"Probe," which originally aired on ABC in 1988, starred Parker Stevenson and Ashley Crow as Austin James and Michelle "Mickey" Castle. It was a fun, exciting, and enthralling mystery show that just didn't survive.

Austin was an eccentric genius, who made a splash on the scientific scene early on in life, founded an all-purpose scientific center and company, Serendip, then decided interacting with people just wasn't his thing. He retreated to a warehouse (derisively dubbed by Austin's vice-president as the "Batcave") stocked with equipment, kitchen, and presumably a bed, although you would most likely find Austin napping in a cupboard, excuse me, sensory deprivation tank.

Mickey was one of many secretaries that had one by one quit after encountering the eccentric Mr. James. Sent by the vice-president of Serendip to have Austin pay a bill, she accidentally by-passed Austin's idiosyncratic password into his warehouse. After a few misunderstandings, one involving that cupboard, Austin dragged Mickey along to a murder scene, and into his life.

"Probe" was equal parts mystery, comedy, and drama. Created by Isaac Asimov and Michael Wagner, it only aired for a total of six episodes, including the movie length pilot. Cleverly written, it has most often been compared with "The X-Files." In my opinion, the show it most matches today is "Monk." If it weren't for its short-lived run, one could almost suspect that it served as the model for those two shows.

My interest in the show started in 1996, when it was aired on The SciFi Channel as part of its "Series Collection." I recorded every episode and embarked on trying to transcribe the episode scripts. To date, I have only completed two episodes, but I have in a notebook somewhere, transcriptions of dialogue only for the pilot. At some point in time I hope to have those up on the site. For now, you'll have to be appeased by the other content on this site.

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