Diagnosis: Murder

Diagnosis: Murder
Title screen used in seasons 1 and 2 of Diagnosis: Murder
Also known as	Diagnosis Murder
Created by	Joyce Burditt
Starring	Dick Van Dyke Cynthia Gibb Stephen Caffrey Barry Van Dyke Victoria Rowell Scott Baio Michael Tucci Delores Hall Charlie Schlatter
Theme music composer	Richard "Dick" DeBenedictis Joel Goldsmith (Season 6)
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	178 + 5 TV movies + Pilot (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dean Hargrove Fred Silverman Dick Van Dyke Lee Goldberg Chris Abbott William Rabkin Michael Gleason Tom Chehak Gerald Sanoff Joel Steiger
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	The Fred Silverman Company Dean Hargrove Productions Viacom Productions Paramount Network Television (1994–1995) (season 2)
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises (1993–95) Paramount Domestic Television (1995–2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006–07) CBS Television Distribution (2007–present)
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	October 29, 1993 – May 11, 2001
Chronology
Preceded by	Mission: Impossible Mannix Matlock
Related shows	Jake and the Fatman Promised Land

Diagnosis: Murder is a comedy/mystery/medical crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son Steve, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman (Dr. Mark Sloan made his first appearance in episode 4.19 "It Never Entered My Mind"), became a series of three TV movies, and then a weekly television series that debuted on CBS on October 29, 1993. Joyce Burditt wrote the episode in Jake and the Fatman and is listed here as the creator of the spin off series.

The series struggled at first and was almost canceled at the end of the second season, it returned as a midseason replacement in the third season, and was regularly renewed thereafter. 178 episodes were made and aired in the show's eight seasons on the CBS network in the United States and two more TV movies aired after the series' cancellation on May 11, 2001. The show was produced by The Fred Silverman Company and Dean Hargrove Productions in association with Viacom Productions and Paramount Network Television (Season 2 only) and is currently distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

In the Jake and the Fatman episode, Dr. Mark Sloan was a widower with no sons. Dr. Amanda Bentley is played by Cynthia Gibb in the TV movies and, finally, Victoria Rowell in the TV series. Stephen Caffrey played Dr. Jack Parker in the movies, a role that went to Scott Baio as Dr. Jack Stewart in the weekly series (first two seasons).