Father Dowling Mysteries

Like Perry Mason, this series wasn't an original, it was based on a (still ongoing) series of books by Ralph McInerny. Unlike Perry Mason, though, the producers took almost nothing from the books but the characters of Fr. Dowling and Mrs. Murkin, and of those two only Mrs. Murkin bears any resemblance to the character in the book. I'd advise anyone who likes mysteries but was disappointed in Fr. Dowling on TV to read the books, they are excellent.

Father Dowling Mysteries is a who-done-it series in the vein of Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Ellery Queen, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple, et al. The "gimmick" or "twist" here is that our protagonist is a Catholic priest and the pastor of an inner-city parish.

Tom Bosley plays Father Frank Dowling, an amateur sleuth who just "happens to be around" when someone is murdered, abducted, disappears, etc. He then takes it upon himself to investigate the crime and prove that the police department's number one suspect is innocent. Tracy Nelson plays Sister Stephanie (a.k.a. Sister Steve), a young streetwise nun and Father Dowling's partner in crime-solving.

The show is formulaic of the genre:

1. Obvious clues that the police overlook.

2. The police, anxious to "wrap it up," arrest an innocent person based on flimsy circumstantial evidence.

3. Only Father Dowling and Sister Steve possess the analytical minds and cunning to solve crimes.

4. Our sleuths get into all sorts of life-threatening situations only to escape/be rescued at the last minute.

5. Someone makes a benign eleven-o'clock-hour statement about potato salad that triggers a lightbulb moment within our crack sleuths. Father Dowling says something like, "That's it's! Marie, call the police, and tell them to meet us at the loading dock. Come on Steve."

6. The guilty party is subjected to a Father Dowling monologue at the denouement about how he pieced all of the evidence together.

7. Crimes are solved based on hunches and enigmatic clues (and a lot of snooping) rather than forensic evidence (e.g. DNA, fingerprints, trace evidence).

Despite the cliches, however, the show boasts likable characters, interesting plots, and a top-notch cast, particularly Tracy Nelson, who gets to play a wide range of undercover characters who are on the other side of the moral spectrum of Sister Steve's religious beliefs (e.g. Prostitute, pool hustler, card shark, beauty contestant, etc.).

Rounding out the cast of series regulars is the wonderful character actress Mary Wickes as the wisecracking parish rectory housekeeper (a role she's played many times before), and James Stephens, who provides just the right amount of comic relief as a young befuddled priest forever looking for ways to suck up to the (unseen) diocese Bishop.

This is a really great detective show,I have watched all the other ones aswell and have found Father Dowling to be the most enjoyable to watch.It has humour,a serious side at times and shows a side to religion that many people may not have seen or known.Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson are excellent in this,both are funny with how they act and the looks that Tom's character Father Frank gives to Tracy character Sister Steve are brilliant,makes me laugh.I also think that James Stephens is brilliant as Father Prestwick.

I really like this show. While I do slightly prefer Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder, Father Dowling is an entertaining watch. Tom Bosley is superb in the title role, a performance of great warmth and dignity. Tracy Nelson does show real promise as an actress, she has a likable and quite bubbly personality, and it was a pleasure to see her develop as the series progressed. My favourite has to be the late Mary Wickes as Marie, Wickes was a very underrated actress, and I enjoyed her here. The episodes are benefited by some nice camera-work, lovely locations, a beautiful title tune and good scripts, not to mention a number of funny moments. Of course you may find some over familiarities in the story lines, but overall this is a very entertaining mystery series, probably not the best out there, but worth a watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The mystery solving parish priest Father Brown who was the creation of converted Catholic G.K. Chesterton got an American makeover in that most American of cities Chicago for the Father Dowling Mysteries. That man did get himself involved in more situations that were not necessarily related to his calling which made for interesting episodes. Tom Bosley as Father Dowling was a trial to both the Catholic Archdiocese and the Police Department which he was always showing up.

That's usually the way it is with most television series, the private detective or the amateur is constantly showing up professional law enforcement. As viewers we enjoy that.

Unlike Chesterton's detective Dowling did not dwell too much on Catholic dogma, the better to get a universal audience. Tracy Nelson was a young nun who shared Dowling's taste for mystery and adventure and her being a nun and all that that entailed put her in some interesting situations as a Dowling operative so to speak.

Sad to say the show did run out of creative ideas and that was probably due to the parameters imposed by making a priest your lead character. When Dowling confessed to really fathering a child before taking his vows of celibacy you knew the jig was up for this show.

Still it was a pleasant series to watch and Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson gave a good account of themselves in the series.