Poker Face's Charlie & 9 Of Television's Most Charming Detectives (original) (raw)
Published Jan 29, 2023, 2:01 PM EST
Ryan Heffernan is a Senior Writer at Collider. Storytelling has been one of his interests since an early age, with his appreciation for film and television becoming a particular interest of his during his teenage years.
This passion saw Ryan graduate from the University of Canberra in 2020 with an Honours Degree in Film Production. In the years since, he has found freelance work as a videographer and editor in the Canberra region while also becoming entrenched in the city's film-making community.
In addition to cinema and writing, Ryan's other major interest is sport, with him having a particular love for Australian Rules football, Formula 1, and cricket. He also has casual interests in reading, gaming, and history.
From as far back as the 1970s to the early 21st century blitz of blockbuster television, and even to the modern age of streaming, one thing that has always been a constant feature of episodic entertainment has been crime drama. While the genre typically makes use of tough, Stoic detectives who pummel their way to the truth, there have been plenty of spectacular sleuths who have subverted that trope with no small amount of charm.
The release of the pilot for Rian Johnson’s mystery-of-the-week series Poker Face has presented one such character in Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), but she is far from the only investigator to charm an audience. From the cool and charismatic to the off-beat yet brilliant, these endearing detectives are the most charming television has to offer.
1 Charlie – ‘Poker Face’ (2023-)
Poker Face Natasha Lyonne
Image via Peacock
She may not be a detective by trade, but with an uncanny ability to determine when somebody is lying, Charlie (Lyonne) is no slouch when it comes to sleuthing. Determined to find answers when her close friend winds up dead, the cocktail waitress is soon whisked away on a wild adventure of crazy characters and crime-fighting antics.
Coming from Knives Out creator Rian Johnson, the series is sure to be a hit with fans of the mystery-of-the-week serials of yesteryear. Lyonne brings her signature understated charisma to the role which makes Charlie pop off the screen as a wonderful yet subversive nod to genre tropes, complete with the kick-ass car and all.
2 Veronica Mars – ‘Veronica Mars’ (2004-2019)
Image via The WB
Conceived as a pulpy teen drama, Veronica Mars was soon revealed to be so much more. A hit crime series with a great deal of heart, it follows Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), a high school student who aides her father’s private investigator business as she looks for answers concerning the murder of her best friend.
The series won praise due to its sharp writing and its pitch-perfect performances, the most impressive of which coming from Bell as the lovable anti-establishment youth. While the series was initially canceled after its third season it earned a long-awaited fourth season in 2019, returning to Neptune, California to pile on the charm all over again right up to its polarizing finale.
3 Patrick Jane – ‘The Mentalist’ (2008-2015)
Image via CBS
Designed to be Sherlock Holmes crossed with a street psychic, Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) has both the suave charm of a street-savvy con artist and the quirky, off-kilter aura of many ingenious sleuths from classic literature. As an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, he uses keen observation and his knowledge of psychology to solve active cases.
His underlying motivation through The Mentalist is his vendetta against a serial killer known as Red John. Their cat-and-mouse relationship brings out the worst in Jane, occasionally cracking his cool, composed demeanor, and revealing a raw anger beneath the charming exterior.
4 Richard Castle – ‘Castle’ (2009-2016)
Image via ABC
Many of the greatest fictional detectives aren’t even police investigators but intrigued opportunists who love a good mystery. One such character who fits that description to perfection is Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a successful mystery novelist who wriggles his way in to shadowing Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) after becoming interested in her as the basis of a new character.
The arrangement, while resented by Beckett at first, ends up being fruitful as Castle’s unusual theories and child-like interest in the cases leads to unlikely breakthroughs in investigations. His brilliance combined with his man-child persona didn’t just make Castle a television hit, but also confirmed Fillion’s natural star power as one of modern television’s greatest and most charming leading men.
