With all the murder-based procedurals out there in the TV world, somebody has to take care of the bodies. That’s where medical examiners and coroners come in. These men and women get the often-thankless job of figuring out exactly how the various victims were done in. In their honor, we salute 10 of the best medical examiners on current TV shows.
#10 Bones: Dr. Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor)
Bones’ coroner doesn’t just cut up dead bodies — she’s also the boss. Having the stomach to deal with autopsies is impressive enough, but when you add in the ability to deal with a bunch of socially-insane scientists, no one can top that.
#9 NCIS: Dr. Donald Mallard (David McCallum)
The long-time coroner for the NCIS team manages to roll kindness, eccentricity and medical brilliance into one character. Thanks to his psychological prowess, Ducky doesn’t even need a body to do his thing. He’s that good.
#8 Castle: Dr. Lanie Parish (Tamala Jones)
Every once in awhile, television brings us a medical examiner that might actually count as “normal.” Lanie falls into this group. Sure, she examines murder victims for a living, but she also manages to be best friends with one cop (Beckett) while dating another (Esposito).
#1 True Blood: Mike Spencer (John Billingsley)
You’ve got to wonder how he found the time. Mike Spencer wasn’t just the coroner in Bon Temps. He was also the funeral director. And he was quite busy with orgies for awhile too…
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
