''Father Dowling Mysteries'' (also known as ''Father Dowling Investigates'' in the United Kingdom) is an American

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

television series that aired from January 20, 1989 to May 2, 1991. Prior to the series, a TV movie aired on November 30, 1987. For its first season, the show was on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

; it moved to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

for its last two seasons. The show features a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, Father Dowling, who solves murders, abductions and other mysteries in his Chicago parish, assisted by a young streetwise nun, Sister Stephanie, in spite of hindrance from the Bishop's representative, Father Prestwick.

History

The show is based upon characters created by

Ralph McInerny Ralph Matthew McInerny (February 24, 1929 – January 29, 2010) was an American author and philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame. McInerny's most popular mystery novels featured Father Dowling, and was later adapted into the '' ...

in a series of mystery novels, but neither the pilot TV movie nor the subsequent regular season episodes are actual adaptations of any of McInerny's stories. The show was also heavily influenced by

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

's ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' novels. The series was developed for television by Dean Hargrove and Joel Steiger, and produced by ''The Fred Silverman Company'' and ''Dean Hargrove Productions'' in association with

Viacom Productions Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production company, production arm of Paramount Global Distribution Group#Paramount International, Viacom International. The division was active from 1974 until 2004, when the comp ...

Synopsis

Father Francis ("Frank") Dowling ( Tom Bosley) is a

who continually stumbles upon murders, abductions and other crimes in his parish (the fictional Parish of St Michael's) in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Because of the Chicago connection, many of the cases are mob-related. His legal first name of Francis is revealed in the episode ''The Movie Mystery'', when he's talking to the detective in charge of the case. Fr. Frank is assisted by Sister Stephanie ("Steve") Oskowski, a nun assigned to the parish to minister to its members. It is Sr. Steve who does much of the legwork in the investigations. She's a streetwise nun with a Polish surname who grew up in a rough housing project in the diocese. She can hotwire a car, and pick any lock, among other things. Because she knows the "language of the streets" she uses this to her advantage (not just when investigating a mystery, but also in her ministry). Although she is much younger than Father Frank, the two work smoothly together as a team. He is not just a mentor to her, it's obvious she looks up to him as the father she never had. Father Dowling has an identical twin brother, Blaine (also played by Tom Bosley). A thief and con artist, who isn't above framing his brother for his crimes, Blaine appears three times: in ''The Face in the Mirror Mystery'', ''The Woman Scorned Mystery'', and ''The Fugitive Priest Mystery''. Father Philip Prestwick, who provides comic relief, is a social-climbing assistant to the Archbishop. Father Phil just happens to drop in before every meal. Mrs Marie Gillespie is both the parish secretary and the housekeeper of the Rectory (in which the parish priest lives). The show's format in effect creates a pseudo-family: Father Dowling and his elderly housekeeper, Marie, behave like an old married couple, with Father Dowling acting like the regular father in a conventional family (somewhat aided by his identification in the minds of the audience with Mr Cunningham, the character Bosley played on the TV series ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

''). Both of them treat Sister Stephanie as though she's their daughter. The humour largely emerges from the intrusions into this "family circle" by Father Phil, who, like an unwanted relation, disrupts the cosy informality of the household. The humour develops from the fact that Phil, in his innocence, never realises that his presence is largely an irritant to the others. A further recurring character is a female Chicago police officer, Detective Sergeant Clancy (

Regina Krueger Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * R ...

), who is Father Dowling's friend and principal police contact in the first two seasons. In season 3

Dick O'Neill Richard Francis O'Neill (August 29, 1928 – November 17, 1998) was an American stage, film and television character actor best known for playing Irish cops, fathers, judges and army generals. He began his acting career as an original company me ...

replaces her in some episodes, as Lieutenant Foster, an old friend of Frank's in the police, and a devout Catholic, who Frank browbeats into doing him occasional favours during the investigations. The mysteries usually begin with a mysterious visitor to St Michael's church, or to the parish Rectory next door where Father Dowling lives. In the first season, Sister Steve lives in a convent with the other nuns in her Order ("The Pretty Baby Mystery"); but in the second season she takes her meals at the Rectory, and when her brother is accused of murder (in the episode "The Sanctuary Mystery") he's shown sheltering in her bedroom at the Rectory. Throughout all three seasons she's also a chauffeur for Father Dowling, who doesn't drive. Because she's a car enthusiast, and reformed car thief, she handles the parish station wagon like a professional stuntman. Between attending to parish secretarial and housekeeping duties, Marie takes phone messages for the duo while they're out travelling all over the city investigating their latest case. Meanwhile, Fr. Phil pops in and out of the Rectory, almost always at mealtimes. Marie and Father Phil provide light relief together, with a comic double-act, forever squabbling over Father Dowling's involvement in police matters, or about parish duties. However, Marie always emerges victorious. Phil's devotion to never missing a meal at the Rectory is gradually developed into a running gag. In addition, Phil's attempts at keeping on the Bishop's good side (another running gag) are a further source of comic relief. In the episode ''The Legacy Mystery'' (aired April 4, 1990), Tom Bosley was reunited with his ''

'' co-star,

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she receive ...

, who plays the mother of a wealthy businessman accused of stealing valuable artwork.

