Matters of Life and Death (20 Jan. 1978)

Quincy's hot temper and tenseness leads him to be sent to a small town, to get away from the stress of the city, working in the capacity of the town doctor. On his first night in town, he ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Krasny

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (creator), Lou Shaw (creator),

Stars:

Jack Klugman, Garry Walberg, John S. Ragin

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Klugman	...	Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
Garry Walberg	...	Lt. Frank Monahan
John S. Ragin	...	Dr. Robert Asten
Val Bisoglio	...	Danny Tovo
Robert Ito	...	Sam Fujiyama
Joseph Roman	...	Sgt. Brill
Louise Latham	...	Nurse Katherine Lowry
Henry Beckman	...	Chief of Police Hartman
John Fiedler	...	Mortician Howard Clausen
Jim Antonio	...	Dr. George Bristol (as James Antonio)
Natalie Trundy	...	Mrs. Myra Hammond
Walter Brooke	...	Dr. Max Gilliam
Hoke Howell	...	Bud Cowley
Argentina Brunetti	...	Mrs. Maggiore
Sarah Rush	...	Trish Granby

Storyline

Quincy's hot temper and tenseness leads him to be sent to a small town, to get away from the stress of the city, working in the capacity of the town doctor. On his first night in town, he stumbles across what appears to be a fatal drunk driving accident. What he discovers is sloppy autopsy work and lackadaisical procedures from the town's police chief, doctor, and mortician, leading him to reopen the case so that the victim's widow will receive life insurance benefits.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 1978 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

While the setup is utterly ridiculous, it is an interesting episode.

Already by season three, the writers for "Quincy" were obviously having difficulty coming up with ideas--otherwise, an episode like "Matters of Life and Death" never would have been made. Just think about it--the premise makes no sense at all. But, if you can look past this, it IS an interesting episode.

The setup for this show is a problem. I just didn't buy it since it made no sense. Apparently Quincy has been crankier than usual (wow!!!) and was ordered to take some time off--so he gets a job covering for a rural doctor during this doctor's vacation. Okay, this doesn't make sense--and seeing Quincy playing a country doctor AND crazed pathologist really was stretching it. However, the stories were interesting and it played a lot like an episode of "Marcus Welby, MD"...if he was also a coroner! An interesting but silly change of pace.