Customer Reviews

Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Mass is the Medium

It is difficult to believe that anybody not in love with a television series would want to buy a collection on DVD. So what does one say to shoppers who know what they are buying and why they want a souvenir in their home libraries? The passing years, however, have raised a generation, even two generations, who never saw the original broadcasts, although it is difficult to believe they missed the museum networks, too.

In 1980, the three networks aired more than a dozen cop shows, each with its gimmick to grab a share of the market. Series require five to eight regular characters to hold audience interest; count 'em on M*A*S*H, CHEERS, and STAR TREK, not to mention MELROSE PLACE. In contrast, cop shows cast the crime in the leading role. COLUMBO, for example, has only one character --- the criminal; the unflappable, unchanging lieutenant serves as mere foil. HART to HART and SIMON & SIMON play a pair as one. FATHER DOWLING, however, pirated avuncular Tom Bosley from MURDER SHE WROTE to play a well developed character interacting with a street-smart nun, played by Tracy Nelson, in conflict with the bishop, who is always worried about church attendance, and the anally correct Father Preswick, who suffers aggravated anxiety whenever Father Dowling's extra-pastoral activities disturb cleric routine. Like Hawkeye, Margaret, and Colonel Potter manage to run a field hospital between painting, moralizing, and frustrated romances, Father Dowling and his artfully dodging sidekick manage to solve emotionally complex crimes between liturgical services.

I enjoy watching Bosley's stage personna while Tracy Nelson steals his scenes as irreverently as she hustles pool, lifts shops, picks locks, hotwires cars, and GOK what else that can't even be hinted on a family show --- skills every kid needs to survive on the street while waiting for her call to Redemption.

Production values are better than adequate, the writing is natural, and the performance lively. But cop shows are not intended for everybody's taste; each is produced to grab a specific niche of the audience from the competing networks. If you like COLUMBO, you will probably detest HUNTER; if you like the characterizations in MacMILLAN & WIFE, you might love the manifold interpersonal interactions in FATHER DOWLING. Without exciting the kiddies or requiring matriculation, this show needs adult emotional experience to appreciate.

It was a real pleasure to be able to watch this series again. I enjoyed this series very much when I was younger

When the Canadian price matches the American for this DVD I will purchase it. It never ceases to amaze me how the Canadian Amazon overcharges when the dollars for both are at par.

Je ne connaissais pas cette série. C'est une belle découverte. Les personnages sont bien définis et on voit que les acteurs ont du plaisir à jouer ensemble. Les intrigues sont bien tournées et le rythme est relaxant. Et aussi, j'apprécie beaucoup l'humour qui accompagne chaque épisode.