Crime-Solving Shows

Never thought I was crime-solving show fan, but oh how things change. Not just crime shows, I'd never really followed any tv shows. But within the last few years, Netflix streaming has given us the option of watching something both commercial free and relatively short from the comfort of our sofa.

I used to equate crime shows with Law & Order or Mrs. Marple or the Sherlock Holmes tv movies from the 80s. None of which really appealed to me.

My paradigm shifted when two years ago, my husband and I started watching Monk. The show centers on Adrian Monk, an OCD detective dealing with all kinds of emotional baggage coming mostly from losing his wife. Watching him solve crime after crime while he and his sidekick (and the police) deal with his painful-to-watch compulsions and far-reaching phobias, is both hilarious and endearing. At long last mystery-solving wasn't a humorless and stagnant doldrum.

After we'd watched through the series, we felt spoiled. There couldn't possibly be any other shows nearly as engaging . . . we thought. 

Not long after, however, we came across Psych, which has even more focus on the funny than on the crime. Focusing mainly on the antics of "Psychic Detective" Shawn Spencer who really isn't psychic and his straight-collared friend Burton Guster, this show is a laugh a minute.

Dr. Who is also a classic, but difficult to succinctly describe. Time Lord just doesn't mean much to an outsider. Any takers?

White Collar is our latest favorite and one that my husband just happened across one night. It's about an ultra-suave con-man who helps the FBI solve white collar crimes as part of his prison sentence. The writing on this one is superb.

Also brilliant, but much more serious, is the BBC's Sherlock. It's a contemporary rendering of the Holmes and Watson duo. The only downer? Just three episodes a season (or series, since it's from the UK after all).

I'm sure many of you have already seen these shows, so I'm curious . . . which one would most want to be a part of and why? Also, participate in my nifty poll on the sidebar.