"Quincy M.E." New Blood (TV Episode 1980) Poster

(TV Series)

(1980)

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8/10
Really fun episode.
poolandrews3 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Quincy M.E.: New Blood starts as Dr. Robert Asten (John S. Ragin) forces Los Angeles chief medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) to take some of his outstanding vacation time. As his replacement Asten calls in pathologist Dr. Jerri McCracken (Beverly Adams) who has her hands full straight away when a controversial councilman running for Governor named Lawrence Bridges (James Callahan) is found dead, her initial finds suggest a heart attack but the results also suggest that the body had been moved & placed at the bottom of some stairs to make it look like an accident. Learning of the situation Quincy can't help but take a look at the case which irritates McCracken as he insinuates she can't handle it, eventually they decide to work together to discover the truth...

Episode 18 from season 5 this Quincy story was directed by John Peyser & is a really fun episode that I enjoyed a lot & thankfully a huge improvement on the previous story The Winning Edge (1980) which was terrible. Here in New Blood there's a great story about Quincy getting upset when an attractive woman gets his job while he is on vacation & he gets all sexist & says she isn't up to the job while she argues that she is. These scenes between Quincy & McCracken arguing are a lot of fun actually, then they eventually decide to work together & solve the case. I mean it is Quincy's show after all isn't it? He ultimately is the one who cracks the case which is fine, he's the star so he gets to solve the crime & get the glory! Besides McCracken is just a woman, she could never have handled it on her own! The whole episode is a little sexist actually & I must admit I rather liked that, in today's ultra PC world an episode such as New Blood probably wouldn't get made now. Then Quincy the sly old dog not only solves the case & makes McCracken respect him he actually gets her in the end as well as they both go off on his boat! Other than the fun plot revolving around the personality clash between Quincy & McCracken there's a pretty good murder mystery here in this episode as well, there are some decent twists & turns & the killer isn't too obvious either so a good fun, amusing, entertaining & enjoyable episode all round really. What more do you want?

Here in New Blood the glamour is provided by pathologist Jerri McCracken & she looks quite nice in a 70's sort of way, I am surprised the production team never asked her to come back as I thought she was a good character & a good foil for Quincy. Bizarrely in New Blood Lt. Monahan puts a pair of glasses on to read a piece of paper which is odd because he has never wore glasses before or since that I can remember so quite why he wears a pair here in this single scene is a mystery. The acting is good as usual, Klugman shines as always while veteran TV actor Dennis Haysbert better known as the President in the series "24" makes an early screen appearance.

New Blood is a great Quincy episode full of fun & a little 70's sexism that I personally found rather amusing, the murder mystery element of the programme isn't too bad either. Classic Quincy at it's finest.
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8/10
Good episode where Quincy is forced to take a backseat
rayoflite2430 October 2015
New Blood begins with LA City Councilman Lawrence Bridges (James Callahan) running for Governor and having tense confrontations with political rivals and a mistress when he attempts to end their relationship. He is later found dead at the bottom of a stairwell, but the evidence suggests that the body was moved and that he was murdered. Quincy (Jack Klugman) is supposed to be taking time off from the job, but he rushes back to the coroner lab when he hears of the death expecting to do the autopsy, but Dr. Asten (John S. Ragin) has already assigned it to a young female pathologist filling in, Dr. Jerri McCracken (Beverly Sassoon). Quincy has a hard time accepting a young and less experienced pathologist taking the lead on such a high profile case and remains involved much to the frustration of Dr. McCracken and Dr. Asten.

This is a good murder mystery episode and such a refreshing change after the last two stinkers. It is not revealed who the killer is right in the beginning like other Season 5 episodes, so with that and the fact that there are multiple possible suspects the story remains interesting and compelling. The guest stars featured do a pretty decent job as well giving solid performances.

My only criticism of this episode is the cliché of Quincy meeting yet another female professional that he immediately starts coming on to and borderline harassing. At first she rebuffs his advances which I thought was realistic considering how attractive she was not to mention young enough to be his daughter, but then of course later in the episode she acquiesces and starts dating him. I could see something like this happening on a rare occasion, but it occurs way too frequently in this series and just comes across as slimy, ridiculous and plain annoying after awhile.

