Diagnosis of Murder

This is the first Diagnosis Murder TV movie, which spawned several TV sequels and a TV-series that lasted eight years. The plot consists of Detective Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke) believing that top manager Nick Osborn has killed trust-owner Russell Cord, in which hospital chief Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) is convinced Osborn is innocent.

This movie has its fine moments with some good old fashion mystery suspense and detective fare. The opening scene was great and the music theme was haunting and catchy. The acting was pretty good - Cynthia Gibb, Stephen Caffrey and Brynn Thayer gave fine performances. Dick Van Dyke was his usual merry way and Barry Van Dyke was pretty stiff and stoic is this one.

It's a good intro to the other TV movies and TV-series, which consisted of many hits and misses in stories and acting.

Grade B

Diagnosis murder is a brilliant tv show. Dick van dyke is at his best and just gets better with his son barry at his side this show just works. Dick van dyke plays mark sloan a doctor who also works for the police, his son is a police officer and they always end up helping each other it funny and good to watch. and jack glugman who played quincy has been in to episodes one of them was really great. The only thing is when they changed the camera work but the show is brilliant i suggest you give it a go and add your diagnosis of the show.

This is one of those shows which is only for the sort of person who takes great joy in watching a show where you can set your watch by the plot. If you loved Quincy, and went mad with joy when they repeated Dallas and the A-Team, then this is for you. Otherwise, it might be good for you to avoid this at all costs

Dick 'Yes, I can do a Cockney accent' Van Dyke plays a doctor (it's never actually made clear, at least in the episodes that I've watched, what he does whens he's a doctor). He seems to have been given his entire career off by a very caring boss who understands that its difficult to be a doctor and have a crime-fighting hobby at the same time.

Dick Van Dyke's moustache seems to play a separate character

The rest of the cast is basically constructed so that Dick can go about his caring-yet-stern crimefighting ways without it being too unbelievable. Mind you, with his 'son' in the program being the head of the LA homicide squad and his best friend being the county coroner, they really didn't put much effort into it

Like I said, if you like cheesy, over/underacted programs without much plotline, then this will be for you. Think of it as 'son of Quincy' and you'll have a pretty good idea

There's even an episode with Quincy in it, or so I'm told.......

When I was little, probably 8 or so, this show was one of my favorites. Dick Van Dyke is funny, charming, and all around a good person to watch on the screen. This show was a bit suspenseful but with the cast it had, it made for a good prime time show.

I really liked cop shows when I was little, but this show was different in that it was just cops chasing after the bad guys. It was creative, non-traditional, and entertaining to watch. So, even though I'm sure their demographic was for the older generation, I must say that my family and I enjoyed watching it together.

My vote is that it was a great mystery show for people who don't want the gory, bloodiness of todays shows.

Dick Van Dyke always seems to play the universal stereotype of the 'good guy' in every role he takes, and this particular role - that of Dr Mark Sloan, is one of the best examples of this principal in action. like Quincy before him, this man lives to be a raging force majeure for the side of all that is good, righteous, and wonderful. Except Sloan is vaguely more likable than Quincy, who's nosey do-gooding antics only made you want to hit him.

The success of the show for me is in its comedy value, and it has attained subsequent cult status here in the UK. This is perhaps because we view it largely as a comedy instead of the drama it seems to think it is. We laugh out loud every time Barry Van Dyke arrives on scene to deliver woodenly his 10 lines of script, that are mostly the same as he said last week. And if i had a pound for every time him, and the police department were on hand at the end of an episode to save the day at the last minute, I'd be very rich. It is great source of amusement also that in every episode Sgt Steve (the son) is made to look a total incompetent by his dad, who manages to do both their jobs at the same time, while Barry stands around and looks wistfully into middle distance.

His hair alone makes every episode he's in worthwhile.

DVD himself is undoubtedly the star tho, and presents his 'do good at all costs all the time' style with the sort of aplomb that suggests not only has he been doing it for the entirety of his acting career, but probably in real life as well.

Sometimes infuriatingly tacky, simpering, and nauseatingly self- righteous, with unfailingly high morals all round from the main characters, the bad dudes have no chance at all. And with the Quincy-style concept that Sloan is a doctor who just can't do quite enough good every day by saving lives, and who's boss understands that he must leave the hospital, and his day-job for 80% of the time he's meant to be there, while he flits around garden parties and crime scenes looking for clues, its a winner.

It did deserve 8 series in my opinion, and they did very well to string what was essentially the same storyline out as long as they did. I found it a bit of a disappointment when it ended, but not for any reasons the producers would like - purely that the unintentionally hilarious acting / plots / concept never failed to entertain, and once you can accept that virtually every episode will start, and end the same, and what happens in the middle is largely irrelevant, none of this matters...

Oh - and the music from series 4 on was fantastic, for exactly the same reasons as the programme itself was...

Long live DVD, and all that good he did :)