L'ispettore Coliandro

Well, not the usual US series. Coliandro, however, is very deeply entertaining, I enjoyed every single episode. The character seems real, has real people habits, plus he always tries to get the girl. He usually fails, at least for the girl. He always finds a way to do a good police job but he never gets the appraisal. Distantly, he reminds me of Leisure Suit Larry looking for love...

He's not Inspector Clouseau, he's not Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, he's not Columbo, but he is all 3 rolled into one. He's Giampaolo Morelli in the role of Inspector Coliandro. This Italian detective series is one the most entertaining TV shows you can view. Even if you don't like subtitles, this series will both amuse and intrigue you. Morelli plays a bumbling character that is struggling to get back to his job, as a detective, but is usually demoted to a supply clerk, or to the missing persons section. We are continually reminded that when he was in supply, he mistakenly ordered thousands of portions of yogurt. He always backs into an intriguing case, just by chance. He gets little respect from his superiors, but usually ends up inadvertently solving the case. The program is on MHZ networks, that brings several European mystery series to a PBS station in my area.

Coliandro is one of my favorite action series - a police procedural set in Bologna. I watched all the MHZ episodes but this was less than half the series, so I purchased all the DVDs (37 episodes in 8 sets) and have just finished viewing all of them. The 2d half unfortunately does not have English subtitles and so I struggled to comprehend the plots but they follow the usual format just like most TV series. Unfortunately, unlike most (American) TV series that have a long run and finish with a definite The End (House, Monk, etc.) Coliandro came to an "end" as though our hero has more adventures up his leather sleeve. From some of the final Bonus Photographs I saw that cast members were wearing Covid masks - the series began c. 2006 and was still going on during the pandemic. I was disappointed that Garjulio, one of my favorite characters in the series, was not on screen in the last few episodes - I had hoped his romance would have continued. The very best episode, in my opinion, is Double Identity - Coliandro does fantastic things as a different sort of hero, one I wish the producers would re-visit and develop further, with leading lady Serena Rossi. Coliandro is a series that, like no other, reminds me of my youth, growing up in an Italian-American society and family.

Ispettore Coliandro is a surprisingly entertaining Spaghetti Cop story, that's deceivingly played on the comedy but has more depth under the surface. It is well scripted, directed, acted and as an added bonus, the soundtrack is quite good. Oh, and never boring. Sit tight, relax and enjoy.

I would be a cop just to have a colleague like him! Fun, action and romance all in one tv show. Great soundtrack. Inspector Coliandro is an ordinary hero: not perfect but always with the good ones. "Piano bambina, perché questo non è un film! "(Coliandro)