Father Dowling Mysteries
| Father Dowling Mysteries | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | |
| Based on | Characters from the Father Dowling Mystery Books by Ralph McInerny |
| Developed by | Dean Hargrove Joel Steiger |
| Starring | Tom Bosley Tracy Nelson James Stephens Mary Wickes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 43 + 1 TV movie (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 46 minutes (per episode) |
| Production company(s) | The Fred Silverman Company Dean Hargrove Productions Viacom Productions |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC (season 1) ABC (seasons 2-3) |
| Original release | November 30, 1987 (TV movie) January 20, 1989 – May 2, 1991 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
Father Dowling Mysteries (also known as Father Dowling Investigates in the United Kingdom)[1] is an American mystery television series that aired from January 20, 1989 to May 2, 1991. Prior to the series, a TV movie aired on November 30, 1987. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC for its last two seasons.
Contents
History
The show features a Catholic priest, Father Dowling, who solves murders, abductions and other mysteries in his Chicago parish, assisted by a young streetwise nun, Sister Stephanie, in spite of hindrance from the Bishop's representative, Father Prestwick.
The show is based upon characters created by Ralph McInerny[2] in a series of mystery novels; but neither the pilot TV movie nor the subsequent regular season episodes are actual adaptations of any of McInerny's stories. The show was also heavily influenced by G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown novels. Many consider the series to be an Americanized version of Father Brown rather than an adaptation of McInerny's works. When asked, few are aware that the series is not based on the Father Brown books, but on McInerny's stories.[citation needed]
The series was developed for television by Dean Hargrove and Joel Steiger, and produced by The Fred Silverman Company and Dean Hargrove Productions in association with Viacom Productions.
Synopsis
Father Francis ("Frank") Dowling is a Catholic priest who continually stumbles upon murders, abductions and other crimes in his parish (the fictional Parish of St Michael's) in Chicago, Illinois. Because of the Chicago connection, many of the cases are mob-related. His legal first name of Francis is revealed in the episode The Movie Mystery, when he's talking to the detective in charge of the case.
Fr. Frank is assisted by Sister Stephanie ("Steve") Oskowski, a nun assigned to the parish to minister to its members. It is Sr. Steve who does much of the legwork in the investigations. She's a streetwise nun with a Polish surname who grew up in a rough housing project in the diocese. She can hotwire a car, and pick any lock, among other things. Because she knows the "language of the streets" she uses this to her advantage (not just when investigating a mystery, but also in her ministry). Although she is much younger than Father Frank, the two work smoothly together as a team. He is not just a mentor to her, it's obvious she looks up to him as the father she never had.
Father Dowling has an identical twin brother, Blaine (also played by Tom Bosley). A thief and con artist, who isn't above framing his brother for his crimes, Blaine appears three times: in The Face in the Mirror Mystery, The Woman Scorned Mystery, and The Fugitive Priest Mystery.
Father Philip Prestwick, who provides comic relief, is a social-climbing assistant to the Archbishop. Father Phil just happens to drop in before every meal.
Mrs Marie Gillespie is both the parish secretary and the housekeeper of the Rectory (in which the parish priest lives).
The show's format in effect creates a pseudo-family: Father Dowling and his elderly housekeeper, Marie, behave like an old married couple, with Father Dowling acting like the regular father in a conventional family (somewhat aided by his identification in the minds of the audience with Mr Cunningham, the character he played on the tv series Happy Days). Both of them treat Sister Stephanie as though she's their daughter. The humour largely emerges from the intrusions into this "family circle" by Father Phil, who, like an unwanted relation, disrupts the cosy informality of the household. The humour develops from the fact that Phil, in his innocence, never realises that his presence is largely an irritant to the others.
A further recurring character is a female Chicago police officer, Detective Sergeant Clancy (Regina Krueger), who is Father Dowling's friend and principal police contact in the first two seasons. In season 3 Dick O'Neill replaces her, as Lieutenant Foster, an old friend of Frank's in the police, and a devout Catholic, who Frank browbeats into doing him occasional favours during the investigations.
