Quincy M.E. (TV Series) Has Anybody Here Seen Quincy? (1977) User Reviews

No Quincy!? - Not a problem

[tatterwip · 8/10 · 21 July 2006]

An early episode of Quincy M.E. without the title character appearing at all. But don't let this get you Klugman fans down, because the episode has plenty of interest to keep the viewer watching.

This episode brings in the character of Dr. Hiro; a fellow Doctor connected with the L.A. coroner's office. It plays like a day-in-the-life, following Dr Hiro as he helps out the Lieutenant in a Diamond smuggling operation while coming to the aid of a child with an unknown case of poisoning. At the same time Sam, Dr. Asten and Danny are organising a Birthday party for Hiro. And with the occasional phone call from the unseen Quincy (who we discover has car trouble), the episode ties up nicely at the end.

A classic episode all-told. Although Klugman doesn't appear (he may have needed holiday time due to the filming?) its refreshing to see the other characters getting some well-deserved screen time.

Interesting episode, even with no Quincy!

[mmss4 · 6/10 · 20 October 2009]

The title, 'Has Anybody Here Seen Quincy?' led me to believe that Quincy has been kidnapped or waylaid by bad guys. It turns out that Quincy, Jack Klugman, doesn't ever appear in this episode. But, all the regulars are here, Sam, Dr. Asten, Lt. Monahan, et al. I did miss seeing the late, great Eddie Garrett, Quincy's cameraman at death scenes. Even though Eddie had few lines, I enjoyed his appearances on the series, he added to the camaraderie of Quincy's co-workers/friends. I think that is all Jack Klugman and his loyalty to his friends. Back to the episode, it was great to see Bob Crane in one of his last TV roles. I had the idea that this show was a pilot, even though it was early in the run of 'Quincy', and, that maybe Jack Klugman couldn't continue with the show for some reason. It really played like a pilot. Of course, there couldn't be two shows with plots about L.A. County coroners. Is anyone going to mention that the character of 'Dr. Hiro' has to be a thinly veiled Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who was the 'coroner to the stars', and, all the citizens of L.A. County at the time of this episode.

I liked this episode, it had humor and the great chemistry of all the 'Quincy' cast, even without Quincy himself.

Not bad at all, even without Klugman

[garth8769 · 7/10 · 19 November 2014]

As an 18 year old back in 1977 I was a fan of the show and had read that Klugman refused to do the episode, and a guest actor was called in. The series aired on Friday nights and (for once) I had something to do that night (no DVRs yet and VCRs were about $1500). The next day I recall asking my mother how it was, and she said it was one of the best she had seen and was just fine without Klugman. I caught the episode when it was rerun and found it well done and entertaining. Maybe Jack felt threatened when they did it without him, as he never did another boycott after that. And if I recall some of the later shows were of a lesser quality than this one was.

My Favorite

[TtheK2 · 10/10 · 22 January 2022]

This is my favorite Quincy episode. Don't agree with negative reviews. Wish this had become a series of its own.

I like Dr. Hiro better than Dr. Quincy. Hiro reminds me of Charlie Chan!

Hiro spends most of his time doing his job at the hospital whereas Quincy is always running around town, neglecting his job. Hiro only left hospital once and that was to search a house for poisonous substances.

Actor who portrayed Dr. Hiro was very good. Did not miss Dr. Quincy although I generally like him.

Time Out for Jack K.

[Dogbyt · 10/10 · 8 September 2023]

It's 2023, Quincy M. E. has rerun a hand full of episodes so far, and Klugman has taken a walk off, not liking the script. So- the cast carry's on in the finest tradition with a complex story line. Dr. Hiro, provides some very wizened and affable moments, unfortunately never to be seen again. Not seeing JK appear at all, was unexpected. All in all an hour well spent. The above is all I have to say, but the idiot APP requires another one-hundred and forty-seven more characters to satisfy this reviews standard six-hundred words. Therefore, I shall attempt closure by adding that I shall tune in Quincy M. E. again today because I've always liked the show.

A Quincy-less episode!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 5 March 2013]

This is a weird one. Despite the show being "Quincy", he does not appear in the show at all! This is because Jack Klugman (Quincy) apparently thought the episode sucked and refused to act in it! So, they brought in a Dr. Hiro (Yuki Shimoda) to fill in for Quincy---and they have trouble explaining why he is absent. It's also an unusual episode because it is not made up of one case but several little ones! The first is a case where the morgue received a corpse--only to discover that the dead woman is indeed alive! Another involves a corpse that arrives from Italy in a coffin and it might contain more than just a body. The final story is about a child who is very sick and Dr. Hiro gets involved. In this last case, Bob Crane plays one of the doctors.

