Hulu’s brilliant comedy series, Only Murders in the Building, featuring an odd trio who find that they are all fans of the same true crime podcast. Ironically, the three find that murder has just occurred in their Upper West Side apartment building. Solving the murder would not only give them a chance to produce their own show, but notoriety to the semi-retired actor, former Broadway director and young artist.
Starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, this show is only the latest TV series to feature characters doing detective work when they have no business doing so. Here are eight more.
Murder She Wrote
Aired: 1984-1996
Network: CBS
Of course the granddaddy (or grandmommy) of all TV series about amateur sleuths is Murder She Wrote. For 12 seasons, 264 episodes and four full-length movies, Angela Lansbury played the murder mystery writer Jessica Fletcher. The widowed and former school teacher became so famous as a writer, nearly everyone she ever met in the series was familiar with the author’s work (and many of them were fans as well). However, Jessica had the nasty habit of being nearby when terrible murders occurred.
Whether it be in her seaside home of Cabot Cove, Maine or the various cities that she visited either for a family reunion or a book signing event, it’s a wonder why she wasn’t accused of committing the crimes more often.
Though hardly realistic and with amazing storylines (Jessica did everything except travel in space) Lansbury was a champ making the series extremely popular.
Diagnosis Murder
Aired: 1993-2001
Network: CBS
Diagnosis Murder is often compared to Murder She Wrote as it too was headed by an older favorite movie star. But while the latter was at times unrealistic, the medical-themed series was just plain hokey. At least in the beginning. I’m a huge fan of Dick Van Dyke, but just watch the pilot episode and you’ll wonder how the show ever got made. In that particular episode, the good doctor not only has time to spend with his patients, he also sings with his secretary and visit crime scenes.
Though Dick Van Dyke headlined the show, Diagnosis Murder was more of an ensemble show. Van Dyke played Chief of Internal Medicine, Dr. Mark Sloan, at Community General Hospital in Los Angeles. Sloan often worked with the local police and it helped greatly that his son, Steve Sloan (played by Van Dyke’s real-life son, Barry) worked as a detective. The show also featured Dr. Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell), hospital administrator Norman Briggs (played by Michael Tucci in seasons 1-4), Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio in seasons 1-2) and Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter in seasons 3-8).
Father Dowling Mysteries
Aired: 1987 – 1991
Networks: NBC and ABC
After appearing as Sherriff Amos Tupper during the first three seasons of Murder She Wrote, Tom Bosley got the chance to star in his own show, only wearing a totally different uniform. In Father Dowling Mysteries, Bosley played Father Francis Dowling who also had a habit of walking in on various murders (and a few crimes as well) in Chicago, Illinois. His crime-fighting partner was the street smart (and much younger) Sister Stephanie Oskowski played by Tracy Nelson.
The cast also included Mary Wickes as Dowling’s housekeeper and parish secretary, Marie Gillespie and James Stephens as Father Philip Prestwick. Bosley also got a chance to play Dowling’s evil twin brother, Blaine three times and Nelson’s then husband, William R Moses, appeared in one episode as Stephanie’s ex-boyfriend.
Hart to Hart
Aired: 1979-1984
Network: ABC
According to assistant Max, when Mr. H and Mrs. H first met, it was murder. Robert Wagner played Jonathan Hart, a self-made millionaire and CEO of global conglomerate, Hart Industries. Stefanie Powers played his wife, Jennifer Hart, a freelance journalist. The pair had the perfect marriage where the couple rarely fought, if ever. And their hobby (besides lovemaking) was to solve murders. The power couple were able to do with the help of Max (Lionel Stander) and their dog Freeway (who got his name because they had rescued him from the freeway!)
About 10 Years after the show stopped airing on ABC, eight Hart to Hart movies were made from 1993 to 1996. The first five aired on NBC and the final three appeared on The Family Channel of all places.
Josie and the Pussycats
Aired: 1970-1972
Network: CBS
Yes, Hanna-Barbera created a number of teen sleuth cartoons in the 1960’s and 1970’s, but most, like Scooby-Doo, Where are You? featured teens who thought of themselves as sleuths. Josie and the Pussycats were different.
Based on Archie Comics comic book characters, Josie and her kitty cat friends were a band. Josie McCoy was the lead singer, Valerie Brown was the bassist and Melody Valentine was the dumb blonde drummer. They would travel for concerts to all parts of the world, but would end finding themselves in the middle of some diabolical plot or mystery that needed to be solved. The group often found themselves in danger thanks to Alexandra Cabot, the twin sister of Alexander, the group’s manager.
Speed Buggy
Aired: 1973
Network: CBS
Another Hanna-Barbera show had a lot in common with Josie and the Pussycats. So much so in fact, a number of episodes of the short-lived series were borrowed from Josie. However, in this case, there were only three teenagers and a dune buggy.
Inspired by both Disney’s Herbie the Love Bug and the cartoon series Speed Racer, Speed Buggy followed Mark (the smart one), Debbie (the leader) and Tinker (the mechanic) as they traveled from race to race while solving mysteries during each episode. As for the dune buggy itself, he not only had a mind of his own, he also talked.
Moonlighting
Aired: 1985-1989
Network: ABC
Moonlighting starred Cybill Shepherd as Maddie Hayes, said former model (and former Blue Moon Shampoo spokesperson) who wakes up one day to find that she was bankrupt when her accountant had embezzled all of her money. The only things left were a handful of failing businesses which were purchased to be used as tax writeoffs. One business, the City of Angels Detective Agency was still afloat, but barely.
An unknown Bruce Willis played David Addison Jr., the lazy detective at the agency. When threatened to close the business, David convinced Maddie to keep it, renaming it Blue Moon Investigations and run it as a partnership. For Maddie, that meant joining David on the cases.
The show also starred Allyce Beasley as Agnes DiPesto, the company’s dimwitted receptionist and Curtis Armstrong as Herbert Viola, brought in from a temp agency.
Psych
Aired: 2006-2014
Network: USA
Henry Spencer was police detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department. All he ever wanted was for his little boy, Shawn to grow up to be just like him. And when Shawn grew up, he went to do just that, but in his own way.
In the comedy/drama series Psych, James Roday Rodriguez played Shawn, a man with heightened observational skills. He passed himself off as a legitimate psychic willing to help dad’s old police department. Dulé Hill played his best friend, Burton “Gus” Guster coming along for the ride. The show also featured Corbin Bernsen who played Shawn’s dad.
After Psych finished its run, three full-length movies were produced in 2017, 2020 and 2021 the latter two which appeared on the Peacock streaming service.
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