The mysteries usually begin with a mysterious visitor to St Michael's church, or to the parish Rectory next door where Father Dowling lives. In the first season, Sister Steve lives in a convent with the other nuns in her Order ("The Pretty Baby Mystery"); but in the second season she takes her meals at the Rectory, and when her brother is accused of murder (in the episode "The Sanctuary Mystery") he's shown sheltering in her bedroom at the Rectory. Throughout all three seasons she's also a chauffeur for Father Dowling, who doesn't drive. Because she's a car enthusiast, and reformed car thief, she handles the parish station wagon like a professional stuntman.
Between attending to parish secretarial and housekeeping duties, Marie takes phone messages for the duo while they're out travelling all over the city investigating their latest case. Meanwhile, Fr. Phil pops in and out of the Rectory, almost always at mealtimes. Marie and Father Phil provide light relief together, with a comic double-act, forever squabbling over Father Dowling's involvement in police matters, or about parish duties. However, Marie always emerges victorious.
Phil's devotion to never missing a meal at the Rectory is gradually developed into a running gag. In addition, Phil's attempts at keeping on the Bishop's good side (another running gag) are a further source of comic relief.
In the episode The Legacy Mystery (aired April 4th, 1990), Tom Bosley was reunited with his Happy Days co-star, Marion Ross, who plays the mother of a wealthy businessman accused of stealing valuable artwork.
Pilot
The pilot was a two-hour TV movie titled Fatal Confession, which originally aired on NBC on November 30, 1987.
There were few similarities to the books written by McInerny, with the principal character even changing his name (in the novels, he was Roger Dowling), while the setting was changed from a rural parish in the small town of Fox River to the city of Chicago – a setting which was borrowed from another series of novels by McInerny, concerning a Chicago nun. For TV, the nun changed her name, became streetwise, lost many years of age, and metamorphosed into Father Dowling's youthful assistant.[3]
Father Prestwick did not appear in the 1987 pilot. In the first episode of the series, "The Missing Body Mystery", he is brought in by the Bishop to evaluate Father Dowling's parish, and Prestwick is initially appointed to replace him. At the end of the second episode, Prestwick is reassigned to a parish in Alaska: hence he does not appear again until the final Season 1 episode, "The Pretty Baby Mystery" (when it's said he had offended the Bishop in Anchorage, Alaska, and been kicked out there). From the start of Season 2 he becomes one of the regular cast.
Regular series
The show was due to begin in 1988, but because of a writers' strike it did not begin to air weekly until January 1989.
For the first season, on NBC, the episodes were principally written by Supervising Producer Robert Hamilton, who contributed five of the scripts, but Hamilton was dropped when NBC cancelled the show after just eight episodes.
When ABC picked up the show for the second and third seasons (initially as a mid-season replacement), the show's executive producer, Dean Hargrove, together with Joyce Burditt, became the backbone of the writing team, frequently writing episodes jointly (Hargrove had begun his career as a scriptwriter, on the TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). And Gerry Conway, whose career began as a well-regarded writer at Marvel Comics, was now appointed as a script consultant, initially acting as script editor on the series before being promoted to co-producer for the third season, also writing many of the episodes.
For the third and longest season (the show's only full season), Brian Clemens, who had been producer and executive producer on The Avengers and had written many of its best regarded episodes, was added as a script consultant, and wrote or co-wrote many third-season episodes—a number of them in collaboration with co-producer Gerry Conway.
Although the show was set in Chicago, the first season was actually filmed in Denver, Colorado, where the filming locations used included the Church of the Annunciation, at 3621 Humboldt Street, which stood in for St Michael's parish church.[4]
At the time the show was being made, Bosley's co-star Tracy Nelson ("Sister Steve") was married to actor William R Moses, the featured guest star who plays her ex-boyfriend in Season One ("The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery").
The theme music for the regular series was composed by Dick De Benedictis.
