Father Dowling Mysteries: The Second Season

The mystery novels of Ralph McInerny, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, inspired this short-lived series starring Tom Bosley as Father Frank Dowling, a Chicago parish priest who is an unofficial shamus, and Tracy Nelson as his eager Dr. Watson, Sister Stephanie “Steve” Oskowski. The plots aren't especially clever—for example, an episode featuring Anthony LaPaglia as a mob hit man who pretends to be a priest (and is actually permitted to officiate at services by Dowling) in order to stage an assassination in the church will tax your patience more than your brain. But numerous digressions give the affable Bosley ample opportunity to exercise his comic chops, and Nelson sheds her wimple periodically to go undercover in improbable disguises in order to ferret out clues. The pair, along with veteran Mary Wickes as rectory housekeeper Marie, also amusingly play off James Stephens as Father Philip, an officious, obtuse young cleric sent by the archbishop to keep an eye on Father Dowling's extracurricular activities (but proves his own incompetence at every turn). Hardly one of TV's classic detective programs, this is still a moderately engaging series. Compiling all 13 episodes of the 1990 second season, this is a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)