"The Cosby Mysteries" (1994) TV series 1994-1995

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

21 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Guy Hanks is a criminologist who works for the New York Police Department. After winning the lottery...

Plot Keywords:

Detective

Cast

Bill Cosby	...	Guy Hanks (17 episodes, 1994-1995)
Robert Stanton	...	M.E. John Chapman (14 episodes, 1994-1995)

Runtime:

60 min | 60 min (19 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Bill Cosby

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? (#11.3)" (1999)

Better Than C.S.I !

After many successful, or accurately classic, works such as the groundbreaking "I Spy" (1965), and the long-lived "The Cosby Show" (1984), Bill Cosby at the age of 57 wanted to change over. It was a good move to do a Mystery show, portraying Guy Hanks the criminologist who works for the New York Police Department, solving crimes with the power of scientific logic and the sharp brilliance. Here, Cosby is a bit serious, walking sullen, looking sedate with dark suits, dark briefcase and a long coat on his arm.

However, the atmosphere wasn't that thrilling, the directing handled the job so moderately without being attractively elegant or even harshly realistic, and it bothered me the most to see such a forced laughing scene at the end of every episode as totally out of the mood and unnecessary reminder that we're watching "Mr. Bill Cosby Ladies and Gentlemen"… That was silly !

Though, the supporting cast was fantastic and funny enough. I recall the young (Mos Def), and the beautifully crazy (Rita Moreno) who nearly has been cursed by the Oscar after winning it for her performance in West Side Story back in 1961 !. This truly talented woman was a dazzling reason to set and watch the show, I was craving to her moments as a noisy yet kind gleeful Spanish woman (watch how she expresses herself sometimes in singing!).

It was about time to watch the criminologist, the coroner, or rather the forensic doctor as the lead of the TV shows, especially after the mass success of The X Files one year ago with a character of a medical doctor who works as FBI investigator. Sorrowfully, in no time this kind of shows will swell, become wild, and eat up all the other shows with the ruthless onslaught of CSI (2000), Law & Order Criminal Intent (2001), Crossing Jordan (2001), CSI Miami (2002), NCIS (2003), CSI NY (2004), Medical Investigation (2004), Bones (2005), and Dexter (2006) - may god burn them all in hell – being the 2000s marked fashion to a frightful extent left nearly nothing different to be watched !

Still (The Cosby Mysteries) is a sort of lovely innocent memory amongst this. Away from being nasty or violent as most of them. But something was wrong. Whether that the audience didn't accept this staid persona for their comic star, or that the episodes didn't present what could exceed or stand alone, or maybe the personality of the whole series was little prevaricator since it's not a comedy, and not wholly crime as well.

It pushes me to recall when (Raymond Burr) achieved a marvelous success with 2 TV hits on a row ("Perry Mason" and "Ironside") then made "Kingston Confidential" to meet his first 13 episode series ! This time his fellow Cosby made 19 episodes of his Mysteries. To return again, right in the next year, to be the good old Bill Cosby in the new "Cosby" show, which lasted for 4 seasons, 93 episodes.

Overall, this (Mysteries) was between all right and so-so. Plus it's surely better than today's ugly shows of the same subject. Yet, while I really see it as better than C.S.I, I had to apologize to its makers since, naturally, anything is better than C.S.I !