“Somewhere a Roscoe” October 15, 1938, The New Yorker By S.J. Perelman The humourist’s affectionate tribute to pulp writer Robert Leslie Bellem and his greatest creation, Hollywood orb, Dan Turner.
“The White Rabbit Caper” November 19, 1941, The New Yorker By James Thurber A parody of the tough guy P.I. in which all the characters are animals. It’s a wandering rabbit job, with hard-boiled Fred Fox called in by old Mrs. Rabbit to find Daphne, one of her descendants.
“Farewell My Lovely Appetizer” December 16, 1944, The New Yorker By S.J. Perelman One of the all-time great spoofs of the entire private eye genre, zeroing in on the excesses of everyone from Sam Spade to Dan Turner, and particularly Marlowe and his band of world-weary descendants. Mike Noonan is the shamus who leads the charge…
“Kiss Me, Dudley” January 1955, Manhunt By Hunt Collins Private orb Dudley Sledge is an absolutely spot-on parody of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer by Collins (actually Ed McBain).
“Green Gravy for the Blush” March 1971, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine By Jon Breen A Travis McGee parody.
“The Big Recall” February 1972, National Lampoon By Henry Beard Ralph Nader. Consumer advocate, political activist, presidential candidate and… hard-boiled private eye. Fasten your seat belt.
Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye Possibly the longest-running (intentional) parody of the genre, and a regular feature on NPR’s A Praire Home Companion, which ran, as Guy himself might say, since “Jesus was in the third grade.” PHC head honcho Garrison Keillor wrote and starred as Guy Noir.
NPR’s “The Fury at Colonus” 2010 By Alexander Jablokov The classic Greek tragedies, collectively known as The Oresteia, retold as a hard-boiled police procedural, told from the point of view of a Fury. As the author says, “Either you really want to read it… or you really don’t.” If you like this site, you will…
Mater, Private Eye 2010, Pixar/Disney This animated short, a spin-off of the hit film Cars, with its entire cast played by automobiles, is a certified hoot—one of the goofiest, snappiest and funniest riffs on the Shamus Game in years. It’s hero? A gap-toothed, dilapidated tow truck who recalls his time as a private eye.
“Donald Trump, Private Eye” October 18, 2016, The New Yorker By River Clegg Not just a spoof of the genre, but also a delicious snap-shot of soon-to-be POTUS #45 (and #47), caught just as the pre-election Access Hollywood incident hit the fan. Or it’s fake news. Take your pick.
Forks Out 2025, Netflix This quickie, all-Muppet spoof from the Sesame Street gang gently lampoons the Knives Out movie franchise and Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Benoit Blanc (he’s called Beignet Blanc here), while offering a fair play mystery (“Who stole Cookie Monster’s pie?”), and a plot twist Agatha Christie might approve of. Not bad for something just a little over five minutes long.
