Opening Theme: HETTY WAINTHROPP INVESTIGATES

With the release of my new whodunit Nursing a Grudge starring geriatric amateur sleuth Earl Walker, this blog is featuring senior citizen detective shows the next several weeks ...

Henrietta "Hetty" Wainthropp, a sixty-ish housewife in Lancashire, England, was introduced as an amateur sleuth in David Cook's 1986 novel Missing Persons. However, a TV movie based on the book led to a series -- and rather than keep her amateur status, the producers decided to make crime her business. Thus was born Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (BBC One, 1996-1998), wherein Hetty (played by Patricia Routledge) and young sidekick Geoffrey Shawcross (Dominic Monaghan) open up a proper office for private investigations.

As described by Thrilling Detective: "While the series is definitely aimed at fans of 'cozies' rather than hard-boiled fiction -- it's highly unlikely, for instance, that the non-violent, bus-pass-owning Hetty will ever get mixed up in a car chase, a shootout, or a wild fistfight -- Hetty has at least a few 'tough guy' qualities that make her more than just a eccentric P.I wannabe. First and foremost, she's quite strong willed and plain-spoken, and her cases occasionally take her into some (relatively) rough locales that would make Miss Marple faint dead away."

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates Opening/Closing Titles


More TV Main Titles:
Opening Theme: BARNABY JONES
Opening Theme: MRS. BRADLEY MYSTERIES
Opening Theme: MISS MARPLE
Opening Theme: CRAZY LIKE A FOX
Opening Theme: PERRY MASON RETURNS

Watch 21 JUMP STREET free online!

Netflix subscribers can watch episodes of 21 Jump Street free online! Or watch the episodes on your television courtesy of a Roku device, certain gaming consoles or Blu-ray players.

The crime drama 21 Jump Street (Fox, 1987-1991) focused on a squad of undercover police investigating crimes related to young people. The officers, able to pass for students, operated undercover in high schools, colleges and other teen venues. Created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, the stars included Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise, Dustin Nguyen, Steven Williams, and Michael Bendetti.

21 Jump Street Opening Theme


Related links:
Watch HUNTER episodes online free!
Classic Stephen J. Cannell TV on DVD
Watch CASTLE on ABC
Mystery TV Themes: THE ROCKFORD FILES

Opening Theme: PERRY MASON RETURNS

With the release of my new whodunit Nursing a Grudge starring geriatric amateur sleuth Earl Walker, this blog is featuring senior citizen detective shows the next several weeks ...

Years after the legendary series Perry Mason (CBS, 1957-1966), star Raymond Burr and co-star Barbara Hale reunited for a series of Perry Mason TV movies starting in 1985. The first, Perry Mason Returns, found Mason resigning his position as appellate court judge to defend his secretary, Della Street, on murder charges. William Katt (Hale's son) played Paul Drake, Jr. (son of private investigator Paul Drake, portrayed by the late William Hopper in the original series.)

The series was produced by Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman -- they also produced Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, and Diagnosis: Murder.

The Perry Mason TV movies continued even after Burr's death in 1993 -- his final performance as Mason was in The Case of the Killer Kiss. Subsequent telefilms starred other actors as lawyer friends of Mason -- one with Paul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso (1993), and three with Hal Holbrook as "Wild Bill" McKenzie (1994-95). Hale appeared in these as Street.



Related links:
Detectives: PERRY MASON by Erle Stanley Gardner
Mystery TV Themes: PERRY MASON

More TV Main Titles:
Opening Theme: DIAGNOSIS MURDER
Opening Theme: MATLOCK
Opening Theme: BARNABY JONES
Opening Theme: NBC Mystery Movie (COLUMBO)
Opening Theme: THE ROCKFORD FILES

Opening Theme: MATLOCK

With the release of my new whodunit Nursing a Grudge starring geriatric amateur sleuth Earl Walker, this blog is featuring senior citizen detective shows the next several weeks ...

Legal drama Matlock (NBC 1986-1992, ABC 1992-1995) starred Andy Griffith as folksy defense attorney Ben Matlock. The format of the show, not unlike that of Perry Mason (1957-1966) often found Matlock identifying the murderer in the courtroom and confronting him or her on the stand.

Over the years, Matlock's circle of helpers included daughters Charlene Matlock (Linda Purl) and Leanne MacIntyre (Brynn Thayer), legal partner Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford), and private investigators Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday), Conrad McMasters (Clarence Gilyard), Cliff Lewis (Daniel Roebuck), and Jerri Stone (Carol Huston).

Matlock led to the spin-off Jake and the Fatman (1987-1992), starring William Conrad and Joe Penny. That show also had a spin-off -- Diagnosis Murder (1993-2001) starring Dick Van Dyke -- on which Andy Griffith guest-starred in one episode as Ben Matlock.



Matlock (TV series) - Wikipedia

More themes:
BARNABY JONES
PERRY MASON
JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE
LAW & ORDER: UK
QUINCY
THE EQUALIZER
HARRY O
MANNIX
NBC Mystery Movie (COLUMBO)
THE ROCKFORD FILES

Watch HUNTER episodes online free!

Episodes of Hunter (1984-91) starring Fred Dryer as LAPD detective sergeant Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as his partner, Sgt. Dee Dee McCall. Created by Stephen J. Cannell.

Related links:
Classic Stephen J. Cannell TV on DVD
 LAW & ORDER on its way to the record books
Crime TV coming to DVD (Dec 29)
Watch DRAGNET episodes free online!
It Takes a Thief: Guest-starring Ricardo Montalban
Watch CASTLE online: "A Rose for Everafter"

Opening Theme: HAMISH MACBETH

The main titles for the BBC Scotland TV series Hamish MacBeth (1995-1997) starring Robert Carlyle.



More main titles:
Opening Theme: DAN AUGUST
Opening Theme: THE PERSUADERS
Opening Theme: Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Opening Theme: Hart to Hart
Opening Theme: Hawaii Five-O
Opening Theme: It Takes a Thief
Opening Theme: Judd For the Defense