Diagnosis Murder is very enjoyable 1990s hokum with a great initial cast that has a palpable sense of chemistry, even when Charlie Schlatter joins Dr Mark Sloan's merry medical sleuthing band to replace Scott Baio. The plots are fast-paced and Dick Van Dyke and Barry Van Dyke make an appealing team, with the marvellous Victoria Rowell shining in the role of the pathologist, Amanda. Also, there are even some nice TV crossovers with Mannix and Matlock getting in on the action. And one cannot forget the appearance of a vampire and a ghost! However, for all of the show's oodles of charm, things did start to go a bit awry when more and more of the Van Dyke clan progressively showed up. I was never a fan of Shane Van Dyke, and from there brothers, daughters, and granddaughters increasingly manifest on the glowing screen, with the ultimate tipping point being an episode that seems to contain the entire Van Dyke extended family, which was a bit much. However, there is much pleasure to be had from Dr Sloan's crime fighting ways, and the show is still on TV, which is perfectly splendid.

What network was , Diagnosis Murder on? I thought it was CBS. Am I right or?? Also, Back in those days, the actual production H.Q. was near about the Van Nuys Airport. I surely remember, because I practically made nearly two episodes in those daze. More. I remember the early days. I had found an article in Reader's Digest giving this actor/writer a clue to a terrific episode. So just for suggesting it I was awarded. Awarded or not, I sadly didn't develop it, and was cut out of it all due to poor publicity of mine. So as a justification I learned as I always have, the hard way... Roll the dice..Craps!!! Just a side bar on Mr. Van Dyke. He had a house in the Brentwood area on Chalon Road and it was an incredible party house. Dick had a terrific sense of modernism when he built that house.

I liked the series in the early years, it leaned a little towards the geriatric set, kind of a male based "Murder She Wrote", but Dick Van Dyke is a great actor so I enjoyed watching him portray the amiable Dr. Mark Sloan. He worked well with his real life son, Barry Van Dyke. The series was well written in the beginning, but towards the end it got really lame. It seemed that every episode featured the whole "Van Dyke" clan, and sadly to say, none of them could act with the exception of Dick and Barry. I've heard of nepotism but this took the cake, and some of the story lines got really,really out there, especially "The Blair Nurse Project" which had the young Van Dykes searching (and yikes-finding) there is a ghost in the basement of Community General Hospital. The series was cancelled shortly thereafter and I wasn't surprised. Occasionally I will watch the reruns on the PAX network or Hallmark Channel and I do enjoy them in small doses.

Thankfully as a student I have been able to watch "Diagnosis Murder" for a number of years now. It is basically about a doctor who solves murders with the help of his LAPD son, a young doctor and a pathologist. DM provided 8 seasons of exceptional entertainment. What made it different from the many other cop shows and worth watching many times over was its cast and quality of writing. The main cast gave good performances and Dick Van Dyke's entertainer roots shone through with the use of magic, dance and humor. The best aspects of DM was the fast pace, witty scripts and of course the toe tapping score. Sadly it has been unfairly compared to "Murder, She Wrote". DM is far superior boasting more difficult mysteries to solve and more variety. Now it is gone TV is a worse place. Gone are the days of feelgood, family friendly cop shows. Now there is just depressing 'gritty' ones.