Diagnosis: Murder
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[edit] Cast and characters
- Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke), Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital. Son of a cop and father of another, in whose cases he often got involved. He has a great eye for detail. Dick Van Dyke was apparently considered for the lead role after the positive reviews he received from his dramatic role in the 1990 movie Dick Tracy (although the character he played in the movie was villainous and very different from the role of Mark Sloan).
- Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke), a Detective (later Lieutenant) in the Robbery/Homicide Division of the LAPD and Dr. Sloan's son. After an earthquake destroyed his apartment, he lived in a separate apartment in his father's beach house.
- Dr. Amanda Bentley, later Bentley-Livingston (Victoria Rowell), resident Pathologist at Community General Hospital and assistant County Medical Examiner. During the series, she married a military man, had a son with him and later divorced him. She later adopted another boy.
- Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio, 1993-1995, seasons 1-2), a doctor at Community General Hospital and Steve's best friend, whom he often helped in his cases. Left to open his own practice in Colorado.
- Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter, 1995-2001), a resident at Community General Hospital who Mark took under his wing. He often got involved in Mark and Steve's cases, with good intentions but not always good results.
- Norman Briggs (Michael Tucci, 1993-1997, seasons 1-4), administrator at Community General Hospital and a close friend of Mark, though often exasperated by him.
- Delores Mitchell (Delores Hall, 1993-1995, seasons 1-2), Dr. Sloan's lively secretary.
[edit] Cameos
One unique aspect of the series was that it frequently appropriated characters from various classic television series.
- Mike Connors reprised his titular character from Mannix in the season 4 episode "Hard-Boiled Murder".
- Andy Griffith reprised his titular role of Ben Matlock from Matlock in season 4 two-parter "Murder Two".
- Barbara Bain reprised her role of Cinnamon Carter from Mission: Impossible in season 5 episode "Discards".
- Robert Culp also guest starred in the episode "Discards" as Dane Travis, a retired spy/tennis pro (and Dr. Travis' father). The character was a tip-of-the-hat to his Kelly Robinson character from I Spy, though Travis was said to have worked with the Impossible Mission Force (from Mission Impossible).
- Jack Klugman also guest starred in season 4 episode "Physician, Murder Thyself", as a character very similar to his famous role in Quincy (he guest-starred again, in season 6 episode "Voices Carry" as a police Detective).
Over the run of the show, various episodes guest starred at least eight different members of the Van Dyke family:
- Dick Van Dyke and son Barry Van Dyke in the lead roles.
- Dick's brother, Jerry Van Dyke.
- One of Dick's daughters, Stacy Van Dyke.
- Barry's children: Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, Wes Van Dyke, and Taryn Van Dyke.
[edit] Plot
The plot centered around Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke), a renowned physician who occasionally worked for the local police department as a consultant, and who could not resist a good mystery or a friend in need. Those cases often involved his son, Detective Steve Sloan (played by Van Dyke's real-life son Barry Van Dyke). Helping him were his colleagues, pathologist Dr. Amanda Bentley (Victoria Rowell) and Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio), who later left and was replaced by a new resident, Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter).
[edit] Setting
[edit] Episode List
[edit] Reviews
[edit] Notes
[edit] External Links
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