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Who are some of your favorite fictional detectives in a film or show?

posted a year ago by M1sterDoct0r (4423)
58 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching Columbo for the first time & I'm having an absolute blast. He's already one of my all time favorite characters.

Next up is to watch the "old" Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) films/show. Been on my list for ages.

Here are just some of my favorite sleuths)

1. Adrian Monk (Monk, tv show)

2. DCI John Luther (Luther, tv show)

3. Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars, tv show)

4. Detective Goren (L&R: Criminal Intent, tv show)

5. Theo Kojak (Kojak, tv show)

6. Shawn & Gus (Psych, tv show)

7. Benoit Blanc (Knives Out, films)

8. Jake Gittes (Chinatown, film)

9. DCI Jane Tennison (Prime Suspect, tv show)

10. Clarice Sterling (Silence of the lambs, film)

11. Mills & Somerset (Se7en, film)

12. Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry, films)

13. Jessica Fletcher (Muder, She Wrote tv show)

14. John Shaft (Shaft, 70s films)

[–] beantown23 (1438) a year ago

Robert Mitchum as Phillip Marlowe, William Powell as Nick Charles.

[–] db20db (17297) a year ago

This genre is one of my absolute favorites! I read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories as a boy and still have that 2-volume collection. I just recently binge watched the entire Luther series on tubi. I've also seen every episode of Monk, some several times. The same goes for Columbo. Detective Goren is also a favorite. I agree with your numbers 5,8,10,11,12&14. Quite a number of other tv detective shows,e.g. Rockford, Mike Hammer, McCloud and a really obscure one from my boyhood, Peter Gunn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz3WMFEC9Gs

[–] GolfnGuitars (2938) a year ago

Det. Lennie Briscoe - "Law & Order"

Coroner (going over the autopsy of a victim): "Looks like the victim had Italian food and alcohol, but no signs of sexual activity."

Briscoe: "Sounds like my last date!" 😃

RIP, Jerry Orbach!

[–] db20db (17297) a year ago

How could I forget my favorite, cynical smart ass, Lennie Brisco? 😄

[–] GolfnGuitars (2938) a year ago

He made the show, IMO. I have tried and tried to watch the "post-Briscoe episodes," but I just can't do it. I still watch Season 1-14 episodes of "Law & Order" regularly to this day...what a great show!

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77566) a year ago

Good list.

Magnum P.I. was a cool show as well. Who had it better than Thomas Magnum? He got a rent free beach bungalow, could use the Ferrari anytime he liked, hung around with two awesome dogs and broke open a major case every week!
He was pretty skilled with the ladies too.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

That's one of the shows that I missed out on. It wasn't shown on tv anywhere near me.

At least they showed reruns of Murder, She Wrote & Kojak but Magnum? Nada

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77566) a year ago

Kojak was a great show too, he was always quitting the cigs with those lollipops lol!

Every season of Magnum P.I. is available on Freevee, it’s free but you’ll have to install the app.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

You had me at "free" haha. I'm definitely adding it to the list.

Found Columbo on tubi tv

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77566) a year ago

Oh, Columbo was a great show👍
Peter Falk had the funny eye thing, he always acted ‘slow’
but had a tiny notebook and a tiny pencil.

He was always taking notes.

Whenever Columbo said, ‘Oh, excuse me, I hate to be a bother but I just have a couple more questions…’ you know you’re about to be arrested LOL😄

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

I honestly LOVE that "subversion". I genuinely had no idea it was gonna be like that.

We already know who the killer(s) is/are & have to watch our detective put it all together.

It's so well written & acted. How have I never watched an episode before? Wonderful show.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77566) a year ago

Columbo is a genuine classic💯

[–] GlenEllyn (21577) a year ago

Choose your favorite free streaming service(s) and be a little patient. I swear there are lots of movies and series that seem to make the rounds - one at a time - to each free site.

If there's something I'd like to watch, I'll check Freevee, Tubi, Pluto, and the Roku channel. I tried Plex but decided it had just too many ads - sometimes as many as 9 or more on one break. The ones I mentioned have ads, but quite often it's just one or two short ads.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (77566) a year ago

I currently have PLEX, Tubi, Amazon, Hulu and Netflix but I pay for a couple of them.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

Seriously though, some of these free streaming services have "old" shows that I couldn't find on the other paid services

Their libraries aren't amazing but for a free service, they're pretty decent.

[–] Moonglum9 (11302) a year ago

Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes portrayal in the British series'

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7188) a year ago

Jessica Fletcher and Poirot are definitely my favourites, but more I really love:

Chandler Jarrell (The Golden Child 1986, film)
Scully (The X Files 1993, series)
Hetty Wainthropp (Hetty Wainthropp Investigates 1996, series)
Alex Cross (Kiss the Girls 1997, film)
Carter (Rush Hour 1998, film)
Olivia Benson (Law & Order: SVU 1999, series)
Amelia Donaghy (The Bone Collector 1999, film)
Miss Marple (Agatha Christie's Miss Marple 2004, series)
Joan Watson (Elementary 2012, series)
James Gordon (Gotham 2014, series)
Nancy Drew (Nancy Drew 2019, series)

Kinda don’t know if these count, but still love:

Miss Bianca (The Rescuers 1977, film)
Chloe Sullivan (Smallville 2001, series)
Allison Dubois (Medium 2005, series)
Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow 2013, series)

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

Oh darn it, forgot about Alex Cross. Absolutely loved Morgan Freeman in the 2 Alex Cross films

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7188) a year ago

How very dare you lol nah you created a pretty solid list, I love detectives in film, tv and books.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

Same. I'm a sucker for good detective/whodunit mysteries

[–] parkerbot (9275) a year ago

Love Columbo. If you're watching it on TV, I'd recommend you watch it on DVD - at least with the episodes I saw on TV, there were edits. And those box sets are sometimes incomplete, as there were movies from the late 80s into the 90s that are sometimes not included - so watch out for that.

Side note, I got a Columbo t-shirt made up one day and the kid making it asked if that was grandpa : )

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

I'm watching it on Tubi tv. How extensive are the edits?

Like do they edit out important scenes?

[–] parkerbot (9275) a year ago

Can't remember exactly but one I do remember is him driving down the highway and that got cut.

Not familiar with Tubi but if they're trying to fit a 50 minute show into 60 minutes with 15 minutes of adds, you know something has to go.

I watched them all on TV too - so if you can't get the boxsets, I think you'll survive.

Getting the DVDs just gave me another reason to re-watch the shows.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (4423) a year ago

I'll try to acquire a boxset if possible

[–] parkerbot (9275) a year ago

Walmart usually has them but I don't think they include the stuff from the series second run in late 80s to 90s.

[–] nyctc7 (43706) a year ago

Columbo
Banacek
Joe Friday