The regular series episodes ran approximately 46 minutes 30 seconds.
Cancellation
The show courted controversy with viewers in its third season, which led to a second, and final, cancellation. Executive producer Dean Hargrove wrote several episodes which did not sit well with viewers of a religious disposition,[citation needed] nor with the network,[citation needed] moving the show away from being a murder mystery series and straying into theological areas, including appearances by the Devil and by angels, presenting them as real characters within the storylines.
Cast
- Tom Bosley as Father Frank Dowling / Blaine Dowling
- Tracy Nelson as Sister Stephanie "Steve" Oskowski
- James Stephens as Father Philip Prestwick
- Mary Wickes as Marie
The program featured many notable guest stars, some before they had achieved fame, including: John Astin, Jack Bannon, Roscoe Lee Browne, Steven Culp, Stacy Edwards, Fionnula Flanagan, Michelle Forbes, Kurt Fuller, Annie Golden, Grant Heslov, Laurie Holden, Stanley Kamel, Andreas Katsulas, Yaphet Kotto, Diane Ladd, Anthony LaPaglia, Scott Marlowe, David McCallum, Colm Meaney, William R. Moses, Craig Richard Nelson, Leslie Nielsen, Ethan Phillips, John Slattery, Brenda Strong, Robin Thomas, Sada Thompson, Tony Todd, John Vernon, Kate Vernon, Robert Walden and David Warner.
Episodes
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This is a list of episodes for the television series Father Dowling Mysteries.
Series overview
All three seasons and the TV-movie have been released on DVD by Paramount Home Video.[5]
| Season | Network | Episodes | Premiered | Ended | DVD set release date |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TV-movie | NBC | 1 | November 30, 1987 | February 7, 2012 | ||
| 1 | 8 | January 20, 1989 | March 10, 1989 | |||
| 2 | ABC | 13 | January 4, 1990 | April 26, 1990 | July 10, 2012 | |
| 3 | 22 | September 20, 1990 | May 2, 1991 | March 12, 2013 | ||
TV-movie
The series began with a two-hour TV-movie, Fatal Confession, that originally aired Monday November 30th 1987, at 9:00 pm on NBC.[6]
Synopsis: Father Frank Dowling is a priest with a penchant for solving mysteries. He has to solve the mystery of a young man who's obsessed with finding his natural parents: when the man steps out onto the ledge of a building, threatening to jump unless he's told who his parents are, Father Dowling is called to try and talk him down; unfortunately the man falls, and it looks like he may have been murdered.
Directed by Christopher Hibler; written by Donald E. Westlake.[7]
Episodes
- Nº = Overall episode number
- Ep = Episode number by season
Season 1: 1989
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This season aired Fridays at 8:00–9:00 pm on NBC.
| Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | 1/2 | "The Missing Body Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Rob Gilmer | January 20, 1989 |
| A mystery man dies in Father Dowling's confessional. Frank calls the police, but when they arrive the body is gone. Investigating, Frank discovers that the FBI is somehow involved. A two-part mystery. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "The What Do You Call a Call Girl Mystery" | Charles S. Dubin | Robert Hamilton | January 27, 1989 |
| A woman of the parish tells her fiancé of her past as a call girl, and is promptly murdered. It's up to Father Frank and Sister Steve to discover whether it was the fiancé, or perhaps a former client, who killed her. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery" | Alan Cooke | Diana Kopald Marcus | February 10, 1989 |
| Sister Steve's ex-boyfriend, Jack, witnesses a murder; but when the cops arrive the victim is alive and well. Jack seeks out Sister Steve for help. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Mafia Priest Mystery: Part 1" | Charles S. Dubin | Robert Hamilton | February 17, 1989 |
| Father Dowling is caught up in a bizarre mystery when he attempts to prove a fellow priest, a guest at the Rectory, innocent of murder. In the first of a two-part story, he makes the startling discovery that the young priest's family is connected to organized crime. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Mafia Priest Mystery: Part 2" | Charles S. Dubin | Robert Hamilton | February 24, 1989 |
| Undeterred by appearances, Father Dowling sets out to prove the young priest innocent of murder, discovering he has been framed by a member of his own family. But when the real assassin is himself killed, Frank must rely on a family member who is afraid to tell the truth. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Face in the Mirror Mystery" | Alan Cooke | Robert Hamilton | March 3, 1989 |
| When the good Father's evil half-brother Blaine (Tom Bosley in a dual role) shows up unexpectedly, Frank suspects right away that Blaine is up to no good. After thwarting his brother's attempted diamond heist, Father Dowling finds himself in hot water when he discovers the police can't tell the two brothers apart. | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "The Pretty Baby Mystery" | Charles S. Dubin | Teleplay by: Robert Hamilton Story by: Susan Woollen |
March 10, 1989 |
| A distraught woman leaves her baby at the church. Father Frank and Sister Steve track her down, but things don't add up: when they find the woman, she claims she never had a baby. | |||||
Season 2: 1990
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This season aired Thursdays at 8:00–9:00 pm on ABC.
| Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "The Visiting Priest Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | David Hoffman & Leslie Daryl Zerg | January 4, 1990 |
| Father Dowling and Sister Steve are taken in by a fake priest. "Father" Damon is actually a hit man, apparently sent to kill aging mob boss Victor Malko. Father Dowling tries to warn Malko, but he won't take the warning seriously. And in consequence Father Dowling's own life is in jeopardy. | |||||
| 10 | 2 | "The Exotic Dancer Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Teleplay by: Robert Schlitt Story by: Dean Hargrove and Joyce Burditt |
January 11, 1990 |
| An exotic dancer confesses to Frank that she saw something she shouldn't have, at the nightclub where she works, then turns up murdered. Sister Steve becomes a card dealer in the nightclub to look for clues. | |||||
| 11 | 3 | "The Sanctuary Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Teleplay by: Robert Schlitt Story by: Jim McGrath |
January 18, 1990 |
| Sister Steve's brother Mark witnesses a murder, but the police accuse him of the crime. When Mark tries to finger the real killer — Police Chief Hayton — he may become Hayton's next victim. | |||||
| 12 | 4 | "The Stone Killer Mystery" | Ron Satlof | Teleplay by: Jim McGrath Story by: Doc Barnett |
January 25, 1990 |
| Someone is shooting everyone who was associated with the Gallagher trial, eight years previously, in which Father Frank was a principal witness. But Frank isn't convinced it's Gallagher. | |||||
| 13 | 5 | "The Woman Scorned Mystery" | Seymour Robbie | Richard DeRoy | February 1, 1990 |
| Father Frank's crooked twin is at it again. Frank gets involved when the woman his brother Blaine has conned turns up dead. | |||||
| 14 | 6 | "The Ghost of a Chance Mystery" | Charles S. Dubin | Robert Schlitt | February 8, 1990 |
| A parishioner is being haunted by the ghost of her dead father. Frank, Steve, and even Father Prestwick, get involved in trying to find out who is terrorizing the woman — and why. | |||||
| 15 | 7 | "The Blind Man's Bluff Mystery" | Russ Mayberry | Joyce Burditt | February 15, 1990 |
| Sister Steve witnesses a bank robbery by a supposedly blind man who she has befriended, and becomes an unwitting accomplice in his scheme to blackmail a prominent parishioner. | |||||
| 16 | 8 | "The Falling Angel Mystery" | James Frawley | Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burdit | February 22, 1990 |
| A black man visits Father Dowling's church claiming to be an Angel. He says someone is going to be taken before their time, and that it's up to Frank to prevent it. Frank thinks it has to do with a parishioner who owes a favor to a crime boss. | |||||
| 17 | 9 | "The Perfect Couple Mystery" | Ron Satlof | Doc Barnett | March 8, 1990 |
| A young couple's marriage is on the rocks when the wife is sure her husband is cheating. When she turns to Frank for help, the husband swears he isn't having an affair, but he can't disclose what he has actually been up to. | |||||
| 18 | 10 | "The Confidence Mystery" | James Frawley | Gerry Conway | March 15, 1990 |
| A con artist has his eye on a valuable church receptacle that Father Prestwick is taking to Romania; he'll stop at nothing to get his hands on the monstrance, even if he has to permanently inconvenience Prestwick. It's up to Father Dowling and Sister Steve to put a cap on the con. | |||||
| 19 | 11 | "The Solid Gold Headache Mystery" | Charles S. Dubin | Richard DeRoy | March 29, 1990 |
| Sister Stephanie is entrusted with six million dollars in the will of a deceased parishioner. Everyone, including the man's family, wants the money — and may be willing to do anything to get it. | |||||
| 20 | 12 | "The Legacy Mystery" | Russ Mayberry | Teleplay by: Gerry Conway Story by: Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt |
April 4, 1990 |
