in terms of police detectives, it's a tossup between Columbo and Ironside. I definitely think Columbo was my favorite, because you KNEW who did it (with one or two exceptions, where they kept it a mystery) and you got to watch Columbo unravel their "perfect" crime.

I loved all the shows mentioned here...plus Quincy and the Streets of San Francisco and Longstreet. Since I lived in the East Bay, Streets was especially fun when they showed actual landmarks.

It's funny, I can remember these shows from my teenhood but I then flash forward to Buffy before I can claim a serious devotion to a specific program. Huh. What was I doing in my early adulthood that made me not connect with tv as much?

Columbo being my favorite. As a kid, I loved what Frank pointed out, that I didn't have to figure out whodunit, but only watch to find how the criminal trips him/herself up.

Plus Peter Falk was just awsome. It was so fun watching the special celebrity guest murderer underestimate him. And they had some truly offbeat guest stars - Johnny Cash comes to mind immediately.

All while he's thinking about his father, who taught him to tread water.

And he's wearing his father's watch, which you don't realize until the very last shot.

I don't know how I remember this stuff so clearly.

My interests run more toward whodunits than procedurals, though it doesn't sound like this thread really distinguishes the two. Reruns of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr version) were the first TV show I stayed up late for. Right around that time, there was also an Ellery Queen series starring Jim Hutton -- with John Hillerman in a recurring role as a radio star who always reached the wrong solution.

Hubs and I enjoy the occasional movie version of Agatha Christie's novels, which show fairly regularly on the cable channels, so I don't feel too far off topic. Hubs usually can figure out who the killer is, I can't unless I've read the novel. I'll only say that I had lots of fun watching him try to solve Murder on the Orient Express.

I'll only say that I had lots of fun watching him try to solve Murder on the Orient Express.

Heh. Albert Finney version?

Albert Finney version?

Agatha Christie was still alive when that came out. She commented that Albert Finney's moustache wasn't awesome enough to be Hercule Poirot's.

Albert Finney version?

Yes. I'm right there for any movie with both Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall.

Oh, I loved Ellery Queen too!

I don't know if you can consider them procedurals as much as westerns, but two of may favorite shows as a kid were Bat Masterson and Wild, Wild West. I mean, Pinkerton agents (those were kind of cops) and mad scientists and guns and shooting (or not, in the case of Bat, and who couldn't love a character named Bat in a bowler who kept the crooks on the straight and narrow?)!!!

We used to watch Maverick too. Didn't he solve mysteries? Even though he was a gambler?