So is this bizarro episode any good? Well, it is entertaining. However, it also comes off more like a pilot episode of a different series than an episode of "Quincy". Different because Dr. Hiro really is more of a doctor than a pathologist--a nice do-gooder instead of a man who fights for truth (like Quincy). In other words, this doctor is more like a friendly social worker than a coroner. Now this isn't bad to watch, exactly, but is ISN'T "Quincy"....it's more like "Marcus Welby, MD". I will admit it still wasn't particularly good compared to most of the shows and is, so far in the series, the weakest show.

By the way, the character of Dr. Hiro is based on Dr. Noguchi--the LA coroner who was the inspiration for the character of Quincy in the first place!

Klugman was right to boycott this one!

[m2mallory · 2/10 · 8 May 2013]

Jack Klugman, who had any number of run-ins with producers and writers during the run of "Quincy, M.E.," reportedly refused to appear in this episode because he hated the script. And seeing this cobbled-together mish-mash, who can blame him? His part in the show is instead covered by Dr. Hiro, a take-off on real life L.A. Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi. As played by Yuki Shimoda, though, he is Charlie Chan. He speaks in the same halting English as Sidney Toler, he dispenses aphorisms to one and all, and he even has a jivey, jokey black chauffeur! (It's just too bad Mantan Moreland was already dead by then; he at least would have injected some energy into it.) Dr. Hiro spends half the episode correcting people on the pronunciation of his name, and the other half mispronouncing it along with them. At times the show breaks into broad comedy for no reason (a medical examiner races through the crowded halls of the coroner's office yahooing like a cowboy when a "corpse" is discovered to be alive), and at other times it falls into unintentional comedy, mostly due to a totally inept performance by guest star Bob Crane. Crane plays a doctor who is trying to discover why a toddler is dying in front of him, but he does so with all the concern and urgency of a blade of grass. And that's just one subplot. There's also a body coming in from overseas containing hidden smuggled diamonds, which is to be delivered to a group of thugs who look like they came from a Three Stooge comedy; there's an actress who attempts suicide because she has no friends, even though a dozen or so show up at the hospital; and there's a surprise birthday party for Dr. Hiro, in which his staff and friends (well, actually Quincy's staff and friends) give him a Chinese dragon, even though he's Japanese. Oh, and could the constant lingering shots of the dying baby's parents lighting up cigarettes and leaving the butts everywhere, and a half-dozen closeups of "No Smoking" signs, possibly be clues to the kid's affliction? As over-the-top as Klugman could be in this show, and frequently was, this episode makes it painfully apparent that he was indeed the glue that held the whole thing together, and without him, you have a mess.

Has Anybody Here Seen Quincy?

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 15 April 2021]

A Quincy free episode because Jack Klugman was unhappy with the script.

I can't really blame him as this was a bit of a mish mash with some broad comedy that verges on silliness.

While Quincy is stuck somewhere with car trouble.

A character we have never met, Dr Hiro steps into the limelight. It seems he is even above Dr Asten in the pay grade.

Sam is preparing to throw Dr Hiro a surprise birthday party at the evening.

However Dr Hiro in a space of a few hours has discovered that a corpse is not quiet dead and rushes her into hospital. While there he is asked to look over a small child who seems to have ingested something that might kill him. It turns out to be nicotine from his dad's cigarettes.

Dr Hiro even helps out Lt Monahan over a diamond smuggling ring that is using corpses in a coffin sent from abroad.

After all that Dr Hiro will never be seen again.

Maybe this was meant to be a backdoor pilot. The cigarette storyline suggests the social issues approach in future years.

Stupid episode

[rayoflite24 · 3/10 · 8 August 2015]

Has Anybody Here Seen Quincy? begins with Sam (Robert Ito) and Danny (Val Bisoglio) transporting supplies in the coroner station wagon back to the lab for a surprise birthday party planned for Dr. Hiro, another LA County medical examiner. Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg) stops by the lab to discuss with Dr. Hiro the autopsy of a dead body that was delivered from overseas which the police believe contains smuggled diamonds. Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) speaks on the phone with Quincy who has not made it in to the lab due to car trouble. Later, an emergency situation arises when the lab team discovers that the body just transferred from the hospital is actually that of a woman still alive and they work to stabilize and return her to the hospital. While at the hospital, Dr. Hiro becomes involved in another case where a young child is suffering from symptoms of poisoning but they cannot identify the source.

