Simon Jones (bowles64) In our house we used to play a game called Father Dowling Bingo, where we watched each episode holding bingo cards containing a selection of elements we just knew would appear on the show, such as a criminal behaving incompetently, Sister Stephanie taking on a street-wise individual in a bet and winning, Father Dowling telling a lie to gain entrance to some room etc. Usually somebody had shouted "Bingo" before the episode was half-way through, especially as the series wore on.Long before series three had started we regarded Father Dowling Investigates as a joke, only worth watching because it was in the "So Bad it's Almost Good" category. My advice for anyone coming to it anew is don't waste your time.

owen_twistfield Summary The Father Dawling series, while more realistic than Murder, She Wrote it is still an unbelievable series in which a catholic priest with the assistance of a Nun solves murder cases. Yet it is less aggravating to watch as compared to that Jessica Fletcher thing.I remember this series from my youth. I watched it for a few episodes at intervals. Nowaday reruns of are sometimes shown in the early afternoon. It is the fate of that type of series.I somehow associated the father with that "Fletcher-woman" from Murder, She wrote. Like Jessica Fletcher feels like a translation of Miss Marple, so Father Dowling looks much like an American implementation of Father Brown. Like Jessica Fletcher the good brother is there to solve the Murder and leaves us to sleep at peace.Yet while saying this there are some differences with Murder, She Wrote. First and foremost the Dowling series seems to posses more realism and more grey shades. The world is less popcile and apple-pie. Less preposterous. While Jessica Fletcher seems mostly to be busy in small towns(the kind that so often the stage of Stephen King's stories) Father Dowling seems to be more operating in cities. Unlike the Fletcher series the people are less halfwit and Dowling's sidekick the nun is actually a capable attractive woman. Which is a change since with the Murder, she wrote series, the main cast seems to consist of elderly people most of the time. An interesting aside is that the good Father is a catholic.Another different thing is the method the perpetrator is caught. In Father Dowling it seems to be more a case of catching him/her red-handed. In Murder, She Wrote it is more that the felon admits after being confronted with the truth.But on the downside, the method with which are solved are also often more ridiculous. Since both Dowling and his trusty sidekick are people of the cloth, they need to disguise themselves a lot during their investigations. This results is the use of the most weakest set of disguises one can encounter. Wear a set of dark glasses and a suit and voilà Dowling is bad dud gangster. The nun takes of her gown and put some cushions underneath her clothes and she is a pregnant mum.All in all, while this series is not as bad as Murder, She Wrote, this series is hardly worth the trouble watching considering that there are a lot of better series like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Law & Order for that matter. But it probably will appeal to an audience that can only sleep when the murderer is safely locked away in a world that is less disturbing than shown in those other series.Owen

jpinney245 A delightfully refreshing mystery in the spirit of Miss Marple. The character of Father Dowling, as portrayed by Tom Bosley,,,was a real caring individual, giving a partial absolution to the horrible portraits painted about a few of the clergy, figured in the tabloids. My feeling is that it might help to eradicate some of the distressingly graphic illustrations of priests literally promoted by the media. True or not the mention of a catholic priest in some circles causes an unusual amount of animosity and disdain, for a group who preach that control is one of the responsibilities of every partitioner, their lack thereof is astonishing,,,in conclusion, I enjoyed the series.

ttyger_eyes I loved this show as a teen. My life didn't revolve around TV as my friends did, but this was one of the shows I loved. Murder she wrote, The Equalizer, Quincy MD, Spencer Tracy, all these shows were awesome but Dowling was the best. Anyone thinking otherwise has no understanding of imagination or logic. This show was a great way for a kid in the slums to see that they didn't have to stay there. Sister Steve was an inspiration for me, and her intuitive thinking was astounding. Father Dowling's way of observing the facts taught my friends and I that there is more than one way to see anything. That was great.This is an awesome show.