Complete-series DVD release from VEI of Canada
An American detective series, produced and co-created by Stephen J. Cannell andairing for three seasons (1984–86) on NBC, that follows a private investigations agency in Los Angeles run by three Vietnam vets Cody Allen, Nick Ryder, and Murray Bozinsky (Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray) who work the hardest cases.
The show also starred Jack Ging, Ken Olandt, June Chadwick, and Anne Francis.
Not to be confused with the novel of the same name.
Tropes for the series:
- Alliterative Title:
- Baxter and Boz.
- Boz Busters.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Murray is "Boz" to Nick, Cody and many others, but his sister Melba calls him "Scooter." She is "Baba" to Murray.
- Nick and Cody sometimes call each other "big guy" and fondly refer to Murray as "the little guy."
- Ambiguously Christian: A Catholic priest seems to know the trio very well (he goes to their home and mentions Cody taking his place on the church basketball team) and hires them for a case. Are all the boys Catholic?
- Nick says a prayer and crosses himself before flying his helicopter.
- Animal Lover: Murray, who mentions several pets he had as a child (a bird, turtles and a dog named Muffy).
- He also feeds a pelican who sits on the boat's deck, returns fish to the ocean after he catches them, and likes most dogs. Murray is the only human Francine's dog Bucky likes, other than Francine.
- Bar Brawl: In "Polly Want an Explanation" and "Dead Men Don't Floss."
- Baseball Episode
- Big Brother Instinct: The boys are all protective of each other, but Nick is particularly protective of younger, and less physically strong, Murray.
- Brains and Brawn: Combined with Big Guy, Little Guy. Little, skinny guy Murray is the Brains; his larger, more muscular, partners Nick and Cody are the Brawn.
- And they even refer to each other as "big guy" and "little guy," as noted above.
- If they were women, Nick, a former football player, would be the Brawn; Murray the Brains; and well-dressed, blond Cody would be the Beauty. Although all three have their female admirers.
- Busman's Holiday: Happens to the guys in "Fuzzy Vision," when they're stranded in a small coastal town after their boat breaks down.
- Catapult Nightmare: Murray in "Echoes" after he kills Warwick. Nick comforts him.
- Christmas Episode
- Clothing Switch: Murray wears Cody's orange bathrobe in at least one episode, and Cody squeezes into Murray's tan jacket to go undercover. Cody and Nick are closer in size than Cody and Murray, but they're not shown borrowing each other's clothes.
- Murray also appears to wear a shirt in "Mirage" that Cody wore in an earlier episode.
- Constructive Body Disposal: In "Lady Killer," the first victim of a serial killer is buried in a basement wall. The Smells of Death and a wedding veil alert Nick, Cody and Murray to her.
- Continuity Drift: For Cody's age. In the pilot episode, he says he's 30, but in "The Bargain Department" in Season Three, Cody says he will be 40 in a few years.
- In the third season episode "Wipe Out," Cody says he was 17 in 1964. If the series takes place during the same time period when it aired (1984-86), Cody is 39 in Season Three.
- That fits better with his Vietnam veteran background. It's mentioned that he joined the Army and saw combat in Vietnam after dropping out of college, and since it's implied that he was in college for several semesters and lived with Janet during some of that time before dropping out, he was in his early 20s when he was in Vietnam, which is where he met Nick. In the pilot episode, Cody says they've been friends for more than 10 years.
- Nick's age is more established. He graduated from high school in 1969 and attends his high school reunion in a Season Two episode. He says he's 34 in the first episode of Season Two, so the reunion may have been his 15 year reunion. So he's four years younger than Cody if Cody was 17 in 1964, and unlike Cody, Nick may have joined the Army straight from high school. If he did enter the Army at age 18, it's not impossible for him to have achieved the rank of captain before the Vietnam War ended, when Nick was in his mid 20s.
- Murray is 33 in Season Two; his age is on his P.I license in "Girls' Night Out." That makes him much closer in age to Nick than to Cody.
- Cowboy Cop: Both Nick and Cody qualify by not being cops and so not always following rules of law in handling perps.
- They're not above threatening those who kidnapped Murray by hanging them out of a speeding car or a flying helicopter. Nick also interrogates a suspect by holding his head under water.
- Dead Man Walking: A journalist hires the boys to find the person who fatally poisoned her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Nick. Sometimes Cody too.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Happens to Cody and Murray in "Gams People Play," when a beauty pageant contestant says hello to them.
- Murray also seems distracted by a mermaid performer's large breasts in "Catch of the Day."
