Quincy, M.E. | |
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Title card
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Genre | Crime Drama, Forensic Pathology Procedural |
Created by |
Glen A. Larson Lou Shaw |
Starring |
Jack Klugman Garry Walberg John S. Ragin Val Bisoglio Robert Ito Joseph Roman Eddie Garrett Marc Scott Taylor (Seasons 4-8) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 7 (1st season extended into 60 min format) |
No. of episodes | 148 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 90 to 60 minutes 60 minutes (syndication) |
Production company(s) | Glen A. Larson Productions |
Distributor |
Universal Television (original) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (current) |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Picture format | 35mm film 4:3 aspect ratio |
Original release | October 3, 1976 | – September 4, 1983
Quincy, M.E. (also called Quincy) is an American medical mystery-drama television series from Universal Studios that aired from 1976 to 1983 on NBC. It stars Jack Klugman in the title role, a Los Angeles County medical examiner.
Inspired by the book Where Death Delights by Marshall Houts, a former FBI agent, the show also resembled the earlier Canadian television series Wojeck, broadcast by CBC Television.John Vernon, who played the Wojeck title role, later guest starred in the third-season episode "Requiem for the Living". Quincy's character is loosely modeled on Los Angeles' "Coroner to the Stars" Thomas Noguchi.
Quincy was broadcast as 90-minute telefilms as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie rotation in the fall of 1976 alongside Columbo, McCloud, and McMillan (formerly McMillan & Wife). The series proved popular enough that after four episodes of Quincy, M.E. had aired during the 1976–1977 season in the extended format, Quincy was spun off into its own weekly one-hour series without a typical 60-minute pilot. Instead, a two-hour episode kicked off a 13 episode shortened run of the series which concluded the 1976-1977 season while the Mystery Movie format was discontinued in the spring of 1977.
Therefore, there understandably appears to be some confusion as to whether the series truly is based upon seven or eight distinct seasons that the series ran on network television. This mistake also appears on the first DVD season box set release which incorrectly sets up the idea of seasons one and two rather than simply season one, causing many to falsely believe the series ran for a total of eight seasons in all.