Diagnosis: Murder
| Diagnosis: Murder | |
|---|---|
 The cast, circa 1994: Victoria Rowell, Michael Tucci, Barry Van Dyke, Scott Baio, and Delores Hall, with Dick Van Dyke in the center | |
| Created by | Joyce Burditt |
| Starring | Dick Van Dyke Barry Van Dyke Victoria Rowell Scott Baio Charlie Schlatter Michael Tucci |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 178 + 5 TV Movies |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 min (aprox) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | October 29, 1993 – May 11, 2001 |
Diagnosis: Murder was a mystery television series with 45 minute long episodes that ran from 1993 to 2001.
It was an spin-off of Jake and the Fatman. Dr. Mark Sloan made his first appearance in Jake and the Fatman's episode 4.19 "It Never Entered My Mind". Afterwards, three TV movies aired in 1992 and 1993 prior to the start of the series.
The regular series debuted in October 29, 1993 and became a hot hit, airing in many countries around the world. 178 episodes were made and aired in the show's eight seasons on the CBS network in the United States. Two more TV movies aired after the series' cancellation.
They all starred Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a physician who occasionally worked for the local police department as a consultant. Van Dyke's real-life son Barry Van Dyke played Detective Steve Sloan, Dr. Sloan's son.
TV Movies
Made prior to the series start:
- Diagnosis of Murder (January 5, 1992)
- The House on Sycamore Street (May 1, 1992)
- A Twist of the Knife (February 13, 1993)
Made after the end of the regular series:
- Town Without Pity (February 6, 2002)
- Without Warning (April 26, 2002)
Cast
- Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke), Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital who occasionally worked for the local police department as a consultant. Son of a cop and father of another, in whose cases he often got involved.
- Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke), a Lieutenant in the Robbery/Homicide Division of the LAPD and Dr. Sloan's son. After the earthquake destroyed his apartment, he lived in a separate apartment in his father's beach house.
- Dr. Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell), resident Pathologist at Community General Hospital and assistant County Medical Examiner.
- Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio, 1993-1995), a doctor at Community General Hospital and Steve's best friend, whom he often helped in his cases. Left to open his own practice in Colorado.
- Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter, 1995-2001), a resident at Community General Hospital who Mark took under his wing. He often got involved in Mark and Steve's cases.
- Norman Briggs (Michael Tucci), administrator at Community General Hospital and a close friend of Mark, though often he got exasperated at him.
Novels
Since 2003, five novels had been released based in this series. All of them are written by Lee Goldberg, a former producer of the series. According to his website, he's already working on the seventh one (the sixth will be on sale in February).