Though Quincy began its run as a great mystery show, it all too soon evolved into a vehicle for discussion of the social issues of the day. Unlike Columbo, which maintained a reputation for sticking to good storytelling and suspense, Quincy started using violent incidents as an excuse to comment on gun control, spousal abuse, religious bigotry, etc. While it's important to be aware of societal ills, it's also important to understand that as soon as a storyteller starts "lecturing," the story suffers, and the audience leaves. And when producers, directors, and actors lose sight of the balance needed between telling a story and discussing the issues of the day, their show goes into decline. Trying to merge story and message is like mixing liver and ice cream; it can be done, but who's going to want the product? When Quincy stuck to storytelling, it was entertaining, but when stories took a backseat to "messages," it jumped the shark every time.

Quincy ME brought us the fascinating world of Forensic Pathology and yes, even crime scene investigation 30 years before we would be flooded with analogous programs. However, Jack Klugman seemed to be able to pull it off without lavish and superfluous special effects seen all too much in the modern era. Instead, Quincy was disciplined in the drama of the storyline, and the science that was involved. Perhaps the Television of today has doubts about their actual content and dialog, that vacuous imagery has been made a cornerstone, rather than window dressing.Not to mention, Jack Klugman is just a terrific performer. Proving here, just as he has done his entire career that range is not a problem for the actor. We laughed out laud with him in the "Odd Couple", and here we piece together a victims death, along with Sam ,Lt. Monahan, and Astin. As always with Quincy, you are in for a good does of education too.However, towards the later seasons, it seemed that the show became too preachy with its public service tone. I remember being a bit annoyed as certain episodes resembled after school specials, rather than the medical/ crime drama I became addicted too. It would have been a better choice for Quincy to stick with Pathology, and dish out the social commentary's in much smaller portions.In any case, no matter what metric is used to measure Quincy with its crowded (how many CSI's do we need?) modern counterparts, I believe Dr Quincy emerges the most believable and cognitive of the group.

I watched "Quincy" when it was on the first time round with my mum, dad & sister. I didn't quite get it the first time around as I was a young lady in those days. However I was fortunate to see it on digital TV in England, and have realized the true, raw, emotion that is Quincy, coroner & all-round good guy.Quincy is insightful. Before all these "CSI" & "Cold Case" programmes, there was Quincy. Was he one step ahead? Let's just say he was on the ball. He knew the truth behind the lies, the evil from the good and the down-right guilty from the innocent. When he had a hunch, you'd better believe he was right. Had a crime to solve? Quincy was your guy.Quincy get what he wants. If there was someone who was holding something back, Quincy had enough on them to solve the case & get the job done.Quincy was a man's man. With soul. He lived & loved like a man who's time was almost up, and it showed. He solved the case when no one else thought it could be done. He felt for the deceased & gave them a voice when everyone else thought it had fallen silent.Quincy has charisma. There was no other man on television who had a hand that was as good with a woman as it was with a dead body.Quincy cares. Sure, Quincy was a man's man; he would be at the bar buying a round for the guys, but he hurts like the rest of us. He just kept it all inside.So there you have it - the man & the myth that is Quincy. There will never be another... all those copy-cats? Well the men want to be him, & the women want to be WITH him. Quincy, you're the best.

This show was more influential than most shows of its genre on TV. In many ways, it was the predecessor to the current CSI and CSI: Miami, with its emphasis on science and the forensic approach. In fact, many of the episodes dealt with forensic methods which were just coming into being in the 70's, and for the first time let the audience of the series see these new techniques and research, including the build-up of a skeletal face to what the person could have looked like, looking for evidence of where a person has been by looking at the residue on a person's shoes and other forensic methods we take for granted nowadays.What's even more interesting is that many of the topics of these episodes, some 25 years old, show a great amount of relevance even now. Such things as airplane safety, epidemics, political influence, riots, runaways and child pornography, post traumatic stress disorder as a result of a war experience, migrant workers, crash diets, child abuse, and much, much more.This show was and is a great forerunner to many other shows over the past twenty-five years. In many ways, the current resurgence in shows about forensic science can be attributed to this show. Not only the commercial successes of CSI and CSI:Miami, but shows like "Forensic Files," "Cold Case Files" and other such shows. With the amount of technology which we presently have available to us now, it's amazing that a lot of it has only been available since Quincy debuted on television, less than 25 years ago.