"Quincy M.E." Science for Sale (1982)

User Rating:

(awaiting 5 votes)

Director:

Ray Danton

Writers:

Erich Collier (teleplay)
Diana Kopald Marcus (story) ...

TV Series:

"Quincy M.E." (1976)

Original Air Date:

24 November 1982 (Season 8, Episode 7)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Coroner | Murder | Cult Favorite | Courtroom | Amateur Detective

Cast

Jack Klugman	...	Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
Garry Walberg	...	Lt. Frank Monahan
John S. Ragin	...	Dr. Robert Asten
Val Bisoglio	...	Danny Tovo
Robert Ito	...	Sam Fujiyama
Joseph Roman	...	Sgt. Brill
Lane Smith	...	Dr. Paul Flynn
Julie Adams	...	Dr. Chris Winston
John Chappell	...	Asst. Commissioner of Public Health
Reb Brown	...	Cancer Patient
Dennis Patrick	...	Garfield Calhoun
Paula Victor	...	Sylvie Goldberg
David Bond	...	Derelict #2
Ed Bakey	...	Jimbo
Stack Pierce	...	Mr. Lifton

Average Quincy.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Quincy M.E.: Science for Sale starts as terminal cancer patient Cynthia Oliver (Kate Lardner) gets out of bed & walks out of the hospital where she has been receiving a cutting edge genetically created treatment for her cancer. Cynthia's cancer was too far advanced & she dies near the hospital though, she ends up on L.A. coroner Quincy's (Jack Klugman) autopsy table & he sees nothing suspicious but learns about her revolutionary treatment developed by scientist Dr. Paul Lynn (Lane Smith). Then the body of a derelict is brought in who died from a virus Quincy cannot identify, shortly after another body that ends up on Quincy's autopsy table shows the same virus. The factor that links the two bodies together is Cynthia Oliver & by messing around with genetics Dr. Lynn has created a new type of killer virus...

Episode 7 from season 8 this Quincy story was directed by Ray Danton & is an OK episode although once again it's moral & social message gets in the way of any sort of crime solving. In Science for Sale the makers of Quincy decided to tackle the issue of genetic engineering & it's pitfalls, yeah it was a great idea to make a Quincy episode about genetic engineering while it was a relatively new process & end up with the scientists involved making a killer virus & the notion they were only in it to make money. I mean that was really going to reassure the public wasn't it? Having said that to be fair to it this episode does say that the cancer treatment had promise & had worked to some extent, to be honest I don't know why Quincy has gone down this path where every episode so far during season 8 except Sleeping Dogs is nothing more than a 60 odd minute prick to the audiences moral sub conscious & nothing much else. Again Quincy barely features in this & apart from figuring out that the virus was made by Dr. Lynn doesn't do anything, dull, dull, dull.

This one has dated pretty badly, genetic science has come a long way since this so this which originally aired in 1982 really isn't relative or necessary in 2007. I don't know about anyone else but I think Lane Smith as Dr. Lynn puts in one of the worst guest performances I've ever seen in a Quincy episode. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) star Julie Adams makes her third guest appearance on Quincy in which she has played different character's in each.

Science for sale is yet more dated moralistic nonsense that doesn't even try to put a balanced argument across, this is an OK episode but nothing special & I think I'm being generous by saying that.