Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Diagnosis Blu-ray: healthy show and an A/V presentation on life support.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 21, 2018

Murder and mystery TV shows are long-stranding staples of the television landscape and the sleuths who solve them -- often operating outside the specific realm of investigation and bringing their own field of expertise to the crime scene -- stand amongst the greats in television's all-time character pecking order. Names like Jessica Fletcher (the complete Murder, She Wrote on Blu-ray, please, and not just seasons one, two, and three in France?), Father Dowling (ditto Father Dowling Mysteries), Jim Rockford (who has already already made it to Blu-ray), and Dr. Mark Sloan are amongst the giants within the genre of yore, while more contemporary, and still somewhat nontraditional, "detectives" carry on the good work on the small screen: Adrian Monk (a Blu-ray would be great, again), Patrick Jane, Richard Castle, and Temperance Brennan. While a good, juicy mystery in and of itself has always intrigued audiences -- there's a reason why Sherlock Holmes remains a giant in the genre -- the addition of an act of murder seems to up the level of fascination to an almost morbid level. Bookstore shelves are packed with whodunits, countless movies delve into the criminal mind, and television might not survive without murder investigation procedurals like CSI and NCIS. But all of the modern murder solving detectives can trace their roots back to the classic shows of the 70s and 80s. Diagnosis Murder feels like a bridge show, building on the classic structure of Murder, She Wrote while helping to pave the way for the slew of 21st century sleuths to follow. It also brought something fairly unique to the table: the perfect blend of properly measured drama, medicinal mystery, and big-dose humor.

Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) practices and teaches medicine at Community General Hospital, but he has an eye for mystery and solves crimes on the side, often with the help of his co-workers Dr. Amanda Bentley (Cynthia Gibb in the early movies, Victoria Rowell in the bulk of the series), Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio, seasons 1-2), Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter, seasons 3-8), and, grudgingly, his son, police detective Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke). The show is part medical drama, part mystery, and part comedy. While each episode typically resolves around a single murder, its true allure stems from character interaction and development, which is likely to keep audiences more interested than the murder du jour.

Any procedural can fall into monotony without excellent writing and actors who can keep the material lively and the audience engaged. Diagnosis Murder bears the fruits of both. Even though every episode features the hospital and many of the murders take place there, the audience doesn't get the feeling that the show has already "been there and done that." At the same time, most the crimes don't grow so fantastical as to leave the audience incapable of going with the flow and believing what they're watching. It's a happy medium between familiarity and freshness, thanks largely to the actors but also the writing, which continuously yields a steady dose of solvable mysteries and the occasional curveball thrown in to keep the audience guessing and the characters challenged in new ways.

The Dr. Mark Sloan character, and Dick Van Dyke's performance thereof, obviously carries the show as the lead detective and doctor. Van Dyke brings his signature style of humor and quirky behavior to the character and realistically depicts his character's curiosities that foment his desires to solve crimes as well as practice medicine. Barry Van Dyke plays Steve Sloan, Mark's detective son, with an appropriate mix of exasperation for his father's antics and appreciation for his keen mind. The real life father/son duo does well at playing a fictional father/son television duo, allowing them to find a realistic and grounded sense of friendship and rapport but also familial annoyance and head-butting at the same time. Dr. Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell), Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio) and Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter) make for well-rounded sidekicks and their life stories are nicely fleshed out over the course of their stay with the show. They never feel like those characters who just appear and disappear on a whim, which given the series' length would have been a death sentence for it.

Brief season and movie summaries follow that may contain spoilers.

Season One:

Season one contains 19 episodes that originally aired from October 1993 - May 1994. Unlike a typical series premiere, Diagnosis Murder's debut episode doesn't introduce characters but simply continues on with the characters and the story lines introduced in the TV movie prequels (more on those later, but for anyone looking to start the Diagnosis Murder experience with these prequel movies, they are included on disc four from season eight, despite the fact that they take place prior to season one). Note that Bentley and Stewart were played by different actors in the TV movie prequels. Season one begins and ends with mysteries involving the church but offers a more balanced and diverse set of mysteries throughout the season's bulk. Dr. Sloan balances his work in the hospital and the patients he helps with a myriad of mysteries that maneuver into his life. He manages to win a lot of money on a lottery ticket, clear Steve's name and save his life, solve a magical case, save Amanda from a murder charge, stop the bubonic plague, and battle the mob to mention just a few of the season's highlights.

