife, Trudy, was murdered. He believes the car bomb that killed her was meant for him. Because of his brilliant detective skills he is hired as a consultant for the department despite his obsessive-compulsive disorder, which has been exacerbated by the death of his wife. The "defective detective" has a great number of phobias including germs, heights, and numerous others that he must work around while he solves the case. He was originally assisted by his nurse, Sharona Fleming, and later an assistant, Natalie Teeger. His obsessive disorder causes him to pay attention to fine detail and see patterns others miss, and this enables him to solve difficult cases that baffle the department.
Though many of these shows are off the air, fans can now enjoy the reruns of their favorite quirky detective show on DVD or Netflix.
Readers may also enjoy the related article Forensic TV Shows Monopolize Detective Genre.
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