L'ispettore Coliandro

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.

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.

I just started watching this series with the brand new episode of tonight. Even though the lead character is interesting enough to carry a show, the pace bugged me too much. It was so slow that not only the story but also the jokes were falling apart.

That very same pace might have worked fine in 2006 when the series started, but just doesn't sit right with today's requirements. At Fremulon, they create shows of similar spirit (Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99) at 5 or even 7 times the speed. Condensed, rapid stuff that provide you with a functioning story full of jokes and popular culture references.

All right, I get it... This is a series aimed primarily at Italian audiences that consume conventional TV. Still, it is too slow... Slower even than the family comedies aired on the same and other RAI channels.

Something else that bugged me was the absence of ambience sound in several scenes. That's a sign of low production quality when there is no particular reason to not record or to feel the need to omit such circumstantial sounds.

I wonder what age group the show is nowadays targeted at. With all those pop culture references (to Inspector Callaghan and else) even people in their 60s can connect, and the low pace might not bother them.

However, we are in 2021 and shows like Brooklyn 99 become hits using almost the same kind of basic premise. What 20 year old would bother to watch this for two hours, I wonder.

I wish Rai 2 at least provided the option to watch stuff at twice the speed, like Netflix does.

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...

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.