TV both old and new : Interpol Calling

Here I will begin a feature dealing with the TV that has tickled my fancy over the years. That's MY fancy, it will be MY review. I have never been one for paying attention at the back when it comes to what the critics have to say about anything.

Having said that, let's begin:

This first one is an early TV detective series and one I certainly did not watch as a child as it pre-dates me by a few months.

It was a 1959 series called Interpol Calling. To set the scene we have the following:

"Crime knows no frontiers. To combat the growing menace of the international criminal, the police forces of the world have opened up their own national boundaries. At their headquarters in Paris, scientifically equipped to match the speed of the jet age, sixty-three nations have linked together to form the International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL!"

It stars Charles Korvin as Inspector Duval and Edwin Richfield as Inspector Mornay.

As usual, there is a wiki link at Interpol Calling and a Youtube one at Mr. George . You'll also find a very limited link at The IMBD . To date, I have not managed to find any fan sites. Sad that, as they often have a fund of information.

However, if what I say tickles your fancy, you might want to point your mouse over this.

The link provides a summary of the episodes, like most of the Google hits.

Why does it interest me the voice in my head asks? I went looking around on the good old 'net. Like I said, I did not see it on TV originally and I did not have the funds as a teenager to go looking for videotapes. It was only with the advent of DVD that this became available to me. I must have been on Amazon's site and either found it with a search or good old Amazon and the "cookies" offered it to me as something I might like.

But to answer the question: It is set in Europe, mostly. I know this. The Backlot of the film studio doesn't fool me.

Anyway back to the script:

These programmes are rather short at about 30 minutes give or take. Who says that our attention span has diminished?

As a cop/detective show, the usual low-lifes are out in force. Drug smugglers, people smugglers, counterfeiters, etc. Our heroes, using wit and guile, manage to put them in the hand is the local police and all ends well.

Suspend your disbelief right at the start - just before the bit that says "the jet age"? In the 21st century?

As usual, feel free to read this and leave any comments.

What's with this "Police on TV" thing?

I suppose it all started with Batman and Scooby-Doo - you know, crime fighters and detectives.  Maybe it goes all the way back to The Keystone Cops themselves. Maybe it goes back even further to Cain and Abel or even back to the dawn of time and Good vs. Evil.

Medical shows are thin on the ground and come and go, but Police Procedurals or Crime Drama to give it the more modern name, go on.

But I get ahead of myself.

I was skipping channels on TV in the wee hours and heard those three initials: GSR.

Am I the only one that knows this is short for gunshot residue? I think not. Then I got to thinking, given that from the media there are lots of "bad people" out there, why is it that detective/police series are so popular? Why are they so popular when, it seems, that any demonstration has its fair share of people who want to fight the police at any opportunity?

QUICK QUIZ.

What TV shows do you associate the following with?

1. "I'm sorry for your loss...."
2. "Hey, let's be careful out there."
3. "Let's do it to them before they do it to us...."
4. "Book 'em, Danno!"
5. "Who loves ya, baby?"
6. "You're nicked!"
7. "Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?" 
8. "Go ahead, make my day!"
9. "Elementary, my dear Watson!"
10. And I would have got away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

I suppose for me it must have all started with Z Cars - you might not know the title but I'm sure you'll recognise the theme tune. I thought so. It was either that or it was my mum who seemed to read John Creasey books all day, every day.

That was the 60s. The decade went mad as did the 70s, 80s and 90s:  The Saint in all his guises.  The Baron Starsky and Hutch , Columbo , Charlie's Angels, Ironside, Kojak, Taggart , Hawaii -5-0, The Rockford Files, Miami Vice, Quincy, ME, Cracker, Prime Suspect, Midsomer Murders, Crown Court or even Judge Judy...the list is endless. I'll bet your favourite is there.

There appears to have been no let-up. Now we have, what seems to be, entire TV channels of crime drama.

The  CSIs have moved from Vegas to Miami and NY, and their naval equivalents from Washington to LA. Not forgetting the JAG corps. The Law and Order franchise fills in the gaps with both a home grown (UK) and a US variety.

Cop shows seem to spout from any US State you could care to name. Don't think our European neighbours haven't tested the waters:  There was Hotel de Police and Police Precinct from France; Tatort , Der Bulle von Tölz, Countdown: Die Jagd beginnt , Alarm für Cobra 11 and the Rosenheim Cops all from our German speaking cousins; and Wallender from Sweden.

New kids on the block are the likes of Rookie Blue, Dark Blue and Blue Bloods.

For those that like their LEOs to be in black and white, I'd recommend Euro Crime for some up-to-date information on books of the genre. Maybe I'll go deeper into that in another blog.

ANYWAY, back to the quiz:

I'm sure you can guess where some of these sayings come from.

1. Nearly any American cop show has a character saying this.

2. Hill Street Blues (Esterhaus)

3. Hill Street Blues (Jablonsky)

4. Hawaii 5-O

5. Kojak.

6. The Sweeney

7. That would be Harry Callahan. (Dirty Harry) Yeah, yeah, you could quote the whole lot :)

8. Harry Callahan (Sudden Impact)

9. Sherlock Holmes.

10. Scooby Doo.

I'll sign off with my favourite saying from the cop shows:  "Holy Boobjob, Batman....." but I'll let you come across that gem in your own time.