Diagnosis Murder

It’s funny how one cast change can completely alter the dynamics of a show. Sometimes it is for the better. Sometimes it is for the worse. In the case of Diagnosis Murder, it was for the better.

Diagnosis Murder
Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke

Goodbye, Dr. Stewart; Hello, Dr. Travis

Dr. Jack Stewart (Scott Baio) has moved to Colorado. Because of the move, Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) and Dr. Amanda Livingston (Victoria Rowell) no longer have their third partner for investigating criminal cases. These three were a trio for criminal investigations during the first two seasons. Now with the third season, it’s just the two of them.

Except it’s not. Dr. Jesse Travis (Charlie Schlatter), a resident at Community General Hospital, is eager to jump in and help investigate whatever needs investigating. He’s also very enthusiastic to help with whatever medical cases come his way.

Another person who left after season two is Mark’s secretary, Delores Mitchell (Delores Hall). Where she went, I don’t know. But unlike Jack, Delores is not substituted with another character.

Life changes for Amanda

If you read my first post about Diagnosis Murder, you will notice Amanda’s last name has changed. That is because between seasons two and three Amanda married a military pilot by the name of Colin Livingston. He is not a character we ever see (at least I don’t remember ever seeing him) but we do hear him once. When Amanda finds out their marriage is not legal, they remarry over the radio as he serves overseas.

This remarriage happens after Amanda delivers their baby. Amanda is pregnant for most of season three. Towards the end, her baby is born with the help of Jesse, inspiring Amanda to name her son Colin Jesse Livingston (CJ).

The reliable Dr. Mark Sloan

While others go through life changes, Mark remains pretty much the same. He is still a kind and caring man who always has his patients’ best interests at heart. Also, there still is not a single criminal investigation he does not want to become a part of.

Hospital Administrator Norman Briggs (Michael Tucci) has come to accept the investigative aspect of Mark’s life. In fact, Norman has come to accept a lot of things. He is much looser and more carefree in seasons three and four than he ever was in the first two. Not completely, but much better than he was.

There’s more to Norman Briggs than first appears

In his final two seasons, we get to see the good and caring side of Norman more often. When Amanda struggles with her son’s crying, it is Norman who is able to calm CJ down. He also tries to help people outside of the hospital by working with a charity health organization. These are things we would have rarely seen, if ever, in seasons one and two.

Sadly, season four is the last we see of Norman. He is severely injured by a bomb meant for Mark. He does survive and get on the road to recovery, but he is not seen again after that.

Someone else who disappears is Amanda’s husband. This may sound odd since I said we never see him in the first place. What I mean is his and Amanda’s marriage is short-lived. They divorce and Amanda begins dating an FBI agent, Ron Wagner (Harry Lennix). Their relationship becomes serious, leading Amanda to move to Washington, DC, for a job offer and to be near him.

Father and son working together

An important person to the series I haven’t mentioned yet is Mark’s son, Lt. Steve Sloan (Barry Van Dyke). He has finally come around to the fact there is nothing he can do to deter his father from being a police consultant or looking into cases. There is no point in stopping Mark from investigating, so he might as well just work with him. This mentality makes it far easier for Steve to listen to Mark’s input, which Mark has a lot of. They even show up at crime scenes together.

Steve also isn’t as competitive as he once was. This is because Jack is no longer around to compete against. He and Jack often competed for women, but with Jesse that is not a problem. Jesse does try to date, but medicine is his primary concern. He eventually dates a nurse, Susan Hillard (Kim Little), eliminating the chance of competition with Steve entirely.

Something I should note about Jesse is he is on the fantastical side. He comes up with wild theories about the cases they are looking into. Theories that make everyone else look at him strangely. It is a trait Jesse accepts and is comfortable with. This is probably helped by the fact Mark is always able to take one piece of what Jesse comes up with to solve the case.

Because, in the end, Mark is always the one to solve the case. No matter how much help he gets, Mark is the person to put all the pieces together.

Unfortunately, this ability to solve cases leads to a lot of enemies. One of those enemies went so far as to frame him for murder. Mark went to prison because of that one. With another case he had his reputation ruined and his medical license revoked. These are always difficult episodes to watch even though I know Mark will always come out on top. I just get anxious and impatient for the come out-on-top moments to arrive.

Diagnosis Murder
Charlie Schlatter, Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke, Michael Tucci, Victoria Rowell

It's not all serious

Something fun that has started to happen in Diagnosis Murder is what I am calling the “theme” episodes. Every once in a while, an episode will be full of a certain type of guest star. One had multiple actors who played TV doctors on other shows. Another starred former TV detectives. One show was full of actors from MASH, and another included cast members of Happy Days. Some of these themes I noticed myself. Others my mom pointed out. She’s really good at knowing the old actors. I can usually point out if someone guest starred on Murder, She Wrote.

Patients over profits: the endless crusade

Season five has a very important episode to watch. In it there is not the typical murder as there is with the other episodes. However, there is still a murder. This time the murder is done by the healthcare system.

In the episode, a little girl is brought into Community General Hospital. Because her mother’s insurance is with an HMO, Jesse and Mark can only care for the girl so far. All additional care must be approved by the HMO. They are forced to be on the phone waiting for a response while the girl becomes worse.

When a doctor finally comes on the line, he is very uncaring. He blames the mother for going to the wrong hospital and insists the girl be moved. His lack of care goes so far he does not even want to call an ambulance for the transport to the other facility. The doctor wants the mother to take the very sick child in her own car. He also denies any further treatment at Community General. As a result, the girl dies.

This isn’t the only case Mark and the hospital face in the episode. Mark also cares for a patient found to have cancer. She has had the cancer for months, but her HMO doctor refused to order the tests to discover why she was feeling unwell. He was far more worried about the money he would receive for keeping costs down than his patient. This is something he adamantly denies, but even he has his doubts when confronted with the truth.

I would like to say there is a happy ending to this episode, but I can’t. To make things worse, more than twenty years after this episode aired, we are still fighting the same battle: profits over patients.

I say this because patients seem to be the last person of concern when it comes to healthcare, whether you have insurance or not. Insurance rates have been going up for years, yet there are articles about insurance company profits. And I’m sure the people at the top of these companies are getting bonuses. If they’re not, I would be shocked. So, while the health insurance customers struggle to figure out how to pay their premiums, or if they can even afford to use their insurance once it is paid, those at the top think about what they’re going to do with their extra money. I have to wonder if those people ever think about their struggling customers when they make their decisions. I am doubtful they do.

Then there is the care itself. Insurance companies already make decisions about what treatments can happen, or at least what treatments they will cover. Now governments and courts are getting involved, denying patients the right to make decisions for themselves, primarily because of their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Not only are some treatments and procedures being banned outright, but even if something is legal, medical practitioners are given the right to deny them because of their personal views. This leaves the patient with few options if any. Yet they are the ones who must deal with the repercussions and consequences of the lack of care. In my book, these laws are simply legalized discrimination.

In the episode, Mark and Jesse fight for their patients. They lose, but they still fight. We need far more Marks and Jesses in the world. People to fight the insurance companies, the governments, and the courts. It is going to be a tough road, but for everyone’s health and well-being, it is a fight that needs to be done.

Gateway to the Future
Kate Dorsey