| A mysterious thief is methodically stealing the art treasures that once belonged to the wealthy Cabot family, and Father Dowling has an inkling the thief might be the surviving son, Jonathan. The only question is, why would a rich businessman take the risk of stealing the paintings when he could easily afford to buy them outright? | |||||
| 21 | 13 | "The Passionate Painter Mystery" | Seymour Robbie | Doc Barnett and David Hoffman & Leslie Daryl Zerg | April 26, 1990 |
| The church has hired an eccentric painter to retouch the frescoes. He turns out to be an abusive drunk and Sister Stephanie has no patience or pity for him. But she and Father Frank must come to his aid when his studio blows up. | |||||
Season 3: 1990–91
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This season aired Thursdays at 8:00–9:00 pm on ABC.
| Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 1 | "The Royal Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Gerry Conway | September 20, 1990 |
| Sister Stephanie trades places with her double, Lady Cara (also played by Tracy Nelson), a minor member of the British Royal family, who is visiting Chicago with a trade delegation headed by David McCallum, unaware that Cara is the target of a mystery assassin. | |||||
| 23 | 2 | "The Medical Mystery" | James Frawley | Jeri Taylor | September 27, 1990 |
| While Father Dowling is in the hospital for minor surgery, he becomes convinced that the patient in the next bed has been murdered. While investigating, he uncovers a much bigger secret. | |||||
| 24 | 3 | "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt | October 4, 1990 |
| When most people look at Harry Deil, they see one of the most powerful men in underworld crime. Father Dowling sees something even more sinister: the Devil. Father Dowling must beat him at his own game in order to save the soul of Sister Steve. | |||||
| 25 | 4 | "The Showgirl Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | James H. Brown & Barbara Esensten | October 18, 1990 |
| A showy showgirl in a shady nightclub is surprised to discover her late husband's estate consists of nothing but debts. Or is she the victim of a scam to deprive her of a small fortune? The investigation reveals a motley crew of underworld suspects for Father Dowling and Sister Steve. | |||||
| 26 | 5 | "The Movie Mystery" | James Frawley | Teleplay by: William Conway and Gerry Conway Story by: Gerry Conway |
October 25, 1990 |
| Hollywood is shooting a new TV show at the church, in which a priest and a nun solve crimes. When a series of life-threatening accidents occur, Father Dowling and Sister Steve are enlisted to assist in the investigation. | |||||
| 27 | 6 | "The Undercover Nun Mystery" | James Frawley | Teleplay by: Joyce Burditt Story by: Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt |
November 1, 1990 |
| Sister Steve's return to her convent to celebrate the Mother Superior's silver jubilee should be a time of great joy. But shortly after arriving, she discovers a nun with a gun, who turns out to be an undercover FBI agent. When the agent is found murdered, an innocent man is wrongly arrested for the crime. | |||||
| 28 | 7 | "The Murder Weekend Mystery" | Harry Harris | Gerry Conway | November 8, 1990 |
| Father Dowling is invited to a murder mystery weekend at the home of a famous mystery writer. His investigative skills are put to the test when their host himself is murdered. | |||||
| 29 | 8 | "The Reasonable Doubt Mystery" | Robert Scheerer | Teleplay by: Brian Clemens and Gerry Conway Story by: Brian Clemens |
November 15, 1990 |
| Father Dowling is serving as a juror, but has doubts about the testimony of a witness. Dissatisfied with the questions the District Attorney has failed to ask, Frank sets out to re-investigate the case himself, sending Sister Steve undercover in the witness's business, a New-Age bookstore, to learn what he's hiding. | |||||