- Drugs Are Bad: Emphasized in "The Orange Grove," when drug runners kidnap Nick and Cody's Army CO, who is very anti-drug.
- In "#1 With a Bullet," Cody tells the singer the boys are protecting that they don't do drugs, when the singer asks them to get him some.
- Nick is also shown pouring bleach on marijuana plants to kill them.
- Endearingly Dorky: Murray. The reason why sometimes the Girl of the Week prefers him over handsome, athletic hunks Nick and Cody.
- A Friend in Need: Whenever one of the boys is in trouble or facing a crisis, the other two will drop everything to help him.
- Friend on the Force: Lt. Joanna Parisi, in contrast to Lt. Ted Quinlan.
- Friend Versus Lover: When Cody reunites with old girlfriend Janet, who had previously broke his heart when she left him, Nick confronts Janet, telling her she'd better keep Cody this time because he doesn't want his best friend heartbroken again.
- Geek Physiques: Murray "Boz" Bozinsky, who is the skinny type.
- Girl of the Week: With few exceptions, the love interests and female clients of the boys appear in one episode, then are never seen or mentioned again.
- Gory Discretion Shot: In "Smiles We Left Behind," Nick and Murray view a body found in a city dump, thinking that it's the missing relative of their client. The officer warns them of the condition of the body, and uncovers it so they see it, but the body isn't actually shown. Nick's and Murray's faces say it all, and Murray, looking nauseated, covers his mouth with his hand and quickly walks away. Later, after they've left the dump, Nick gently asks Murray if he's okay.
- Group Hug: At the end of "Harmony and Grits."
- Also at the end of "Boz Busters."
- Hiccup Hijinks: Murray gets them when he's upset or nervous. In "Boz Busters," Nick observes that Murray lost the hiccups after having sex, probably for the first time.
- Houseboat Hero: Cody runs the detective agency out of his boat; his partners Nick and Murray live on the boat as well.
- I Want to Be a Real Man: Murray, in "Peter Pan is Alive and Well." He's discouraged about not being macho and not good at hand-to-hand fighting, as Nick and Cody are, and even reads a book about being a real man. Nick talks to Murray and convinces him that he's already a real man.
- Killing in Self-Defense: In "Echoes," Murray fatally shoots a young man who has shot Cody. The young man starts shooting at Cody, Nick and Murray in response to the boys' client firing at him in revenge.
- As a result, Murray is traumatized and experiences My God,What Have I Done? moments, and can't touch a gun again.
- Nasal Trauma: All three boys get their noses broken.
- Nerds Are Naïve: Murray gets his heart broken more than once when he misunderstands the motives of a pretty woman, thinking that she is romantically attracted to him.
- Nerds Are Virgins: Implied for Murray in "Boz Busters." Nick and Cody help him find a prostitute
- Nerd Glasses: Murray wears them, and Cody wears them twice in disguise.
- New Old Flame: Janet Ingram for Cody
- Nice Guy: Nick, Murray and Cody are genuinely kind and respectful to most people, and not just to young, single and pretty woman, as expected:
- They're caring to children and to a mentally challenged man, whom they treat with respect as any other client, and as a friend.
- They're nice to a homeless bum before they know he's an eccentric millionaire in disguise and to an elderly bag lady before they learn she's a legendary Hollywood actress who owns the pier where they live, making her their landlady.
- Nose Art: The boys use a custom painted helicopter called "Screaming Mimi".
- Odd Friendship: Attractive and charming volleyball players Nick and Cody seem, at first glance, to have little in common with clumsy, social awkward and brainy Murray, who'd rather be at his computers than on the beach. But "Boz Busters" shows how quickly Nick and Cody became fond of him, and he of them, and the three developed a lasting friendship.
- Cody and Nick as well. Cody's the smooth talking negotiator with upper class polish and some college education (he dropped out to go to Vietnam); Nick's rougher around the edges and street smart, and better skilled at fighting than Cody and Murray. No mention of college for Nick; he may have entered the Army straight from high school.
- Old Beggar Test: Baxter Bernard
- One-Word Title:
- Pilot.
- Mirage.
- Echoes.
- Perpetual Poverty: It's mentioned several times that the boys have trouble paying the bills, and will take cases from sleazy lawyer Myron Bell mainly for money.
- In the first episode, Cody mentions that former whiz kid Murray made a lot of money from creating a video game, but lost most of it to bad investments.
