Quincy M.D. or Quincy M.E.: Why do folks confuse the title?

nEver wonder why TV shows like Quincy M.E., Trapper John, M.D., Doogie Houser, M.D. and Marcus Welby, M.D. have some sort of hang-up about initials after their name? The funny thing is that it’s not just that way with medical late night dramas; even Tom Selleck landed a whopper of a hit with his Magnum, P.I!While I can easily understand that many people are easily confused by the title of the series when it first came out, but many people still don’t get the title right and it’s been over 20 years since Quincy first aired! I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people mistakenly, call the show “Quincy, M.D.,” “Quincey” or just plain Q.M.E.nnnnHow hard can it be? Here’s a guy who’s not only checking out the cause of death on the table but runs around after thugs and crooks as well. This was one of the concerns Quincy co-creator Glen Larson was up against when he had tried to sell network executives on the show’s potential. Time and again, they would tell Larson that no one is interested in a series about coroners, causes of death, and crime scenes. However, the story as Larson indicated is that Quincy wasn’t going to be a show about your typical sterile, white, lab-coated coroner! Rather, this coroner was going to have an insatiable curiosity about the scene of the crime, and the detective work needed to flush out the most irresponsible of killers. This is why the show tends to rank more as a CRIME DRAMA than a medical show. Who knows maybe with a little coaxing we could have Universal change the title to “Quincy, P.I.” (grin).nnnnn