Pilot

The pilot was a two-hour TV movie titled ''Fatal Confession'', which originally aired on NBC on November 30, 1987. There were few similarities to the books written by McInerny, with the principal character even changing his name (in the novels, he was Roger Dowling), while the setting was changed from a rural parish in the small town of Fox River to the city of Chicago – a setting which was borrowed from another series of novels by McInerny, concerning a Chicago nun. For TV, the nun changed her name, became streetwise, lost many years of age, and metamorphosed into Father Dowling's youthful assistant. Father Prestwick did not appear in the 1987 pilot. In the first episode of the series, "The Missing Body Mystery", he is brought in by the Bishop to evaluate Father Dowling's parish, and Prestwick is initially appointed to replace him. At the end of the second episode, Prestwick is reassigned to a parish in Alaska: hence he does not appear again until the final Season 1 episode, "The Pretty Baby Mystery" (when it's said he had offended the Bishop in Anchorage, Alaska, and been kicked out there). From the start of Season 2 he becomes one of the regular cast.

Regular series

The show was due to begin in 1988, but because of a writers' strike it did not begin to air weekly until January 1989. For the first season, on NBC, the episodes were principally written by Supervising Producer Robert Hamilton, who contributed five of the scripts, but Hamilton was dropped when NBC cancelled the show after just eight episodes. When ABC picked up the show for the second and third seasons (initially as a mid-season replacement), the show's executive producer,

Dean Hargrove Dean Hargrove (born July 27, 1938 in Iola, Kansas) is an American television producer, writer, and director. His background includes graduating the St. John's Military School, Wichita State University, and attending the UCLA Film School as a gradu ...

, together with

Joyce Burditt Joyce Burditt (September 12, 1938 – June 2, 2022), also known as Joyce Rebeta-Burditt, was an American writer and network executive. She was known for creating the TV series '' Diagnosis: Murder''. She was also a longtime writer and producer on ...

, became the backbone of the writing team, frequently writing episodes jointly (Hargrove had begun his career as a scriptwriter, on the TV series ''

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...

'').

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

, whose career began as a well-regarded writer at

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, was now appointed as a script consultant, initially acting as script editor on the series before being promoted to co-producer for the third season, also writing many of the episodes. For the third and longest season (the show's only full season),

Brian Clemens Brian Horace Clemens (30 July 1931 – 10 January 2015) was an English screenwriter and television producer, possibly best known for his work on '' The Avengers'' and '' The Professionals''. Clemens claimed to be related to Mark Twain (Samuel ...

, who had been producer and executive producer on ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'' and had written many of its best regarded episodes, was added as a script consultant, and wrote or co-wrote many third-season episodes, a number of them in collaboration with co-producer Gerry Conway. Although the show was set in Chicago, the first season was actually filmed in Denver, Colorado, where the filming locations used included the Church of the Annunciation, at 3621 Humboldt Street, which stood in for St Michael's parish church. At the time the show was being made, Bosley's co-star Tracy Nelson ("Sister Steve") was married to actor William R Moses, the featured guest star who plays her ex-boyfriend in Season One ("The Man Who Came to Dinner Mystery"). The theme music for the regular series was composed by Dick De Benedictis. The regular series episodes ran approximately 46 minutes and 30 seconds.

Cast

* Tom Bosley as Father Frank Dowling / Blaine Dowling * Tracy Nelson as Sister Stephanie "Steve" Oskowski * James Stephens as Father Philip Prestwick *

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

as Marie The program featured many notable guest stars, some before they had achieved fame, including:

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles. He is best known for starring in ''The Addams Family'' (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising th ...

Jack Bannon John James Bannon (June 14, 1940 – October 25, 2017) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Art Donovan on ''Lou Grant'', a role he played for the duration of the series, from 1977 to 1982. Early life Bannon was born on June ...

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Fionnula Flanagan Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan (born 10 December 1941) is an Irish stage, television, and film actress. For her contributions to the entertainment industry, she was given the IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Flanagan is known fo ...

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and

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Episodes

After its first season, NBC cancelled the show. It was picked up by ABC and aired for two more seasons. In total, ''Father Dowling Mysteries'' comprises a 2-hour TV movie plus 43 one-hour episodes.

Production credits

*Executive Producers Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove *Executive in Charge of Production Mike Moder *Supervising Producer Robert Hamilton (season 1) *Supervising Producer Robert Schlitt (season 2) *Produced by Barry Steinberg (season 1,2) *Co-Producer David Solomon (season 1,2)

Home media

CBS DVD CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is a home entertainment company owned by Paramoun ...

(distributed by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

) has released all three seasons on DVD in Region 1. CBS DVD released ''Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1 in June 2017.This Summer, Solve the Secret of 'The Complete Series' Set!
In Region 2,

Acorn Media RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...

released the first season on DVD in the UK on June 18, 2012, but was released under the title ''Father Dowling Investigates''. In Region 4,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatri ...

released the first season on DVD in Australia on November 2, 2011. There was also a VHS released in region 1 on the 24 of January 2000 of the "Fatal Confession" TV movie.

References

* Lovece, Frank, ''The Television Yearbook: Complete, Detailed Listings for the 1990-1991 Season'' (Putnam / Perigee, 1991)

External links

* * {{epguides, id= FatherDowlingMysteries, title=Father Dowling Mysteries 1987 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1980s American comedy-drama television series 1990s American comedy-drama television series 1980s American crime drama television series 1990s American crime drama television series 1980s American mystery television series 1990s American mystery television series Television series by CBS Studios American Broadcasting Company original programming NBC original programming Television shows set in Chicago Television shows based on American novels English-language television shows American television series revived after cancellation Catholic drama television series American detective television series