Diagnosis Murder: Season 1

Product Description Emmy award winner Dick Van Dyke stars as Dr. Mark Sloan, a dedicated doctor who dabbles in detective work in DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Caring and compassionate, Dr. Sloan enlists the help of his police detective son, Steve (Barry Van Dyke) whenever he suspects one of his patients is the victim of foul play. And he won?t rest until the bad guys are put to bed - permanently! Working alongside Sloan is pathologist Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell). For star performances and classic "whodunit" suspense, the right prescription is DIAGNOSIS MURDER. Amazon.com One of America's most beloved TV actors, Dick Van Dyke, proved his longevity and acting chops in Diagnosis Murder, as Dr. Mark Sloan, chief of staff at L.A.'s Community General Hospital, as well as a consultant for the police department on confounding murders. The show was originally conceived as a Murder, She Wrote-with-boys, to tap into the late '80s and early '90s wave of spunky-senior shows ( Golden Girls, Matlock et al.). But Van Dyke's versatility and charisma drew fans of all ages, and the first season shows his breadth as an actor. The mysteries range from the fairly typical (a beautiful patient surrounded by intrigue has amnesia--or does she?) to the gritty and offbeat (Sloan's son, played by Van Dyke's real son, Barry, gets too close to a gang of corrupt cops, with near-disastrous results). Through it all, Van Dyke's Sloan is avuncular, thoughtful, warm, and serious, but conveys enough wry humor and cheekiness to take considerable advantage of Van Dyke's comic timing. One episode in this season, "Inheritance of Death," features Van Dyke playing multiple roles--young, old, men, women--in a conniving family grasping for the inheritance of an ancient family member, and it's laugh-out-loud funny. Another standout in the cast is Scott Baio as Sloan's earnest sidekick, Dr. Jack Stewart. The boxed set features all 19 episodes of the first season, plus the episode of Jake and the Fatman which introduced the character of Dr. Mark Sloan. --A.T. Hurley