Season Two:

Season two features 22 episodes that originally aired from September 1994 - May 1995. Dr. Sloan begins this season beleaguered by the IRS for his unusual accounting methods (or lack thereof) and ends with the murder of a rock star. In the middle, Sloan foils a serial killer, pursues a cadaver, is implicated in the death of a "godfather," assists his sister with a mystery in her new house, solves a death in the boxing ring, deals with a vampire attack, investigates a sports death, bemoans an awful TV show set in the hospital for its lack of medical accuracy, and locates a missing mother and her quadruplets.

Season Three:

Season three's 18 episodes, with a new title sequence, originally aired between December 1995 and May 1996. Dr. Jack Stewart has moved away and Sloan's new resident, Dr. Jesse Travis, takes his place on the crime solving team. Sloan also now resides in a beach house instead of his pre-established home from seasons one and two. The season opens with a suicide and ends with an odd love quadrangle: the victim had three wives. Along the way, Sloan helps a child in need, solves a mystery on his own beach, convinces a jury they have the wrong killer in their sights, helps a convict clear his name, rescues Steve from a deadly date, helps Jesse prove a connection between a heart attack and insurance fraud, stops a homeless serial killer, helps a fellow doctor with a drinking problem, loses his job, aids a psychic, exposes writer, and becomes a TV personality.

Season Four:

Season four contains 26 episodes and originally aired between September 1996 and May 1997. This season marks the point at which numerous cameos begin to populate the series; notable this season are PI Joe Mannix, Lawyer Ben Matlock, several country music stars, and a few TV MDs. This season also introduces more Van Dykes as Barry's sons: Carey and Shane. Dick Van Dyke's daughter Stacy also appears. In this season, Sloan deals with the death of a cop, quarantines, a serial killer, murderous politics, his long-lost daughter, a colleague accused of murder, a country music awards murder, murder during surgery, and an escaped convict seeking revenge on him.

Season Five:

Season five's 25 episodes originally aired from September 1997 - May 1998. This season includes cameos by iconic actors from Adam-12, M*A*S*H, Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, and Charlie's Angels, along with other well-known actors and even some NBA players. Carey and Shane Van Dyke make another appearance in Season five as well. Sloan begins the season by solving a murder in a locked police room, deals with a hit man and a wild fire, clears Jesse from the murder of an NBA player, investigates a plane crash, helps solve an international espionage case, goes to prison for murder himself, rescues Amanda from a bomb at a Lamaze class, stops a race car murderer, takes on an HMO, and matches wits with a serial bomber bomber who hits back at Sloan's nearest and dearest in a season finale that leaves viewers on a cliffhanger.

Season Six:

Season six is comprised of 22 episodes that originally aired between September 1998 and May 1999. Cameos remain a staple throughout the season with actors from Lost in Space and Star Trek, to name a few, making an appearance. The season opens with an action-packed conclusion to the events that ended season five. Later, Mark is kidnapped by a terrorist organization, Amanda is attacked by a corpse during an autopsy, Jesse is abducted by aliens, Steve gets suspended, a serial killer kills again, a deadly virus breaks out at a conference which endangers much of the main cast, Mark and Steve become trapped in a restaurant shooting, "Dr. Danger" is murdered while filming a TV show based on Sloan's life, and Dr. Sloan must confront the touchy subject of doctor assisted suicide in the season finale.

Season Seven:

Season seven's two-dozen episodes originally aired from September 1999 - May 2000. This season continues to see Dr. Sloan assisting the LAPD with cases and stumbling into even more cases and dangerous situations on his own. Whether in a comedy club, on a cruise ship, or during a quiz show, the mysteries keep the audience's attention by moving locations and adding in some intrigue to the procedural formula. Mark helps friends and family: his sleepwalking brother, his friends' daughters, hospital employees, and Steve's colleague. A look-alike gangster causes problems for Sloan and the gang must battle wits with an international jewel thief.

