Recently here in the USA, I began watching Don Matteo, a long running mystery series on MHz set in an Italian hill town near Perugia which I visited some years ago - so what's not to like? Well, I'll explain. Being of Italian-American heritage and also Roman Catholic, I can say with certainty that no priest I've ever encountered cared so deeply about his parishoners as the fictional Don Matteo, much less lift a finger to alleviate their trials and tribulations, some of which they themselves have caused! The energetic, clever Don Matteo is what is known in Italian as a ficcanasu, sticking his nose in everywhere - the well-meaning but lame-brained cop who gives Don Matteo unauthorized, unlimited access to police business really should be fired at the get-go. Although everything turns out perfectly in the end in TV land, this insipid show is almost unbearable. I cannot fathom how so many viewers have stuck with Don Matteo for 20 years. I cringe every time I see the hulking gleeful priest in his ankle-length cassock racing around the steep stony pavements of Gubbio on an old bicycle looking much like the proverbial bat out of hell, a high-speed danger to himself and others. Bastante!
Review of Don Matteo
