TV shows that feature unorthodox crime solvers

Lieutenant Columbo is a homicide detective, and that is true. His job is to solve crimes, specifically murders. And yet, he’s one of the most indelible quirky crime solvers out there. Columbo, played with gusto by Peter Falk, is practically symbolic at this point. He’s rumbled. He’s disorganized. Some of that is legit, but some of it is Columbo putting on airs to try and catch the criminal. Though his raincoat may be shabby, his brain is sharp. He’s the proverbial sheep in wolf’s clothing, but in a good way, since he catches rich murderers.

“Monk” set a template for what would become USA’s “blue skies” era. It’s a fairly light procedural built around a quirky character. Adrian Monk is a former San Francisco homicide detective whose OCD and phobias worsened significantly after the murder of his wife. Okay, so that isn’t light, but episode to episode Monk’s fears and worries generate laughs as he works solving cases as a private investigator. Unusual for a basic cable show, Tony Shalhoub’s turn as Adrian was so well-received that it won him two Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Look, you dress up like a bat and go beat up criminals and you aren’t exactly a run-of-the-mill dude. This is even more the case in the delightful ‘60s TV adaptation of Batman. Adam West plays the Caped Crusader in a scenery-chewing bit of camp. The show is winking at the audience, with the whole thing treated as a joke. Also, while dressing as a bat is odd, to be fair to Bruce Wayne he’s going up against women who dress like cats and a guy who think they are King Tut.

Rian Johnson has created a cinematic world around an offbeat crime solver in Benoit Blanc, but he’s done it for TV as well. Although, Charlie Coyle is not as refined as the gentleman sleuth. Coyle is more of a riff on Columbo. She’s a bit of a mess and has a tendency to mumble and meander in conversation, but she has the urge to do the right thing and also the ability to basically always tell when somebody is lying. That allows her to solve crimes, Incredible Hulk style, as she traverses the United States on the run.

Shawn Spencer is a guy who’d rather goof around and jump from job to job than settle down and get serious. However, thanks to a photographic memory and a cop father who trained him in the art of detection, he’s also unusually skilled at figuring out crimes and other mysteries. This leads to him co-founding a psychic detective agency, where he uses his psychic persona to justify how he does what he does. “Psych” is kind of a riff on Sherlock Holmes, only with way more ‘80s pop culture references.

What makes Frank Drebin and company unusual crime solvers? The absurdity of their world. “Police Squad!” was the short-lived, cultishly-adored TV show that paved the way for the “Naked Gun” movies. That means it is a laugh-a-second, anything-for-a-gag show. Frank is an idiot. He speaks in puns. The logic of the world changes around him. “Police Squad!” is hilarious, but it certainly doesn’t feature by-the-book police work.

Some joke about the unusual number of murders that happen in the small town of Cabot Cove on “Murder, She Wrote.” That’s kind of true, but what is actually notable is how often Jessica Fletcher, a congenial murder novelist, finds herself at the scene of a murder. Created in part by the guys who created “Columbo,” “Murder, She Wrote” is a gentler show, but Angela Lansbury’s turn was still iconic. The show was on for 12 seasons, and Lansbury was nominated for an Emmy 12 times.

Yes, we are aware of the movie “Ace Ventura, Pet Detective” as well as its sequel. Did you know there was also a TV adaptation? There was, and it was animated. It aired for three seasons, two on CBS and one on Nickelodeon. The show, unlike the film, was aimed at kids as you might have guessed. As to why Ace Ventura is on this list, well, he is a pet detective after all.

Inspector Gadget has a ton of tools at his disposal. He’s a mechano-man of sorts (a cyborg would probably be the apt word) with extending metal arms and a helicopter in his hat. However, his attempts to thwart Dr. Claw and M.A.D. are in and of themselves futile, because Inspector Gadget is comedically incompetent. As such, the actual investigating is left to his niece Penny and her dog Brain.

It broke Johnny Depp as an actor and inspired a self-aware pair of comedy movies, but “21 Jump Street” also has a premise that makes it stand out from police procedurals. The premise is focused on a group of young-looking cops whose job is to go undercover as teenagers to investigate crimes in schools or other places kids frequent. That conceit worked long enough for “21 Jump Street” to churn out 103 episodes over five seasons.

The idle rich have some interesting hobbies. Like, say, being private investigators. Just for fun. Not for money. The Harts, Jonathan and Jennifer, fly the world and live a life where cost is no concern. They even have a majordomo who helps them with everything. That includes solving crimes, often murders. Yes, the Harts investigate murders for the fun of it. At least they do a good job.

“Buddy Faro” isn’t quite in the “brilliant but canceled” category but the seven episodes of the CBS show that aired are quite fun (even as the show pivoted premises slightly, oh, three times in those seven episodes). The year is 1998. Bob Jones is a struggling private eye in Los Angeles who is tasked with finding Buddy Faro. Faro, played by Dennis Farina, was a celebrity private eye in the ‘60s and ‘70s, but then disappeared in 1978. Once Bob finds Buddy having fallen on hard times in Mexico, he brings Buddy back to L.A. where the two start working together and Buddy tries to live his Rat Pack lifestyle in a modern world.

Obviously, Sherlock Holmes adaptations are a dime a dozen, and every variation is about an unorthodox crime solver. That’s baked into the character. The version of Holmes in “Sherlock” feels the most off the wall, though. It’s a grittier take and features an amoral, uncouth version of Sherlock. Notably played by Benedict Cumberbatch, with Martin Freeman in tow as Watson, the casting and acting helped overshadow the fact that, in hindsight, “Sherlock” was really spotty episode to episode.

Quincy was a medical examiner who often found himself solving crimes, but he has something that Olivia Moore, a fellow medical examiner, lacks: a pulse. In the pilot of the high-concept “iZombie,” Olivia is turned into a zombie at a party. After that, she finds out that when she eats the brains of the dead folks that come through her workspace, she can briefly take on their memories and personalities to help her solve their murders. Yes, that’s the premise.

While a number in place of a letter is always a bit annoying in a title, “Numb3rs” did have a fairly fresh take on the unconventional crime solver. Back on TV after leaving “Northern Exposure” for a movie career that never took off, Rob Morrow plays FBI agent Don Eppes. His brother Charlie, played by David Krumholtz, is a math genius and math professor. Thus, Don and Charlie join forces to work on cases, with Charlie’s mathematical skills being used to help Don figure out how to get to the bottom of the investigation.

We’d never trust Sweet Dee working an investigation, but of course Kaitlin Olson is just the actor who plays Sweet Dee. Her character Morgan from “High Potential” is a different character, though there is plenty of Dee (and her character from “The Mick”) in her latest role. “Psych” alum Todd Harthan is running the show, which is adapted from a French show called “HPI.” In essence, Olson plays an underachiever whose life is a mess, but who has an intelligence and insight buried beneath the chaos that helps her serve as a consultant on cases.