Detectives I Have Known

Sure, they’re only characters from TV shows, but you do come to feel you know them if you watch them long enough. It’s hard to limit the list to five, but here are top picks—at least for today. It’s subjective, of course, and I may change my mind tomorrow, but at least two of these—Pembleton and Columbo–would make any list I compile.

Today’s Top Five:

1. Detective Frank Pembleton

Deftly played by Andre Braugher, the brooding Frank Pembleton was a departure from the less philosophical lawmen we usually saw on the telly. He and Richard Belzer brought something to “Homicide: A Life on the Streets” that was gritty and compelling. Pembleton captured the essence of being a cop when he said that he speaks for the dead because there is no one else to speak for them.

2. Lieutenant Columbo

Peter Falk was actually the third actor to play Columbo, but he was easily the most captivating. By the time the Falk “Columbo” series started though, those earlier incarnations of the character would be long forgotten. The series itself was often filled with clichés of the genre, but Falk’s shuffling Columbo brought such an originality to the series that it didn’t matter. Much of it was in the incredible timing he used when delivering his lines. BTW, the wardrobe (those trench coats and cigars) were Falk’s own.

3. Detective Lennie Briscoe

Jerry Orbach’s arch comments (Van Buren: “What about Dr. Hampton? Any man in her life?” Briscoe: “Yes, but his name is Fluffy and he’s been neutered. Other than that, her social calendar is pretty light.”) made me never want to miss an episode of “Law and Order,” the longest running cop show in television history. He was the anchor of the show while he was on it—until his untimely death. I miss him.

4. Dana Scully

Gillian Anderson’s tough, loner FBI agent lent a gravitas to “The X-Files” it wouldn’t otherwise have had. The cynical counter to her male partner, Fox Mulder, who is less skeptical. In one episode, she contracts cancer and she begins contemplating her own mortality and makes it less maudlin than the same subject usually seems on hospital shows. The show may have been far out, but Scully brought it down to earth—in a good way.

5. Detective John Munch

Back to “Homicide: A life on the Streets” for my fifth pick. Richard Belzer, previously known as a somewhat successful stand-up comic, proves he’s got some acting chops. He has also shown up in the “Law and Order” and “The Wire.” Actually, some of the lines he delivers as munch wouldn’t be entirely out of place in a comedy routine. But they work a lot better in context. Check out this line: “If a murder is committed in Baltimore and no homicide detective takes the call, did that homicide actually occur?”

If I missed your favorite gumshoe in my top 5, let me know in the comments.

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