Aside from that aspect, this is a very good Season 5 episode which is quite entertaining and highly recommend viewing!
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8/10
The prototype for Joyce Davenport...
AlsExGal14 April 2024
... who was the public defender on Hill Street Blues for six years. But instead of being an attorney, the prototype is a pretty pathologist who gets called in to sub for Quincy in the coroner's office while Quincy is on forced vacation.

While Quincy is away from the office, the body of a controversial city councilman running for higher office is found in a stairwell in an apartment building by a night janitor. Quincy hears about the case on the news and barges back in to help out. He assumes that his replacement is a man and is charmed to find it is a lovely female doctor. The replacement determines that the councilman died of a heart attack, but she also notices that there is a weird pattern on his back, like he lay on some tile floor somewhere a good while after death before being moved to the stairwell, plus the substitute notices that there is a whiff of perfume about the body, and she recognizes the brand. And the murder mystery is on.

The councilman had plenty of enemies, and the episode made a point of showing the audience a couple of definite possibilities. Quincy and his substitute, though antagonistic at the beginning -and for good reason because Quincy is second guessing her entire autopsy - reach a truce and work together to solve what happened in this particular case.

Today Quincy's flirtatious ways in the workplace would be a lawsuit waiting to happen - and you wouldn't need to wait long, but in 1980 this kind of thing was still tolerated. At any rate, it's a very good murder mystery and harkens back to the earlier days of Quincy when these kinds of sleuthing episodes were more common.
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Spin-Off?
SteveGreen16 July 2008
"New Blood" is a curious episode. Although it's not a end-of-season show, it has the air of Star Trek's "Assignment: Earth" in as much as it sets up an entirely separate TV premise (much as Gene Roddenberry - faced with the imminent cancellation of Trek two seasons in - came up with the character of intergalactic spy "Gary Seven"). Meanwhile, Klugman's Quincy is almost entirely irrelevant and just mumbles from the sidelines. Something similar was tried on "Ironside", but the spin-off didn't spin far. Were the producers hoping to launch an entirely new show here, or was JK taking a few days off? If the latter, they missed the chance to get an intelligent female pathologist on screen 20 years before CSI.
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6/10
If Quincy acted this way today, he'd probably have been fired even if he is Super-Coroner!
planktonrules10 May 2013
This show appears to have been modeled after the reported exploits of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller--in particularly in regard to his death. Some stories say he died with his mistress 'in the act' and considering the show was made only about a year later, it seems pretty certain this is the show's inspiration. Regardless, a man who is running for governor dies at his mistress's apartment. However, when the case is investigated by a lady coroner, she has reasons to doubt that it was an accident.

As my wife and I re-watch the "Quincy" series, we have noticed periodically just how sexist Dr. Quincy was. Often, he'd meet professional women and tell them how beautiful they were, make passes at female co-workers and a variety of other behaviors which today would have resulted in his getting fired! This episode is a particularly egregious example--with Quincy making the moves on a new co-worker--a lady coroner who was brought in to cover for him when he was forced to go on vacation. Not surprisingly, Quincy couldn't keep off the job and returned to shamelessly sexually harass the lady. The end result? By the end, she and Quincy would share late night dinners and take off on vacation together!! Plus, the lady doctor DID need him to come in a help her save the day. Now am I saying this is a terrible show? No. And, I am sure many would not be the least bit offended by his boorish ways. Overall, a decent episode but one that might annoy you. Regardless, the show IS interesting and worth seeing.
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5/10
Ok episode that, again, makes Quincy borderline unlikable
Ljk925805 April 2024
This is an ok episode but Quincy comes off looking bad. Jack Klugman was such a wonderful and likeable guy that I really don't like the episodes where Quincy comes off as a, for lack of a better word, slimy jerk.

There have been numerous episodes where Quincy treats those around him like absolute garbage and does everything but force himself on the attractive female guest star, and this one falls into that category. I understand "times were different" back then but I never understood how the abrasive and almost abusive older lead character got the attractive female that was at least half his age to fall for him. It's just kind of gross.

When this one is on again I'll likely skip it.
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