Diagnosis Murder: The Third Season DVD Review
Posted by Joseph Lee on 12.13.2007
Dick Van Dyke and friends solve mysteries!
Starring:
Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan
Barry Van Dyke as Detective Steve Sloan
Victoria Rowell as Dr. Amanda Bentley
Charlie Schlatter as Dr. Jesse Travis
Michael Tucci as Norman Briggs
Story: A doctor works with the police department as a consultant. He always seems to stumble upon a mystery either at his hospital or by chance. Helping him are his son Steve and two other doctors at his hospital.
Diagnosis Murder is a show that was on the air from 1993-2002 on CBS. It featured an older Dick Van Dyke in the main role and his son playing his son. The show was almost cancelled after it's second season, but returned with this third season. It remained on the air for eight seasons and is still playing in syndication. The show as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman.
It's a very unique show in that it's a doctor solving mysteries, and the fact that it's Dick Van Dyke makes it better, for those who remember him in his own show back in the day. Dr. Sloan also has his son backing him up, played by Barry Van Dyke. Steve's a detective and sometimes his father tends to break the rules and abuse that role. There is also Amanda, who is a smart female doctor that occasionally helps out and Jesse, who is very ambitious and loves solving the crimes and working with Dr. Sloan. He's good-natured but sometimes winds up in trouble because he's too over-zealous.
In this season, Dr. Sloan tackles a wide variety of cases. He takes care of a mute girl, loses his job, and is kidnapped himself. In Love is Murder, Steve is a potential victim. There are also cases involving twins, psychics and transsexuals. The season concludes with a mystery about a man who had three wives and is found in the belly of a shark with poison in his system. There's something that can always be said about no two cases being the same.
First thing you need to know about this show, or at least this season, is that all of the episode titles have "Murder" in them. If you're a fan of puns, well this is for you. It fits in some places and doesn't in others. Witness to Murder or Misdiagnosis Murder are clever or apply to the episode at hand. Titles such as FMURDER and Murder Murder are just silly. But that's a minor gripe.
It's a show that tries to blend mystery, medical drama and Dick Van Dyke's style of humor into one show that may not hit with younger audiences. Simply put, it is shows like this that made CBS at one point be known as the network for older men and women. That's not to say you won't be entertained. If you like a good mystery this show has some and it's interesting to see the clever ways Dr. Sloan manages to solve the case. The humor, as I mentioned, can be random and chuckle-worthy, but it's mostly just good-natured fun. Van Dyke tends to act really bizarre at times. For example, in All-American Murder he decides to dance, play the bongos and the clarinet for no apparant reason.
Regardless of all this, you cannot help but be a little entertained by the goings-on in the world of Dr. Sloan and his mysteries. It's interesting to see how each case is solved and Sloan always has a trick up his sleeve that is sure to
The packaging here is fine, there are five discs with two discs per case. What puzzled me the most is that there are not any special features at all. It's simply the episodes and nothing else. You'd think for such a long-running and I assume, beloved show, there would be at least some commentaries. But CBS provides nothing.
Episode List: An Innocent Murder
Witness To Murder
All-American Murder
Murder in the Courthouse
Murder on the Run, Part 1
Murder on the Run, Part 2
Love is Murder
Misdiagnosis Murder
The Pressure to Murder
Living on the Streets Can Be Murder
Murder Murder
Murder in the Dark
35 Millimter Murder
The Murder Trade
Mind over Murder
Murder by the Book
FMURDER
Left-Handed Murder
The 411: Diagnosis Murder is an acquired taste. It's a decent show on it's own right, but it's certainly not compelling television. CBS didn't care too much about this show, from the looks of things as it's plain packaging with no features at all. A lackluster DVD set and an average show equals a mild recommendation, at best.
