Created by Scott Pendergast A disappointingly underwhelming TV show that—so far--smothers its own potential cleverness with a thick, warm blanket of comfy family drama that never quite pays off, at least until the seventh episode—coincidentally a Thanksgiving-themed episode. Your enjoyment of So Help Me Todd (2022, CBS/Paramount) will depend on your tolerance for having your heart … Continue reading Todd Wright (So Help Me Todd)
Tag: Detective
Mr. T (Trouble Man)
Created by John D.F. Black(1932-2018) “I come up hard baby, but now I’m cool,I didn’t make it sugar, playin’ by the rulesI come up hard baby, but now I’m fineI’m checkin’ trouble sugar, movin’ down the line.”— from Trouble Man by Marvin Gaye No, I’m not talking about that jewelery-bedecked buffoon with the mohawk from the … Continue reading Mr. T (Trouble Man)
Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
Created by Philip K. Dick Developed for the screen by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples When the topic of sci-fi/private eyes comes up for air, so does director Ridley Scott's grim and gritty 1982 film Blade Runner, and, occasionally, the 1968 Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that it was loosely (very … Continue reading Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
Night Moves: An Introduction
Sam Wiebe Introduces the 1974 Classic Slated to introduce Night Moves at the Vancouver Film Center in August 2022, Canadian crime writer Sam Wiebe, the creator of private eyes Dave Wakeland and Michael Drayton, confessed that "It’s one of my favorite PI films and neo-noirs, and a million times better than Altman’s very good The Long Goodbye, … Continue reading Night Moves: An Introduction
Jasmine Sharp
Created by Christopher Brookmyre JASMINE SHARP is a young private eye, a former actress, who co-stars in a series of books by Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre, alongside Detective Superintendent Catherine MacLeod. In a refreshing change of pace, though, Jasmine and Catherine aren't BFFs--fact is, they barely tolerate each other. Catherine consider's Jasmine "a sneaky, duplicitous … Continue reading Jasmine Sharp
Zachariah Smith
Created by L.L. (Linda) Thrasher "That's me, Arrow Investigations. I wanted to change the name to Cat's-Paw, Incorporated, but my sister said no one would get it. It's from an old fable about a cat sleeping by a fire where a monkey was roasting some chestnuts. When the nuts were done, the monkey used the … Continue reading Zachariah Smith
Nate Waymaker
Created by S.A. Cosby “I handle the bodies." It seems like only yesterday (well, 2020) that crime writer S.A. Coosby popped up, apparently out of nowhere, to set the world aflame with Blacktop Wasteland, a hard-as-nails, down-and-dirty bestseller about street racers, trailer parks and stolen diamonds, set in the dead-end boonies of Mississippi where nobody … Continue reading Nate Waymaker
Pat Thompson
Created by Robert George Dean Pseudonyms include George Griswold (1904-89) "So this is what comes of trying to drink a woman under the table. Just a sacrifice on the altar of insurance!” — Pat the morning after... Tucked away in the wrinkles and folds of the Shamus Game is this little rarity—a hard-boiled private eye … Continue reading Pat Thompson
Francis MacNab
Created by John Ferguson (1873–) Scottish author John Ferguson must have liked the name. He wrote a mystery in 1921, The Dark Geraldine, which featured a Scottish policeman by the name of FRANCIS MacNAB. And then seven years later, in The Man in the Dark (1928), he resurrected the name for another detective, but this time … Continue reading Francis MacNab
Johnny Havoc
Created by John Jakes Pseudonyms include Alan Payne, Jay Scotland, Rachel Ann Payne and William Ard Care for a little cheese? JOHNNY HAVOC's main claim to fame is that he's short. In fact, at 5'1", he's got to be one of the shortest eyes around. But he sure doesn't let it get him down--he's a … Continue reading Johnny Havoc