The first time I watched this episode I was wondering what the deal was with Quincy (Jack Klugman) being absent from this one. Since this was only the 11th episode of the series, it seemed a little early for him to be taking a vacation break. Turns out Jack Klugman had it out with producers over this script, and the resolution was writing him out of the episode entirely while bringing in this new Dr. Hiro character as a substitute. Whatever changes Klugman was requesting, they should have listened to him and made them because the mess that was strewn together as a remedy makes for a very poor episode.

There are a bunch of unknown characters featured in this episode which the Quincy audience has never seen before and will never see again, including Dr. Hiro, yet somehow there is this big party planned by Quincy's friends for the substitute doctor?? It would have worked had the Quincy character been kept in the script, but without him that whole storyline makes no sense. The show also goes way off track when Dr. Hiro goes to the hospital and starts getting involved with living patients trying to diagnose and treat them and even interacting with their family and friends. These scenes would have fit in perfectly on the The Bold Ones: The New Doctors series starring David Hartman, but this is not a show about a hospital, it's supposed to be Quincy!

I have to say that I'm a little surprised that Klugman was able to refuse doing this episode if he was under contract, but if he annoyed the producers enough maybe they welcomed the break. If I had the option, there are some episodes later in the series I would have boycotted doing over this one.

When is an episode of Quincy not an episode of Quincy?

[poolandrews · 1/10 · 7 March 2008]

Quincy M.E.: Has Anbody Here Seen Quincy? sees Los Angeles coroner & chief medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) having car trouble, he just can't make it into work. Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) exasperated, he then gets a visit from the chief coroner Dr. Hiro (Yuki Shimoda) who Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg) has personally asked to perform an autopsy on a body flown in from Italy which he suspects is being used to smuggle millions of dollars of diamonds into the country. As Dr. Hiro runs around trying to sort various problems out things get more & more complicated...

Episode 7 from season 2 this Quincy story was directed by Steven Hilliard Stern & I really hated it, in fact it's one of only two Quincy episodes I would never watch again. First lets take a look at the title which is in the form of a question, Has Anbody Here Seen Quiny? Well actually yes, in fact I would go as far as to say that I have seen every episode of Quincy that was ever made more than once so the answer to the question is a definite yes. When I sit down to watch an episode of Quincy I expect at the very least to see Quincy involved in some capacity & usually he always is, however the one exception to that rule is Has Anybody Seen Quincy? since Quincy doesn't appear in the episode at all & as such this episode has the distinction of being the only one in the entire eight seasons not to feature Jack Klugman as Quincy except during the opening titles. So there's no Quincy, right. Instead we get a annoying little Japanese coroner who speaks very slowly often in silly little proverbs & phrases with an irritating accent. Not pleasant. This guy isn't even second rate Quincy, he's more like twentieth rate Quincy. When I want to watch an episode of Quincy I expect him to be in it, if I didn't want to watch an episode of Quincy I would just turn the telly over/the DVD off so the fact the production team give us a Quincy free episode is neither here nor there. Dr. Hiro is awful, Quincy is fantastic. Dr. Hiro in an episode equals crap, Quincy in an episode equals entertaining.

Here Dr. Hiro gets caught up in several bitty little sub plots none of which are particularly interesting, a young boy is poisoned by cigarette butts (how, you can't get poisoning from sucking on a cigarette butt otherwise everyone who has ever smoked a cigarette would be dead), a woman who was brought into the morgue but wasn't dead is never explained (I mean how did the Hospital pronounce her dead in the first place?) & capturing some diamond thieves for the LAPD even though he doesn't actually do anything & the thieves come to him. I am not happy about Quincy's situation either, I mean Los Angeles as a city isn't that big you know & besides hasn't he ever heard of the bus? Or the train? Then again he does have two legs that he can walk on doesn't he? He didn't have to miss the whole day, he could found his way into work & put in a few hours, right? Most of the regulars have a fair amount of screen time but none more so than usual, the guy who plays Dr. Hiro is awful & his jive talking chauffeur is irritating.

Has Anbody Seen Quincy? is right down there with the very work Quincy episodes ever made, it's awful & doesn't feature Quincy which for me is an absolute minimum requirement for a Quincy episode. This Japanese Hiro guy doesn't even make a decent replacement, to me this isn't an episode of Quincy.