"Diagnosis Murder? That's just Murder She Wrote with Dick Van Dyke instead of Angela Lansbury, isn't it? A show for old people, right?"
NOT! If you are one of the many who have fallen into this fallacy, I'm here to set the record straight. Diagnosis Murder is an action-packed, laugh-packed roller coaster ride of a series. At its heart is its wonderful company, Dick Van Dyke, Barry Van Dyke, Victoria Rowell and Charlie Schlatter. The chemistry among these four is what I love about the show. (Well,okay, that and watching Barry Van Dyke do anything, anything at all.) The show has revealed in wonderful writers over the years who know the characters, are true to the characters, and give them situations which allow their relationships to grow, develop, and shine through to the audience.
Best of all, each year the show gets better. It's incredible. Like salmon swimming upstream--you don't know how they do it, you just stand back in awe and watch. The characters are becoming more and more real rather than turning into caricatures of themselves, the way so many series characters do. And the stories are getting more exciting, suspenseful and inventive every year.
If you haven't seen Diagnosis Murder lately--you don't know this show. Give it a watch.
