SYNOPSIS

Quincy was a man with a strong sense of principle. He had given up a private medical practice to join the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office as a medical examiner - hence the "M.E.". His understanding of forensic medicine led him to conclude that many of the supposed "normal" deaths that he was assigned to investigate were actually murders.

During his investigations, he more resembled a detective than a pathologist as he uncovered clues to the victims demise. Going out of his field of expertise into the territory of the police did not sit well with his pompous and insecure superior, Dr. Astin. It also alienated many of the police officers who were involved in the investigations and got in the way of his social life, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Lee. None of this seemed to bother Quincy, however, as he and his young assistant Sam plugged away at solving the case at hand. Quincy lived on a boat and spent much of his free time at Danny's Place, the bar next to the marina where his boat was docked.

Over the years, there were many changes on Quincy, M.E. Dr. Astin became less obnoxious. His problems with Quincy's tendency to play detective never ended and much of the time he ws trying to defend the pathologist's actions to the police, the government, the medical board and the press. Quincy's love life, after Lee left the show, was very active until he fell in love with Dr. Emily Hanover (played by Jack Klugmans' real-life wife, actress Anita Gillette who played his deceased first wife in a 1979 flashback episode), an attractive psychiatrist who provided him with help on some of his cases. They were married in the spring of 1983, after a romance that suffered because of his preoccupation with his work.

Although Quincy's first name was never mentioned, he apparently had a first initial. His business card was seen briefly in one episode and it read: "Dr. R. Quincy."

Quincy, M.E. was one of the four rotating shows in the 1976-1977 edition of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie - the others being Columbo, McCloud and McMillian & Wife. It proved so popular during the fall of 1976, that it was moved to Friday nights as a weekly series.