Created by Lyal Brown
Another popular series from The Mystery Project on the CBC was Flynn, which enjoyed a 13-episode run in the mid-1990’s. In this one, MICHAEL FLYNN is a part-time private detective living on his boat in Vancouver. A middle-aged drop-out from UBC Law School, he now lives on the Blarney Boy, a weather-beaten sloop moored at the Granville Island Marina in the trendier-than-thou False Creek area, and works–when he feels like it-for his ex-boss, lawyer Sam Greene, an eccentric old coot.
All in all, though, he’d rather be sailing. It’s a simple life, and Flynn’s more than happy with things just the way they are. And then Sam’s niece, W.P. (Willie) Greene, arrives from Toronto (where else?) to complicate life for everyone.
The premise of this one started out well, but it slipped badly towards the end of its run, or at least once, in particular–their Christmas episode wound up resolving its “mystery” by making everything a big misunderstanding, having a full-cast sing-a-long (and I do mean long), and ending up so short that they had to fill the time with a clip from the next week’s episode and a lot of play-out music.
Don’t get me wrong. It was a good series. Maybe not quite up to the level of Midnight Cab, marred by a badly flawed 12th (Christmas) episode and a decent (but not outstanding) final episode, but I have listened to some of the earlier episodes again and found that, on the whole, I liked it.
RADIO
- FLYNN
(1994, CBC)
13 30-minute episodes
Written by Lyal and Barbara Brown
Produced and Directed by Don Kowalchuck
Starring Boyd Norman as Flynn
With Colleen Winton as W.P. “Willie” Greene
and Robert Clothier as Sam Greene- “Overdue Account” (October 8, 1994)”
- “Red Tiger” (October 15, 1994)
- “Whirlpool” (October 22, 1994)”
- “Ghosts” (October 29, 1994)
- “Imaginary Enemies” (November 5, 1994)
- “The Stalker” (November 12, 1994)
- “The Box” (November 19, 1994)
- “The 12 Penny Black” (November 26, 1994)
- “Framed” (December 3, 1994)
- “Hollywood North” (December 3, 1994)
- “The Fall” (December 3, 1994)
- “A Christmas Carol” (December 24, 1994)
- “Year End Clearance” (December 31, 1994)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- The CBC Mystery Project
Geoff Loker’s log of all shows broadcast from Novermber 1992 to July 6, 2002. - Eye’s the Bye
P.I.s Who Lives Afloat…
You really nail it, I love the first few episodes but it starts to slip. Still better than a lot of the newer stuff. Very nicely recorded and just the right mix of intrigue to make it nice to listen to at bedtime. All of the Mystery Project was like that. I was not much of a fan of the imported stuff from the BBC though, not that it is not good in it’s own right, but it lacks that Canadian flair. It would be cool if they revived The Mystery Project, not the same old shows, but some new stuff, but kept the same high production values that make the shoes so nice to listen to. These have been in the rotation for gees, going on over 30 years for some of them now…