5 Jake Peralta – ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ (2013-2021)
Image via NBC
Brooklyn Nine-Nine became the runaway success that it is because of its wide array of colorful and lovable characters. Andy Samberg’s Detective Jake Peralta is inarguably the most charming of them as an amusing rogue cop whose immaturity and do-away with convention is overlooked because of his impressive arrest record.
While that all changes drastically with the arrival of Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), Peralta never loses his child-like playfulness nor his appetite for fun-filled adventure. He always had his heart in the right place though, as shown with his undying loyalty to his colleagues and his decision to retire to become a stay-at-home dad to his and Amy’s (Melissa Fumero) son.
6 Adrian Monk – ‘Monk’ (2002-2009)
Image via USA Network
It’s difficult to say if Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is television’s most endearing quirky detective, but he is certainly one of the most pleasant and playfully harmless. An enduring highlight of family-friendly television which deftly balanced comedy with catchy crime mystery, Monk became a huge television hit because of its charming star.
Constantly embattled by his obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias, Monk’s delightfully off-kilter demeanor was instrumental in making not only the character but the entire show such a charming success. Its final episode was the most watched episode in cable TV history until_The Walking Dead_ broke the record in 2012.
7 Maddie Hayes and David Addison – ‘Moonlighting’ (1985-1989)
Image via ABC
While most crime series are content with one lovable detective, the 80s hit dramedy Moonlighting broke the mold by pitting two charming heroes against each other. Following the cases solves by a former fashion model and a wise-cracking detective who manage the Blue Moon Detective Agency, the series worked with a mystery-of-the-week formula while engaging in a will-they-or-won’t-they romance between the two main characters.
Thanks to its rapid-paced, overlapping dialogue and its mixture of comedy, romance, and drama, it found inspiration in Howard Hawks’ style of screwball comedy which saw both lead characters flaunt an irresistible natural charm. The series launched Bruce Willis’s acting career and re-ignited Cybill Shepherd’s.
8 Jessica Fletcher – ‘Murder, She Wrote’ (1984-1996)
Image via CBS
A little old lady who is a successful mystery novelist in the quaint town of Cabot Cove, first impressions of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) are certainly misleading. As the brilliant protagonist of Murder, She Wrote Fletcher seldom seeks out active murder investigations, but there always seems to be one lurking around the corner which her expertise alone can solve.
While the police are almost always too eager to apprehend the most obvious suspect, Fletcher delves a little deeper, finds the most important pieces of evidence, and uncovers the truth in the nick of time. It’s a good thing she does too because, at the rate the show goes, the small township of Cabot Cove would be the murder capital of the world.
9 Sherlock Holmes – ‘Sherlock’ (2010-2017)
Image via BBC
How else does one become such a pop-culture sensation if not for being universally revered among the most charming television detectives ever put to screen? Benedict Cumberbatch’s iteration of famous sleuth Sherlock Holmes is one of the greatest ever, staying intact with Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character while jettisoning him into the modern world.
Stubborn, a little rude, and dissatisfied with anyone who isn’t as brilliant as himself, Holmes may not be charming in the most traditional sense, but no one can deny there is an endearing quality to his honesty. Cumberbatch’s brilliant characterization didn’t just see the character become a television icon, but it also made Sherlock one of the biggest hits of the crime genre.
10 Frank Columbo – ‘Columbo’ (1971-2003)
Image via ABC
A far cry from a dashing, silver-tongued charmer, Frank Columbo (Peter Falk) exuded a humble, even bumbling charm which delightfully undercut his brilliant skillset as a detective. Inquisitive, earnest, and unassuming, the self-effacing sleuth was a genius when it came to deciphering the truth thanks to his vast knowledge and his knack for asking “just one more thing”.
With his rumpled raincoat, Peugeot convertible, and a penchant for a cigar, the idiosyncratic detective has been an endearing fan favorite for decades. So strong was **Columbo**’s fanbase that the series was revived in 1989 some 11 years after it had originally been canceled. There were even talks of another revival in 2007 before Falk’s health deteriorated, but it does serve as a testament to the series’, and the character’s, enduring charm.