| 30 | 9 | "The Vanishing Victim Mystery" | Seymour Robbie | Robert Schlitt | November 29, 1990 |
| Father Dowling stumbles into a kidnapping plot when he befriends a young woman, the heiress to a large brewing fortune, who promptly disappears. Fearing the worst, Sister Steve signs on as the family's new maid to try to find out what happened to the girl. | |||||
| 31 | 10 | "The Christmas Mystery" | James Frawley | Brian Clemens | December 13, 1990 |
| Following a murder attempt on a woman who has left her child in the temporary care of Father Dowling, the search for the assassin leads to a department store on Christmas Eve. | |||||
| 32 | 11 | "The Fugitive Priest Mystery" | James Frawley | Michael Reaves | January 3, 1991 |
| Trouble for Father Dowling when his evil twin brother reappears. Blaine impersonates Frank to frame him for a bank robbery, turning Father Dowling himself into a fugitive. Blaine has the perfect alibi: he's in jail, on a minor charge. The only way for Frank to clear his name is to masquerade as his brother, in order to track down Blaine's underworld associates. | |||||
| 33 | 12 | "The Substitute Sister Mystery" | Charles S. Dubin | Teleplay by: Gerry Conway Story by: Gerry Conway and Brian Clemens |
January 3, 1991 |
| Father Dowling and Sister Steve are caught up in a battle of the bugs, when warring exterminators clash at the Rectory over franchise rights. The plot is thickened by a fake Nun (with mob connections) who is calling herself "Sister Steve", a real hitman (intent on murdering "Sister Steve"), and a mobster who will do anything (even endanger the real Sister Steve) in order to save his daughter. | |||||
| 34 | 13 | "The Missing Witness Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Teleplay by: Lincoln Kibbee Story by: Lincoln Kibbee and Brian Clemens |
January 10, 1991 |
| Sister Steve disguises herself as a call girl to track down a missing witness who can clear the name of a young businessman charged with murder. But was he really framed, or is he actually guilty? Father Dowling is uncertain. | |||||
| 35 | 14 | "The Prodigal Son Mystery" | James Frawley | Teleplay by: Jack Burditt Story by: Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt |
January 31, 1991 |
| A man Father Dowling has never met turns up at the Church, claiming to be his son, but disappears before Dowling can question him. Then his would-be son is charged with murder. | |||||
| 36 | 15 | "The Moving Target Mystery" | Robert Scheerer | Teleplay by: Joyce Burditt Story by: Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt and Brian Clemens |
February 7, 1991 |
| A contract killer has a change of heart when he discovers the intended victim, Father Dowling, is a priest. He warns Frank that someone else is certain to accept the contract. Now it's up to Father Dowling to figure out who wants him dead, and what their interest is in the photos he took at the parish picnic. | |||||
| 37 | 16 | "The Priest Killer Mystery" | David Moessinger | Teleplay by: Gerry Conway Story by: Gerry Conway and Brian Clemens |
February 14, 1991 |
| When a rooftop sniper almost kills Father Dowling, Sister Steve goes undercover as a cab driver, hoping to flush out the would-be assassin. | |||||
| 38 | 17 | "The Mummy's Curse Mystery" | James Frawley | Michael Reaves | February 21, 1991 |
| While visiting the Chicago Museum to take in a new exhibit, Father Dowling and Sister Steve encounter an ancient Egyptian curse. Father Prestwick becomes its next victim when he attempts to uncover the deadly secret of the Pharaoh's burial chamber. | |||||
| 39 | 18 | "The Monkey Business Mystery" | Peter Ellis | Doc Barnett | March 7, 1991 |
| Father Dowling and Sister Steve go out on a limb when she kidnaps a chimp accused of murdering an animal activist. The "killer" chimp will be put down, unless they can prove it has been framed. | |||||
