Inspector Rex | |
---|---|
Also known as | Kommissar Rex Il commissario Rex |
Genre | Police drama, police procedural, dramedy |
Created by | Peter Hajek Peter Moser |
Starring | see Characters |
Opening theme | A Good Friend (season 1-10) My Friend Rex (season 11-13) My Name is Rex (season 14-18) |
Ending theme |
My Name is Rex (season 11-18) |
Country of origin |
Austria (1994-2004) Italy (2008-2015) |
Original language(s) |
Viennese German (1994-2004) Italian (2008-2015) |
No. of episodes | 119 (original) 90 (revived) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Peter Hajek Peter Moser |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Release | |
Original network |
ORF (1994-2004) RAI (2008-2015) |
Picture format | 625-line PAL (1994–2004) 576i 16:9 DTV (2008-2015) |
Original release | November 10, 1994 – October 19, 2004 (original series) January 29, 2008 - June 19, 2015 (revived series) |
Kommissar Rex (English title: Inspector Rex, Italian title: Il commissario Rex) is an Austrian police procedural drama that aired from 1994 to 2004 on ORF 1. In 2008 the series was revived under Austro-Italian production on Rai 1, and has since 2009 been made fully in Italy, with occasional episodes set in Austria. RAI cancelled the Austro-Italian production in June 2015, after eight Italian seasons.
The show follows the German Shepherd police dog Rex, his partners, and the rest of the team at the Vienna Kriminalpolizei homicide unit, as they work together to solve crimes. Since 2008, the show has been set in Rome.
A spin-off series, , that focuses on Ernst Stockinger, one of the original members of the homicide division, came to TV in 1996. A Polish spinoff, (English title: Inspector Alex), which takes place in Łódź, Poland, started airing in 2012. A Russian spinoff, Muhtar's return was broadcast on Russia-1 and NTV (Russia) from 2004 to 2015.
The original series is set in Vienna and focuses on the three-man staff of an office of the Kriminalpolizei - the Austrian Criminal Police - specifically a Mordkommission (homicide unit). In addition to the three policemen, the office is staffed by a German Shepherd called Rex, the main star of the show, who functions variously as a cadaver dog, a sniffer dog (for both contraband and narcotics) and as another pair of eyes and ears for his team.
The original team at the office consisted of Richard Moser, Ernst Stockinger and Peter Höllerer. This team was also assisted by forensic expert Dr Leo Graf and retired policeman Max Koch. The show had many changes in characters, including Christian Böck replacing Stockinger, Alexander Brandtner replacing Moser and former statistics officer Fritz Kunz replacing Höllerer. The final Austrian incarnation of the series featured a male-female duo of the clumsy Marc Hoffmann and a female officer Nikki Herzog working alongside Kunz. Dr. Graf is the only character to remain for the entire Austrian production of the series.