Originally published at: The wisdom of Banacek | Boing Boing
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Loved this show. It was part of the NBC Mystery Movie series along with McMillan and Wife, Columbo, and a few others. The capers were really clever.
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La sevillana de los cuatro detectives: Kojak, Columbo, McCloud y Banacek.
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Banacek was and remains great. The mysteries - “impossible” crimes like a football player disappearing from the middle of the field, or a 10 ton stone sculpture vanishing - are fun. Peppard is Peppard at his Peppardiest, which may or may not be your cup of schmuh, but I dig it. The sexism, as you might imagine from a show of that era, is painfully stupid. That all pales in comparison, though, to one of the finest evocations of FakeBoston ever lensed. From the Haymarket being just a left turn off Beacon Street, and the Hollywood Hills just a quick ride on the T away, it’s totally wickid, kihd. And don’t miss the shots of the Plywood Tower during the intro - they’re to die for!
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“What does it mean, boss?”
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I love how he pauses at various times giving the viewer the feeling that he’s making these up as he goes.
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Likely, that was just Peppard trying to remember his lines. (Who could blame him!)
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I’ve read some of those from Unix Forture files, so they must be wise.
The show was not a classic, and Peppard quit after two seasons because he didn’t want the precarious income from it factoring into a pending divorce settlement.
There is an old Polish Proverb that says “If the Fox did not hide his meal in a storm, then we’d never have gotten the A–Team!!”
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There’s an old Polish proverb that says “if you’re 100% Polish and you watch a 3 minute supercut of Banacek’s old Polish proverbs you’ll only be able to watch 1 minute before getting nauseous”.
Though I do like old TV shows I’ve never watched Banacek. I think I would like it, and that these proverbs are better handled in small doses. 
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More of a McCloud fan, myself.
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It appears to be on Prime. I’ve never even heard of it. I feel like Kojak and Quincy were in the NBC Mystery Movie lineup that I saw, but I was really little then so my memory could be fuzzy.
ETA: apparently Kojak was always on ABC so that memory is garbage.
Columbo’s “Oh - one more thing…” was in every show, and I’ve seen it used all the time in other shows too. It never gets old, because it’s so basic. This one, I wonder how anyone kept a straight face - especially the ones that don’t make any sense. Also, I guess Banacek is supposed to be Polish? Most people wouldn’t hear that name and immediately think “Oh - he’s Polish.” If being Polish is central to the show’s deal, it should have been called “Banachefkowski”.
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Ever seen Norm McDonald tell his Kojak joke to Jerry Seinfeld? Worth looking up.
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