The final episode of season five of "Quincy" had very, very little of Dr. Quincy in the show. The same is true for this first show of season six. I don't know why--perhaps Jack Klugman was tired from the long hours and just needed a break. However, because there is less Quincy, there is a lot more of a guest star--William Daniels who plays a friend of Quincy's who is a small-town coroner with lots of problems. His problems all boil down to politics. His position is new and commissioners would love to get rid of the program and go back to the old ways--with no professional coroner to run the department. The first case which upsets the established powers is a drug death. The second is a textile mill which may be killing its workers. And, folks involved in both these cases really hate the Doc.
While this is not one of the more interesting episodes, it does bring up an interesting point. In the US, many local medical examiners are NOT doctors but political appointees and the show is about this sort of situation. Because of this, it is worth seeing. Plus, Daniels is a fine actor and gets to play a nice guy this time! A season or two earlier, he played a nasty anti-police guy who was on a one-man crusade against the department.
While this is not one of the more interesting episodes, it does bring up an interesting point. In the US, many local medical examiners are NOT doctors but political appointees and the show is about this sort of situation. Because of this, it is worth seeing. Plus, Daniels is a fine actor and gets to play a nice guy this time! A season or two earlier, he played a nasty anti-police guy who was on a one-man crusade against the department.