Pop Culture Roundup for June 13-22: Mystery and Spy TV Edition

by Karen A. Romanko

Last week I started a public Facebook group called Mystery TV--British and American Series. We discuss British and American mystery, detective, spy, and crime TV series, as well as Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian shows in those genres. As that was my social media focus for the week, today’s pop-culture roundup deals exclusively with mystery and spy TV. We’ve acquired 350 members very quickly, so please join us if you feel this group might be your cup of tea.

June 13: If you like your mysteries fun and stylish, I highly recommend Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a spinoff from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, both Australian series. So much retro 60s cool, plus a spunky female detective, and even an “adventuresses” club. So MODern! I’ve watched season one on DVD, and it’s also available on Amazon Prime. Season two has just started streaming on premium services, like Acorn. (I’ll wait for the DVD.) Love this show! And I got hubby hooked too!

June 14: I like to offer these little “eye tests” from time to time. Name these actors/characters from classic British and American mystery/crime/spy series! Sometimes they are harder than I think, so I tried to go easy this time. We’ll see how it goes! Answers revealed tomorrow (i.e. in the next entry below).

June 15: Here are the answers to yesterday’s “eye test” and the photos I used for cropping. Farrah Fawcett of Charlie’s Angels, Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, Bruce Boxleitner from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, David Suchet as Poirot, and Angie Harmon from Rizzoli & Isles. The most frequently identified eyes belonged to Farrah Fawcett, and the least frequently to Angie Harmon. Thanks for playing!

June 16: A couple of folks have mentioned a short-lived series from the 70s, The Snoop Sisters (1972-1974, 5 episodes, USA), which starred Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick. While writing my book Television’s Female Spies and Crimefighters (McFarland, 2016), I came across this photo from the series and just had to include it in the book. What a juxtaposition! Reserved, but determined amateur sleuth Ernesta Snoop on the left, tries to pry info from a satanic rockstar, portrayed by Alice Cooper on the right. Priceless! The episode is “The Devil Made Me Do It,” my favorite of the series. YouTube appears to have some of the complete episodes, but I didn’t see this one.

June 18: TV’s amateur sleuths are an unlikely sort. They often live in small towns, but manage to stumble upon murders every week. (I’m looking at you, Jessica Fletcher.) The most unlikely of this unlikely bunch is the holy man or woman who solves crimes on the side, although it seems more like a full-time job. Examples are, clockwise from top left, Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson in Father Dowling Mysteries, Mark Williams as Father Brown, Bruce Solomon and Art Carney in Lanigan's Rabbi, and James Norton in Grantchester. Who are your favorites?

June 22: Alternate universe Spock and Kirk play on different sides of the espionage game in “The Project Strigas Affair,” a 1964 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Left to right, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Robert Vaughn.

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