DVD Review: Father Dowling Mysteries (The First Season)

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Fred Silverman was the network TV programmer that craved the youthful demographic in the ratings. He led the purge of the rural oriented shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry RFD and Hee Haw at CBS in order to bring in Mary Tyler Moore. He promoted jiggle TV at ABC with Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company and The Love Boat. Finally he crashed and burned at NBC with Supertrain. After spending the ‘70s promoting the importance of youthful viewers, Silverman had a major change of heart with his production company in the mid-’80s. He targeted the elderly viewers that he once disdained. He gave them Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Diagnosis Murder, In the Heat of the Night and a revived Perry Mason. The Silverman show formula took a mature established TV star, paired him with a younger assistant and let them solve crimes. Tom Bosley was a perfect candidate for a Silverman produced mystery since he’d been playing Sheriff Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. The blue hairs were ready to see him be a leading man. After a decade of playing the dad on Happy Days, he was ready to become a father in a religious sense. The Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season allowed Bosley to use his natural probing charm while he poked around crime scenes with a nun (Tracy Nelson).

“Fatal Confession” is the pilot movie that introduced the sleuthing minister. He’s got a keen eye for crime. The opening has him tipping off a bank guard to a quiet robbery in progress. How could he spot a suspect so fast? He’s a fanatical reader of true crime books. His love of true crime gets put to the test when a parishioner commits suicide while tracking down his biological parents. It’s up to Dowling and Sister Steve (Nelson) to track down the man’s real parents. One of them might be Leslie Nielsen (Police Squad!) which might be just too much for anyone to handle. Also on the cast is Mary Wickes as the housekeeper. She’d become a nun superstar in the Sister Act movies. Robert Prescott, Peter Scolari (Bosom Buddies) and Stella Stevens (The Silencers). Father Dowling fits fine in the entertainment empire spearheaded by Ben Matlock.

Thanks to a writer’s strike that delayed the ’88 TV season, Father Dowling Mysteries didn’t get properly started as a series until a year after the pilot film aired. Would America still remember the Chicago Cubs loving priest? “The Missing Body Mystery” is a double length episode set to make the evil doers confess their sins. Father Dowling hears a confession from a dying man. But after Dowling calls 911, the body vanishes from the confessional. It’s up to Dowling to track down the alleged killer to find out what happened to the victim. “What Do You Call a Call Girl Mystery” makes Father Dowling help a man uncover the murder of his fiancé that was a hooker on the side. Was one of her rich and powerful clients also a killer? “The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery” features the surprise of Harriet Nelson. She’s Sister Sam’s grandmother. Even better is John Slattery (Mad Men is amongst the guests.

“The Mafia Priest Mystery” is a two-parter that wants to make you an offer you can’t refuse. A young priest gets fingered for a murder. Dowling thinks the kid is innocent and is being set up as the patsy by one of his family members. Who would do such a wicked thing? The story gets more twisted when the real killer turns up dead. “The Face in the Mirror Mystery” scores bonus points for having Tom Bosley play his evil half-brother. Who knew he could be so wicked? “The Pretty Baby Mystery” sticks the Father and Sister with an abandoned child. Who could have left the child at their doorstep? Turns out to be someone being chased by evil folks.

Father Dowling‘s a good twist on the Silverman’s stable of aging sleuths. Bosley pulls off a credible Catholic priest that would get himself tangled in trouble. He’s got a good helper in Sister Steve. This show really appeals to people who want to see zero sexual impulses in their TV stars. This is fine for people who don’t clean entertainment with a touch of murder. Father Dowling wasn’t going to steal the ladies from Magnum, but he could save them from Miami Vice.

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The show is another ‘80s series that shot on 35mm, but did all the post production in video. There’s a bit of fuzzy instead of details in the image. But this helps you think Tom Bosley is more ruggedly handsome while wearing his priest collar. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. It’s an OK sound mix for TV. You can hear the prayers of the guilty through the subwoofer. The episodes are subtitled in English.

Original Episodic Promos (0:30) are provided for each episode in case you can’t remember if you saw them before.

Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season introduces Tom Bosley as a sleuthing priest who juggles saving souls with exposing the guilty. The series plays best to the folks that dig the tone of Matlock. While the pacing isn’t overwhelming, there’s enough twists in the case to keep an audience guessing.

CBS DVD presents Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season. Starring: Tom Bosley, Tracy Nelson and Mary Wickes. Boxset Contents: 8 episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: February 7, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.