We know that one will not be enough, so here is another.
This Austrian TV classic was around on Twitter the other day after Art Brut’s Eddie Argos first pointed it out. While America is wallowing in the torpor that is Melrose Place and can’t get a bus ticket out of Cougar Town, you begin to wonder if what we really need is a show about a dog that can play pool and assist with autopsies.
“Inspector Rex” has been on for a dozen years (more or less) in Austria, where it is extremely popular, although the pooch recently moved to Rome, where presumably, he steals spicy meatballs. In Australia, the show is said to have “A cult following.” Probably because of stuff like this:
During a scene in which Stockinger claims that Moser “doesn’t understand women at all now”, Moser tells Stockinger, “Don’t say that word. Every time you say ‘woman’ he [Rex] runs off with my laundry”. Stockinger asks him what Rex does with it, to which Moser replies, “He washes it”.
If that doesn’t convince you that this is the greatest TV show of its time — based on the opening credits alone– then this brief scene is sure to sway you — and also prove that some dogs can act better than many humans.
My in-laws watch it every week, and own all the DVDs. When your in-laws watch something all the time, its hard to take the phrase “cult” seriously, but it is a fun show.
I think Austrian TV might give Japanese TV a run for its “WTF?” money. When I was over there this past summer, we caught ads for a TV series featuring a crime-fighting martial artist monk. Not Shaolin, mind you, like Franciscan or something. I wanted to watch it so bad but missed it and now I can’t remember the name of it. Dang.
This kinda reminds me of a show from my own childhood. In the US (it aired on The Family Channel, back when it was still owned by Pat Robertson/CBN) it was called Rin Tin Tin: K9 Cop but its title in Canada (where it was filmed) was apparently Katts and Dog:
He’s a C.S.I. version of “The Littlest Hobo”!
Travis, you might be interested to know that the kid from “Katts and Dog” grew up to get a PhD in Egyptology from Cambridge University. He’s a friend of mine.
When I was over there this past summer, we caught ads for a TV series featuring a crime-fighting martial artist monk. Not Shaolin, mind you, like Franciscan or something. I wanted to watch it so bad but missed it and now I can’t remember the name of it. Dang.
That would be Lasko – The Fist of God and it´s german.
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