"Quincy M.E."
Go Fight City Hall -- To the Death! (1976)

Director:

E.W. Swackhamer

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (writer)
Lou Shaw (writer)

TV Series:

"Quincy M.E." (1976)

Original Air Date:

3 October 1976 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

Quincy investigates the rape and murder of a civil servant; he finds a rash of murders and a political conspiracy.

Plot Keywords:

Boat | Reporter | Bruise | Prostitute | Hanging

Cast

Jack Klugman	...	Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
Lynette Mettey	...	Lee
Garry Walberg	...	Lt. Frank Monahan
Val Bisoglio	...	Danny Tovo
John S. Ragin	...	Dr. Robert Asten
Robert Ito	...	Sam Fujiyama
Joseph Roman	...	Sgt. Brill
Henry Darrow	...	Dr. Rivera
Harry Rhodes	...	Deputy Mayor Collins
Denny Miller	...	Ben Chase
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Bower
Dimitra Arliss	...	Shirley
Rick Podell	...	Peter Gordon
George Wyner	...	Asst. City Controller Harold P. Marcus
Marjorie Battles	...	Marilyn

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Quincy and his girlfriend Lee survey the area in Mexico where the first victim was killed by driving over a cliff, a panoramic view of the area beyond the cliff shows that it fronts on the ocean with only water visible. But when Quincy's is later thrown from his car as it is being pushed over the same cliff, a glimpse of the area in the distance shows a large city (probably Los Angeles, not Mexico) with no water in the scene.

Quotes:

[addressing a group of police recruits]
Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.: Gentlemen, you are about to enter the most important and fascinating sphere of police work: the world of forensic medicine, where untold victims of many homicides will reach back from the grave and point back a finger accusingly at their assailant.

"Gentlemen, you are about to enter the most important and fascinating sphere of police work the world of forensic medicine." The first we got to hear those words.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Quincy M.E.: Fight City Hall... To the Death! starts as LA coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) examines the dead body of Diane Johnson (Martha Smith) on a beach, LAPD cop Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg) sees it as a open & shut case of rape & that Peter Gordon (Rick Podell) who was shot by some of his men while in possession of Diane's handbag is guilty. Quincy is positive Peter isn't though, trying to use scientific methods to convince Monahan fails & he decides to investigate Diane's murder himself. He starts at city hall where Diane worked but before long more dead bodies turn up & Quincy feels the answer lies in city hall itself with corrupt counsellors...

Episode 1 from season 1 this is where it all started for Quincy, this is where we got our first glimpse of the much loved Los Angeles coroner & I have to say I didn't actually like this one that much. I first have to say I will be basing my comment on the cut down 45 minute version rather than the longer original one which is available in the DVD set, it seems the short one only gets played on TV to bring it & the other feature length episode down to the standard 45 minute duration. I must admit that if I had seen this back in '76 I probably wouldn't have bothered sticking with the show because this is one of the weaker murder mystery episodes. I found the way Monahan constantly dismissed Quincy's findings as stupid, sure if Quincy was going on a hunch I could understand it but Quincy presented solid medical facts especially regarding the guy who supposedly hanged himself & he would have been obliged to accept Quincy's findings. Then there's the fact Quincy, at least in this short version, isn't in the lab at all in this episode & flies off to Mexico to do some investigating & it just felt like a routine cop show rather than the interesting mystery show Quincy would become. The character's are nothing special, there's some humour here but not much & overall while it's still watchable I didn't think it ranked up there with the best Quincy stories.

This one looks OK, I'm not sure about some of the fashions but it was made in '76 which was before I was even born. In a way it's amazing to think episodes of Quincy are still being played even now. The end features some truly awful dubbing & some of the grunt noises Quincy comes out with are pretty funny because they so obviously are dubbed, badly dubbed too. This is the episode which features the two cars falling over a cliff seen in the opening titles for the rest of the show's entire run. The acting is good & Klugman just fits into the role perfectly from the word go.

Go Fight City Hall... To the Death! is an OK Quincy episode, it's probably more notable for being the very first one rather than for being a particularly good story. A must if your a fan otherwise there are better stories out there.