Murder She Wrote and shows like it.

[enyawd72]

I could never figure out the logic behind shows like Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Father Dowling Mysteries etc. where non-detectives encountered murder every week.

Cops and P.I.'s are one thing, but how implausible is it for a writer, a doctor, and a priest to constantly have people being killed around them for YEARS?

I always said I wouldn't be caught anywhere near Jessica Fletcher...she was like walking death.

[Nostalgiabuff]

it's suspension of disbelief. I think shows like that were really geared for the older population. my grandparents always watched shows like that. not that there is anything wrong with it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

That was one of those shows that brought out my dad's inner Red Foreman. He'd say things like "they'd toss that nosy old biddy in jail for obstruction of justice, blah blah blah". And he's right, but then the show wouldn't have went on 10 years!

He had a similar opinion of Gilligan's Island, although he liked the show. "If they'd just killed him in the first episode..."

Chris

[enyawd72]

it's suspension of disbelief. I think shows like that were really geared for the older population. my grandparents always watched shows like that. not that there is anything wrong with it.

I can suspend a LOT of disbelief, but the show lasted 264 episodes. 264 people got murdered around her and almost half of those were in her small hometown! Cabot Cove shoulda been the murder capitol of the world! LOL

[wayne foundation 07]

I guess maybe we were to young to enjoy them at the time they were first on.Sex sells to our generation, murder must sell to the older one. Its just been within the last couple years that I started to like Matlock.

[jds1911a1]

My wife loves all those shows

[HardyGirl]

The only ep of Murder, She Wrote that I like was Murder in a Minor Key, ('cos Shaun Cassidy starred in that one). But I loved Father Dowling. I really got into it when the Family channel aired them in the mornings.

[spacecaps]

I think Family Guy made a joke once about how Jessica would be a suspect real fast if she was really around all those murders. I mean maybe her little Maine town was really that screwed up but she takes a trip to Ireland and there's a murder in the castle she's staying at. Show should have been called Murder; Follows This Girl Where Ever She Goes. Oh and speaking of castles, I think the ridiculousness of having "Random Average Person" solve murder shows are still very much out there but the plots have been updated so audiences will by into it. The Mentalist and Castle are basically modern version of that show where the main character, even though they have nothing to do with the law and are successful in other jobs completely unrelated to law enforcement, are given clear reasons for being involved.

[Duncan]

I've liked 'cozy' mysteries like this for a number of years, and I'm OK with the Everyman character playing detective. You're right, of course, that the body count around these lead characters can get pretty high, though both readers (viewers) and writers acknowledge it. It's not so much suspending disbelief as it is just accepting the situation...or else there's no mystery series. Agatha Christie was pretty good at getting Miss Marple into plausible investigations that didn't seem too far fetched. Some writers are less adept at that. However, with a weekly TV series there's really no good way to handle this, and 20-24 of Jessica Fletcher's acquaintances are murdered each season. OK; don't care. Just make sure the mysteries are good.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

It's part of the cultural drift problem. Sherlock Holmes was the template for ALL these characters; a civilian that helped the authorities with their toughest cases. But for Holmes the cases came to him. It's a small distinction, but an importnat one since it lends plausibility to his stories. Eventually folks got tired of aping that formula and adjusted it so's the detective discovers the case through happenstance.... like the Mrs Marple stories. The problem with tv is volume; you need a new murder every week. After a few seasons things start looking bad for the hero. They don't monkey with the formula 'cos "new" isn't a big thing for television. They only tinker when the audience gets tired of things, or starts asking too many questions.

Don C.