This is a show starts with a parrot giving evidence. So make yourself comfortable. McBride , as someone else says somewhere catches a lot of Columbo fans who like their heroes to work things out for them and generally McBride does a nice job of fulfilling the fantasy. Comparisons to Perry Mason are plentiful elsewhere but Mason is/was a fantasy hero of a different nature and pulled so many tricks in court that would not be allowed in the USA or Britain certainly. Perry Mason had pretty much the same formula every week and had one of the greatest of theme tunes which conjured up a film noir style and the heavily set Raymond Burr as Mason and his entourage followed a pattern much more so than McBride whose wooing of the sexy older woman, D.S. Roberta Hansen, is entertaining and more of its time than the worshipful Della Street in Perry Mason. It's all feel-good and make believe so enjoy the parrot scene ( is it a parrot? ) it is hilarious and comes close to another albeit more famous sketch with a parrot from a certain British comic troupe.
Review of McBride: The Chameleon Murder