- It's hinted that Cody comes from a wealthy family, but he doesn't seem to have access to the wealth. Nick seems to come from a more humble background, and is surprised at his high school reunion that his former football teammates are wealthy.
- The boys don't live on just the income from being private investigators. Both Nick and Murray are shown working second jobs - Nick takes tourists up in his helicopter for paid tours (his job before he and Cody opened the detective agency), and Murray teaches at a local college. Nick's also in the Army Reserves, and would receive a paycheck when he's called up.
- Murray also receives royalty checks from inventing the video game, and it's mentioned that the money pays for upgrades to the boat and living expenses when the boys haven't worked cases.
- Pregnant Hostage: In one episode, a young woman is kidnapped for ransom just after she learns that she's pregnant. The kidnapper is the father of her unborn child.
- Pillow Pregnancy: In "Four-Eyes," the boys team with two female private investigators, who pose as pregnant wives to Nick and Cody so the four of them can nab a suspected killer during a Lamaze class.
- Pottery Barn Poor: Averted, even though many fans ask how the boys can afford a houseboat, speedboat, helicopter, truck and a classic Corvette. It's mentioned that Cody saved for six years to buy the Riptide, which is, as Rainey and Annie say in "Girls Night Out," not a luxury yacht. It has only two bedrooms (Cody and Nick share one while Murray is crammed into the other with his computers), one bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. And the helicopter is old and often needs repairs.
- Nick may have also saved for years to buy and restore the Vette.
- Professional Sex Ed: In "Boz Busters," it's implied that Murray is still a virgin when he first meets Nick and Cody, although Murray is in his 20s. Nick and Cody help him find a prostitute, and may pay for her for Murray.
- Prone to Sunburn: Murray, as seen in "Double Your Pleasure."
- Real Men Hate Affection: Averted. The three guys often touch and hug each other, and each shows he genuinely cares about the other two, without actually saying it. The closest they come is Murray telling Nick and Cody that they're more than friends to him: "You're like brothers."
- And in the first episode, when Murray is telling Kendra how he met Nick and Cody, she observes that Murray loves them, and he replies, "Yes, Nick and Cody are wonderful."
- Roommate Drama: In addition to being partners in their detective agency, the boys live together on the Riptide, Cody's boat, and sometimes fight. Most notably in "Harmony and Grits." Both Nick and Murray almost move out after the three fight with each other.
- Nick also wants to move out in "The Bargain Department," when he disagrees with Cody and Murray about selling the detective agency to a large security firm and working for the firm.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Nick's girlfriend, a former Army nurse who served in Vietnam, in "Prisoner of War.".
- Hinted at for Cody in "Requiem for Icarus." Cody visibly flinches, more than Nick or Murray, when Doug turns an unloaded pistol on himself and clicks the trigger.
- Shirtless Scene: Several for Cody and several for Nick, beginning with the first episode. They do live in a beach community.
- Smart People Build Robots: Gadgeteer Genius Murray has a robot he calls RoBoz.
- Smoking Is Cool: In contrast to the Drugs Are Bad mentality that they seem to have, Nick, Cody and Murray all smoke cigars to celebrate successfully completing cases. The victory cigars, and occassional beers, seem to be the guys' only vices.
- Surfer Dude: Kirk Dooley, who's a sometimes helper to the boys in Season 2.
- Cody, when he was a teen. In "Wipe Out," he tells Murray that he would wake at 5 am to go surfing as soon as the sun was up.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Murray does this in "Wipe Out."
- The Tease: Murray's gorgeous sister Melba, who shamelessly flirts with both Nick and Cody.
- Although she never gets Cody's first name right.
- Murray becomes a Shipper on Deck when he watches Nick dancing with Melba and says Nick would be a great brother-in-law.
- Troubled Fetal Position: Murray in "Oil Bets Are Off" after learning his mentor was killed. Also, a variation in "Echoes," when he's sitting alone under a tree.
- Undying Loyalty: The boys have it so much to each other. In "Thirty-Six Hours Till Dawn," Cody says he will search all night for Nick, after he and Murray watched Nick crash his helicopter behind a mountain. Cody tells Murray that he doesn't have to go with him because a mobster's men will be searching for Nick and his passenger, and possibly because Nick may be dead and Cody doesn't want the sensitive Murray to see that. But Murray immediately tells Cody he's going with him.
- The Vietnam Vet: As mentioned above, Nick, Cody and Murray were all in the Army during the war. Nick and Cody had the same CO and saw combat in Vietnam; Murray was stateside in Special Operations, designing special weapons. Their Army background is part of the plot in several episodes.