| 40 | 19 | "The Hardboiled Mystery" | James Frawley | Teleplay by: Michael Reaves Story by: Robert Schlitt and Michael Reaves |
March 28, 1991 |
| An author who used Father Dowling and Steve as characters in his murder mystery novel (they appear in flashbacks as the hard-boiled characters in the book) dies without completing it. Frank is sure the novel is based on a real crime and contains a clue to its solution. | |||||
| 41 | 20 | "The Malibu Mystery" | Christopher Hibler | Teleplay by: Wayne Berwick & Gerry Conway Story by: Wayne Berwick |
April 4, 1991 |
| Father Dowling is in Los Angeles on the trail of a runaway teenager, who's taking a walk on the wild side of L.A.'s night life. | |||||
| 42 | 21 | "The Consulting Detective Mystery" | Sharron Miller | Teleplay by: Gerry Conway Story by: Dean Hargrove and Gerry Conway |
April 25, 1991 |
| It's difficult to tell who's consulting with who when Sherlock Holmes comes to the aid of Father Dowling. The pair prove an unbeatable team, when they put their powers of deduction to the supreme test, as eyewitnesses to multiple murders. There's only one snag: no one other than Dowling can actually see Mr Holmes! | |||||
| 43 | 22 | "The Joyful Noise Mystery" | Bob Bralver | Teleplay by: Joyce Burditt Story by: Dean Hargrove & Joyce Burditt |
May 2, 1991 |
| The local District Attorney's office is home to bullets and ballots as deadly rivals battle for power. One man is already dead and an innocent boy has been charged with murder. Father Dowling tries to expose the real killer before a political rally becomes a blood bath. | |||||
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Biography of Ralph McInerny - Notre Dame Website Archived August 18, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Obituary of Tom Bosley
- ↑ Father Dowling Mysteries at TVShowsOnDVD.com
- ↑ TV Tango - TV Listings for November 30, 1987
- ↑ Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery at IMDb
External links
- Father Dowling Mysteries at IMDb
- List of Father Dowling Mysteries episodes at TV.com
After its first season, NBC cancelled the show. It was picked up by ABC and aired for two more seasons. In total, Father Dowling Mysteries comprises a 2-hour TV movie plus 43 one-hour episodes.
Production credits
- Executive Producers Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove
- Executive in Charge of Production Mike Moder
- Supervising Producer Robert Hamilton (season 1)
- Supervising Producer Robert Schlitt (season 2)
- Produced by Barry Steinberg (season 1,2)
- Co-Producer David Solomon (season 1,2)
Home media
CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all three seasons on DVD in Region 1.[1][2][3]
On June 6, 2017, CBS DVD released Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[4]
In Region 2, Acorn Media released the first season on DVD in the UK on June 18, 2012. However, it was released under the title Father Dowling Investigates.
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment released the first season on DVD in Australia on November 2, 2011.
There was also a VHS released in region 1 on the 24 of January 2000 of the "Fatal Confession" TV movie.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||
| The Complete First Season | 9 | February 7, 2012 | June 18, 2012 | November 2, 2011 |
| The Complete Second Season | 13 | July 10, 2012 | N/A | N/A |
| The Complete Third and Final Season | 22 | March 12, 2013 | N/A | N/A |
| The Complete Series | 44 | June 6, 2017 | N/A | N/A |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ This Summer, Solve the Secret of 'The Complete Series' Set! Archived 2017-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Lovece, Frank, The Television Yearbook: Complete, Detailed Listings for the 1990-1991 Season (Putnam / Perigee, 1991) ISBN 0-399-51702-2
External links
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