Quincy M.E. (TV Series) The Death Challenge (1979) User Reviews

Enjoyable Quincy episode.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 2 February 2008]

Quincy M.E.: The Death Challenge starts as Los Angeles coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) is enjoying a romantic evening on his boat with his latest girlfriend Maggie (Jo Ann Pflug), they watch a show on telly in which Mark Santini the protégé of the famous magician Harry Whitehead (Don Ameche) attempts to perform the dangerous 'death challenge' trick in which he is handcuffed, placed in a bag which is then placed in a locked wooden crate which is then placed in a locked clear box which is then placed in a huge tank of water & the trick is to get out before you drown. Unfortunately the trick goes wrong & on live national telly Mark drowns, the next morning & Quincy has to perform the autopsy to discover whether Marks death was an accident or murder. After the autopsy Quincy is convinced Mark was murdered, but by whom & for what reason...

Episode 22 from season 4 this Quincy story was directed by Ronald Satlof & is a great episode, forget all that outdated moralistic nonsense that belongs in the 70's The Death Challenge is a good old fashioned murder mystery all the way where Quincy has to use his medical knowledge & skills to find a killer. These are the sort of Quincy episode I enjoy the most & while The Death Challenge isn't the best episode out there I found it very enjoyable, The Death Challenege actually reminds me of the Columbo episode Now You See Him (1976) which also involved a murderous magician even down to the fact that one of the character's is called the Great Santini! The plot has various suspects who could have done it as well as having a motive without ever making the true murderer too obvious, at only fifty minutes it moves along at a decent pace & there's the usual touches of humour & watching Quincy run around trying to solve a case is pretty entertaining in itself.

While watching The Death Challenge I couldn't help but think that a major TV network wouldn't keep broadcasting a magic trick that has killed one person & almost killed another, surely it would leave them open to all sorts of lawsuits & I doubt it would be particularly good publicity either. I think The Death Challenge is the only Quincy episode in which we get to see laboratory assistant Sam in his swimming trunks! The acting is OK & veteran actor Martin Kove makes an appearance.

The Death Challenge is a great Quincy episode which is murder mystery all the way & there isn't a single moral message or issue in sight & thats good enough for me.

Good murder mystery episode featuring magic

[rayoflite24 · 7/10 · 2 October 2015]

The Death Challenge begins with Quincy (Jack Klugman) and his girlfriend, Maggie (Jo Ann Pflug), on his boat watching a magician perform live on TV. In the act, the magician attempts an escape trick where he is locked in handcuffs, placed in a box and submerged in water, but the trick goes horribly wrong and the magician drowns. Quincy conducts the autopsy and determines that the magician was murdered because someone substituted the normal tranquilizer medication he took prior to the trick to slow his breathing with an amphetamine that caused his breathing to rapidly increase as he was deprived oxygen. When the wife of the magician later attempts the same trick, she narrowly escapes the same fate and foul play is once again found to have occurred as Quincy tries to determine who is responsible.

This is a pretty entertaining episode with a good murder mystery featured along with several suspects played by top notch guest stars including Ann Blyth, Don Ameche and Ron Masak. My only criticisms are the set up of the plot being a tired one where Quincy is watching someone on TV and you know that person is going to die tragically, and I also found the live TV airing of the same magical trick twice after someone just died doing it to be pretty far-fetched.

Other than that, this is a quite enjoyable Season 4 episode with an interesting story that is well worth watching.

Wouldn't it have just been easier to have shot these people?!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 21 April 2013]

When a dangerous water tank escape act is shown on TV, not surprisingly the guy attempting the magic trick drowns. I say not surprisingly because Quincy and his lady friend were watching it on television--a sure sign something bad will happen! Later, during the autopsy, it turned out that the guy died because someone substituted his medication. You see, the guy normally took a tranquilizer to slow down his respiration during the act--but someone substituted it with an amphetamine--causing his breathing to escalate and the man to run out of oxygen before the trick was complete. Later, the guy's widow tries the trick and once again, someone substitutes her medication--and she nearly dies. Who is responsible and why would they want to kill these folks?! It's nice that this isn't one of the social problem episodes. So, you won't see Quincy on a rampage preaching and yelling! Overall, a decent episode and a chance to see a couple old-time actors once again (Don Ameche and Ann Blythe). Entertaining--though my wife very quickly figured out who was responsible.

Two stars from old Hollywood...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 2 March 2024]

... and a murder technique out of the old Batman TV series are featured on this episode.

A young magician tries his mentor' s "Death Challenge" in which he has three minutes to escape from his bonds in a crate that is submerged in water. He drowns. At first it all just seems like a terrible accident, but then Quincy does his autopsy and finds signs of a powerful stimulant in the drowned man's system. His widow says that he always took a tranquilizer before a performance, so somebody has switched the drugs to cause the man's death. Then later, the widow says she will attempt the Death Challenge and she almost drowns, only being saved because Quincy is on the set to recognize that she is in trouble. There is also foul play in this performance as well. So who would want to kill these people? Watch and find out.

A better question would be - Why kill these people in such a complicated way? Like in the old Batman TV series, why try to kill Batman with giant man-eating clams when a gun would have done just as well? I guess the reason is that then there would be no complicated mystery to solve.

If you can suspend your beliefs this is a pretty interesting episode, but there is also some pretty cringe-worthy dialogue. It seems that, at this point, this show realizes it is a hit with an older demographic and is working towards keeping that demographic satisfied.

Momentum delivers more brilliance

[coachjchris · 1/10 · 20 August 2021]

Preposterous premise. Dreadful dialogue. Absurd plotting. Punch the clock direction. Perfunctory yet overwrought performances by guest actors. Many unintended comedic moments however not enough of them to deduct 60 minutes from your life. It must have been a chore to take this mess all the way through post-production. Poor Don Ameche utterly waste of his time and talent A tour de force of incompetence slapdash drivel.