Reason Not to watch Murdoch Mysteries

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  • Reason Not to watch Murdoch Mysteries

    I happened to catch an episode tonight of Murdoch Mysteries, a production by the Canadian house Shaftesbury, on CITY TV at 10 p.m. this evening, 22 December 2012. As you may know, Murdoch is an intrepid detective in late 19th century Toronto who applies deductive reasoning and science to close his cases. It is one of my wife's favourite shows and I have enjoyed watching episodes---until tonight. The central character in the story is a young woman considered an "idiot savant" who possesses, among other attributes, an incredibly precise memory. This talent is underscored when, in Detective Murdoch's office, she knocks over a chessboard on which, presumably, our brilliant sleuth has been playing a game. To our boy wonder's amazement, she then replaces the pieces in, he proclaims, exactly the original position. This realization of her photographic memory leads him ultimately to the solution of the mystery.
    The only problem is this: first, when she replaces the pieces on the board they are clearly not in the original position (pawn on f4 instead of g4, rooks and bishops misplaced, etc.); second, neither the original position nor the position she recreates is possible as both White bishops are, in both cases, on dark squares.
    I suppose I should simply laugh this off as yet another example of the film and television industry's well-established proclivity to screw up anything to do with chess. But I find it truly unbelievable that a reputable production house like Shaftesbury could so totally mishandle the central element in a show that purports to be built around the precise scientific approach of the hero. Perhaps it is too much to ask that the producers take the trouble to consult one of the hundreds of expert chess players in Toronto to set up a position that is at least possible. But it would have taken no special effort on the part of continuity to ensure that the pieces get put back on the right squares. Indeed, you would think it would take a special effort to get it wrong and then miss it in editing.
    Needless to say, that is the last episode of Murdoch Mysteries that I will bother to watch.

  • #2
    Re: Reason Not to watch Murdoch Mysteries

    Originally posted by Gordon Ritchie View Post
    I happened to catch an episode tonight of Murdoch Mysteries, a production by the Canadian house Shaftesbury, on CITY TV at 10 p.m. this evening, 22 December 2012. As you may know, Murdoch is an intrepid detective in late 19th century Toronto who applies deductive reasoning and science to close his cases. It is one of my wife's favourite shows and I have enjoyed watching episodes---until tonight. The central character in the story is a young woman considered an "idiot savant" who possesses, among other attributes, an incredibly precise memory. This talent is underscored when, in Detective Murdoch's office, she knocks over a chessboard on which, presumably, our brilliant sleuth has been playing a game. To our boy wonder's amazement, she then replaces the pieces in, he proclaims, exactly the original position. This realization of her photographic memory leads him ultimately to the solution of the mystery.
    The only problem is this: first, when she replaces the pieces on the board they are clearly not in the original position (pawn on f4 instead of g4, rooks and bishops misplaced, etc.); second, neither the original position nor the position she recreates is possible as both White bishops are, in both cases, on dark squares.
    I suppose I should simply laugh this off as yet another example of the film and television industry's well-established proclivity to screw up anything to do with chess. But I find it truly unbelievable that a reputable production house like Shaftesbury could so totally mishandle the central element in a show that purports to be built around the precise scientific approach of the hero. Perhaps it is too much to ask that the producers take the trouble to consult one of the hundreds of expert chess players in Toronto to set up a position that is at least possible. But it would have taken no special effort on the part of continuity to ensure that the pieces get put back on the right squares. Indeed, you would think it would take a special effort to get it wrong and then miss it in editing.
    Needless to say, that is the last episode of Murdoch Mysteries that I will bother to watch.
    I know that in TO we were asked to send a chessplayer to the filming of a movie...Tom (who was working the store) went (despite the fact that it was Xmas and I was REALLY not happy LOL)...to make sure that the chess part made sense....he was paid by them (Umm...better than we could dream of paying LOL)....We survived that year...despite this situation...I am sure Tom will fill in the details...I love him anyway...he is a class act...most of the time LOL :)

    Larry

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    • #3
      Re: Reason Not to watch Murdoch Mysteries

      Originally posted by Gordon Ritchie View Post
      I happened to catch an episode tonight of Murdoch Mysteries, a production by the Canadian house Shaftesbury, on CITY TV at 10 p.m. this evening, 22 December 2012. ...
      The only problem is this: first, when she replaces the pieces on the board they are clearly not in the original position (pawn on f4 instead of g4, rooks and bishops misplaced, etc.); second, neither the original position nor the position she recreates is possible as both White bishops are, in both cases, on dark squares.
      I suppose I should simply laugh this off as yet another example of the film and television industry's well-established proclivity to screw up anything to do with chess. But I find it truly unbelievable that a reputable production house like Shaftesbury could so totally mishandle the central element in a show that purports to be built around the precise scientific approach of the hero. Perhaps it is too much to ask that the producers take the trouble to consult one of the hundreds of expert chess players in Toronto to set up a position that is at least possible. But it would have taken no special effort on the part of continuity to ensure that the pieces get put back on the right squares. Indeed, you would think it would take a special effort to get it wrong and then miss it in editing.
      Needless to say, that is the last episode of Murdoch Mysteries that I will bother to watch.
      Send your complaints to Shaftesbury. But they are a low-budget company. Smart productions in Toronto (like Wind At My Back, The Listener) know to contact Strategy Games and hire Omar or somebody. Other shows continue with black right hand corner squares and kings and queens switched. They can even check that on the Internet.

      The Canadian film Cairo Time (2009) had a great scene in a chess club with a crowd huddled over the board, but not one of them notices the wrong-coloured corner! Some chess club. Ruined the movie for me. I've argued with a Set Decorator on the TV series Doc who didn't believe me that the colours of the corners matters (I didn't see that episode).

      Sometimes the close-ups are done by a second unit crew who don't have the chess consultant there. I think that's what happened in the tournament scenes in Knights of the South Bronx (2005) where a girl reaches across the board and moved her opponent's piece, among other errors.

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