Quincy M.E. (TV Series) Go Fight City Hall... to the Death (1976) User Reviews

A very good start to the series

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 31 July 2008]

This is the very first episode of the TV show "Quincy"--the adventures, so to speak, of a determined pathologist to get to the truth behind the latest death. In most of the episodes, you see the following pattern:

1. There is a death and it's assumed that it was by natural causes. In most of these cases, it's actually murder.

2. To Dr. Quincy, the case "just doesn't seem right" and he won't close the case--wanting to take more time with the autopsy or do some investigating on his own.

3. His boss, Dr. Asten, argues with Quincy to just wrap it all up due to either time constraints or pressure from outside sources. In essence, Asten is a bureaucratic weenie and Quincy a crusader for truth.

4. Quincy's friend, Lt. Monahan, wants to close the case because he KNOWS that it either wasn't a murder or he's blaming some innocent guy for the crime. Oddly, despite the Los Angeles Police Department being one of the largest ones in the world, somehow Monahan is almost always on the case--he's apparently a very, very busy guy--as is Quincy!

5. If he's on vacation, there will be a death that he investigates. This will either be re-opening an old case, a plague of some sort or a murder. Like Jessica Fletcher or Charlie Chan, death just seems to follow him!

6. In the end, Quincy is vindicated. Yet, despite this, by the time they do the next episode, they once again begin this same process!

What makes this pilot episode a bit different is that at the time, no one knew about this formula--so there was some doubt. Also, unlike most of the later episodes, Quincy is a bit more actively in the middle of things--and barely escapes death twice as if he's some sort of action hero! First, he jumps out of a car careening off a cliff. Second, in a fight with a HUGE attacker who is a serial killer, he manages to win--though I admit it was less because of his machismo and more because he knew about human anatomy.

Overall, it was one of the better episodes--with a fascinating plot involving corruption, rape and murder. Plus, it's really interesting now looking back at it and seeing the evolution of the characters. Asten, for example, has a different hair color and Monahan is a bit more hard-headed and disagreeable....and of course, Quincy is a super-hero!

FYI--The first season of the series was NOT a stand-alone show, but was part of the "The NBC Mystery Movie"--a series of different detective shows with various casts and themes. When "The NBC Mystery Movie" ended the following season, Quincy became a its own series. This explains why there were so few episodes of Quincy for season one.

Go Fight City Hall... to the Death

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 7 November 2019]

This is the first episode of Quincy and although it does not establish a pattern, it sets up Quincy as a determined forensic investigator. It also has a story that involves rape and murder.

Quincy believes that the suspect who has been arrested could not have committed the crime of the killing and rape of a young woman. Lt Monahan remains unconvinced despite the medical evidence presented by Quincy.

Quincy's investigation uncovers other deaths all with broken necks. He thinks that the deaths are all linked to corruption in City Hall. Quincy even goes to Mexico to investigate an early suspicious death.

It is gritty, Quincy places his life in danger and it not just because he is fighting his bureaucratic bosses. There is also humour as his long suffering girlfriend Lee always finds herself second best as Quincy goes off to chase a lead.

The early episodes were shown as feature length mystery movies. This opener was very entertaining and Jack Klugman not only played Quincy as a crusader but as a bit of a ladies man.

Good Premiere Episode

[rayoflite24 · 8/10 · 21 July 2015]

Go Fight City Hall -- To the Death! was the premiere episode of Quincy as it first appeared in the NBC Mystery Movie series. Dr. Quincy (Jack Klugman) is introduced as the LA coroner who is called to a crime scene on the beach where a young City Hall employee has been found raped and murdered. The police immediately think that they have the killer in custody when a man with the victim's purse is shot and apprehended a few miles away, but it doesn't add up for Quincy and he begins to conduct his own investigation inside and outside the coroner lab despite pressure from the police and his boss, Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin), to complete his autopsy report. Shortly after a visit to City Hall to learn more about the victim, another city employee who refused to meet with Quincy is found dead and this confirms Quincy's suspicions that this wasn't a random act of violence and that the sinister activity is being perpetrated by city officials at the highest levels.

I found this to be a good premiere episode of the series which tells an interesting story about murder and government corruption, and although filmed in 1976, the plot lines stand the test of time and remain engaging. We are first introduced to the primary characters of the series in this episode who would remain throughout the entire run of the series and act pretty consistently as they are portrayed in the beginning which is nice to see in terms of consistency. I also like Quincy's girlfriend, Lee (Lynette Mettey), in the early episodes and found their pairing much more enjoyable than the eventual relationship he ends up in later in the series. Lee's calm, quiet demeanor and private way of handling her frustrations with the constant interruptions on their quality time together due to Quincy's demanding job was written and played out perfectly in my opinion. It's a shame that she didn't stick around for the entire series run like the others.

It is also to be noted that several scenes from this premiere episode were featured in the opening theme sequence used for later episodes once Quincy became a series. Since this premiere episode aired under the NBC Mystery Movie series, you can definitely see the similarities between Quincy and Columbo as the opening and closing credits roll which are practically identical in format. This was modified for the syndicated version of this episode for consistency and the episode was also shortened to run in the one hour format.

Interesting to see this after seeing the late series entries...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 2 January 2024]

... because Quincy starts out far from where the series ended up.

Here Quincy is the medical examiner in a number of cases that at first look like rape cases perpetrated by some kind of maniac preying on random victims. But then he sees a pattern in the murders and it leads to city hall. It's odd seeing Quincy have such a cynical take on government after watching him screech about needing government intervention in so many of the later episodes, but then you need to remember that this series premiered two years after Watergate, so cynicism towards government was at an all time high.

It looks like Lee, Quincy's girlfriend, was at first going to be some kind of regular character helping Quincy in his sleuthing, but she got dropped after four episodes. Also note that DNA evidence would render lots of these old mysteries moot such as the question - did the same person commit all of these crimes?

"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.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 18 October 2007]

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.

Wrong name

[bjornek-69228 · 6/10 · 29 July 2021]

The deputy coroner´s name is not Asten, but Astin. It is clearly visible in the nameplate on his door.