Season Eight:

Season eight concludes the show's run with 22 episodes that originally aired from October 2000 - May 2001. This final season doesn't slow down or deviate from the formula. Dr. Sloan continues to solve crimes and save lives with the help of Amanda, Jesse, and Steve. The team catches a chameleon killer, looks into the deaths of some wealthy and not-so-wealthy patients, probes into a Jewish wedding fiasco, and assists a priest accused of murder. They encounter a sniper, a gambling doctor, some "flat-lining" medical students, a dead ballerina, a backtracking lawyer, and an accident prone film crew. Mark even finds himself in a Rear Window homage in one of the final episodes when he breaks his leg. The show ends without much fanfare but was continued in two made-for-TV movies.

TV Movies

Note that all five TV movies are included in the box for season eight even though the first three take place prior to season one.

Diagnosis of Murder (original air date January 5, 1992):

Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) is introduced as the fun-loving Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General. When one of his friends and patients is accused of murder, he, along with residents Jack Parker (Stephen Caffrey) and Amanda Bentley (Cynthia Gibb), begin their own investigation to determine the real killer's identity despite Detective Steve Sloan's (Barry Van Dyke) insistence that the police have the right killer. This movie reintroduces the character of Mark Sloan who was first seen in an episode of Jake and the Fatman (included in this set; see special features and extras), though he has undergone some changes. The movies serves as, essentially, a pilot for the TV series by introducing the characters and their crime-solving acumen.

The House on Sycamore Street (original air date May 1, 1992):

Dr. Sloan investigates the apparent suicide of an ex-student when he suspects foul play. Amanda and Jack assist in the investigation while Steve feels that there is nothing to investigate until they uncover some interesting clues.

A Twist of the Knife (orginal air date February 12, 1993):

Dr. Sloan investigates the death of a politician in his hospital after one of Sloan's college love interests, Dr. Rachel Walters (Suzanne Pleshette), performs surgery on the man. What he discovers leads him to fear the man was murdered by a staph infection and he must set his personal feelings aside to determine if Walters was involved.

A Town Without Pity (original air date February 6, 2002):

When Carol Sloan (Stacy Van Dyke) misses Steve’s birthday party, Mark suspects foul play. No one else is worried; Carol is often flaky. When Mark travels to Carol's last known location to investigate, he finds things are not as they seem in the town of Los Rios.

Without Warning (orginal air date April 26, 2002):

When Mark and Steve discover that a pharmaceutical grade virus is spreading through a migrant camp, they must investigate more than the murder that led them there, all while trying to stop the outbreak before more people die. While this movie ends the series, it does not offer a traditional "send-off" for the characters. It instead ends as most any of the seasons or movies, leaving the audience to believe that the fictional story continues on, if only in the imagination.

Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The following text appears ahead to the main menu screen: Due to the age of these original programs and the high quality resolution Blu-ray provides, you may or may not notice technical anomalies on this Blu-ray presentation that we are unable to correct. If by "anomalies" they mean "the first two seasons look like standard definition," then, yup, they're noticed.

From the moment a man walks into a confessional in the opening episode's beginning seconds, the sad state of the 1080i transfer...which is clearly an upscale of a standard definition source...is apparent. Macroblcking abounds throughout the background, as does banding, though a little less frequently. Jagged edges are visible and ringing is apparent. False colors are visible on the opening title card and elsewhere throughout, such as along the edges of clothes, stethoscopes, and name tags. Definition is poor. Details are crude, intimate features are absent, and even close-up shots are only revealing of the most essential core features, like the deepest wrinkles or most highly pronounced hairs. And that's just faces. Clothes are flat and environmental textures disappoint. Colors lack punch and nuance. The Jake and the Fat Man episode offers no improvements of note.

The image tightens up a bit as season three begins and the series' 1080i presentation at least takes on the look of HD, albeit very crude and basic HD. Most every issue remains but with less significance. False colors are perhaps the most noticeably lessened, or gone altogether. By season four, details improve -- faces and clothes appear sharper with more readily apparent textural finesse -- though grain occasionally appears frozen in place and is prone to move in blobs with character movements or camera pans. Colors take a nice upward boost at this point, too, with improved variation, saturation, and vitality. The Mannix episode isn't far removed in terms of quality from the rest of what's on season four, either. The occasional pop, speckle, and hair appear here and there. There are some interspersed video-sourced shots; a raging fire at the 10:10 mark of "Malibu Fire" in season five is a perfect example. The remainder of the seasons don't deviate with any significance.

