`Detective Q` emerges as Korea`s Columbo

In the past, if you were looking to solve a crime, it would have been better to call Korea`s "Chief Investigator" than the rumpled "Columbo." In MBC`s detective drama, "Chief Investigator," actor Choi Bul-Am used to solve the case within 50 minutes whereas it always took Peter Falk a full hour and a half in the old American series "Columbo."

In Korea, the detective dramas that typically enjoyed the most popularity were foreign productions like "Columbo" and "Murder She Wrote" (known here as "Jessica’s Mystery Theater").

"Chief Investigator" focused not only on crimes and investigations but also on the human relations between detectives and criminals.

But that was a long time ago and since then TV has been a barren landscape for fans of detective shows. That`s about to change, however, with the arrival of the KBS-2 TV program "Mystery Theater Detective Q," which is set to run Wednesdays at 7 p.m. starting this week.

The show features, among other things, contests between panelists who watch the drama along with viewers at home and try to guess the culprit and the way the crime was committed.

The first episode involves the pursuit of a burglar who steals a gilt bronze Buddha statue just before this national treasure is to be put on display at a museum.

Viewers are intended to enjoy the process of figuring out "whodunit," while also learning something about scientific crime prevention and investigation methods.

Kwon Chae-Hyun confetti@donga.com