The five made-for-TV movies follow suit. The first three, which released prior to season one, are absolutely reflective of the low-grade standard definition video quality of the first two seasons, while the fourth and fifth TV movies are more stable, much like the later-season Blu-ray presentations.

Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

With eight seasons, 178 episodes, five movies, 27 discs, and the era in which the show was made and originally aired, it's no surprise that this complete series boxed set of Diagnosis Murder features a bare-minimum Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. And the audio review is much simpler than the video review. This is crude, essential sound delivery only. It does do well to stretch, though not completely maximize, the front side for music and effects; basic width is never a problem. Clarity is adequate. Musical definition satisfies baseline requirements and various environmental sound effects, both in the hospital and outside of it, present with enough clarity to please though the lack of immersion is an understandable downside to the two-channel configuration. Dialogue images properly to the middle and clarity and prioritization thereof are both just fine.

Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

First, a word on the packaging. The Blu-ray cases inside the fairly flimsy slip box are of varying sizes; since seasons four, five, and eight house four discs rather than three, and it was apparently necessary to practically double the case's size to accommodate one extra disc. Nevertheless, this is a meaty set to be sure; clear off a fair bit of width on the bookshelf for it.

It's great that VEI included the made for TV prequel and sequel movies in this set. The five movies make this a truly complete set and allows collectors to own the entire series in the same format; ditching the movies would have been a disservice to fans, and the only real drawback is that the prequel movies are tucked away with season eight rather than featured up-front with season one, so those unaware might miss them out of the gate.

As for the actual on-disc supplements, there are precious few and precious few clues as to where one can actually find what's listed on the packaging. Only the Jake and the Fatman episode is listed as an extra on disc three from season one. The other two are found by simply seeking them out throughout the entire series set or are seemingly not there at all.

• Bonus Episode of Jake and the Fatman: "It Never Entered My Mind" (Season One, Disc Three) (46:43): The episode of Jake and the Fatman that first introduced the character of Mark Sloan and serves a pilot, of sorts, to Diagnosis Murder.
• Bonus Episode of Mannix: "Little Girl Lost" (Season 4 Disc 3) (49:40): This is the second part of a two-part episode that begins in "Hard-Boiled Murder." Note that this episode is not denoted as a bonus on the disc but it is instead listed as a regular episode of Diagnosis Murder. However, the slip box that houses all of the cases lists it as a special feature.
• Bonus Clip from "Obsession (2)" (Season 5, Disc 4): Dr. Sloan meets Rob Petrie from "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Note that this is listed on the slip box as a special feature but there appears to be no evidence of it on the disc or in the episode; this is the clip as it appears on YouTube but does not seem to appear anywhere in the episode as it is on the Blu-ray. It should be seen around the 35-minute mark.

Diagnosis Murder: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Diagnosis Murder premiered more than a quarter of a century ago. Time really does fly! The show remains a genre staple, a fun escape and something of a transitional show between the classic whodunits of the 80s with the slicker crime shows of recent years. The Blu-ray presentation could theoretically be better but was probably never going to be much better than this, anyway, given a number of factors, not the least of which is cost, not to mention source limitations and the relatively small audience likely to purchase the set at any reasonable price and with any quality. Video is a mixed bag ranging from horrendous to passable. Essentially, the show begins dismally and gradually transitions to passable by season three and particularly four and more or less levels off there. Even at the show's best, it's not great. It can be relatively flat, various problems creep in even beyond the first two seasons (which are easily the most disappointing), but season four and forward are largely tolerable. Audio is acceptable and the extras, which include a pair of bonus episodes and a scene that may or may not be hiding somewhere, are a little skimpy, but the inclusion of the five TV movies is a necessary treat. Fans should find this a worthwhile buy; it's a lot of content even if the quality isn't quite there.