Cat's favorite TV Detectives

I love mysteries.  Books, Movies, TV.  Give me a murder or a crime and bring on the detective.  To celebrate Donnell's debut, I thought I'd talk about some of the TV detectives, from sexy to quirky, that have inspired my heroes. 

I met my best friend in grade school.  We were crazy about Starsky and Hutch.  Well, really Starsky.  The crooked smile.  The crazy hot car.  The leather bomber jacket he always wore.  Every episode they got into trouble, but always in the end, they got their man.  I loved their cocky confidence.

Jim Rockford.  Lived in a trailer by the beach.  Trouble always managed to find him.  No matter how bad things got, he never stopped until he helped his clients.  He had heart.

From Life, Detective Charlie Crews.  The layers to this guy went on and on.  Framed and sent to jail for ten years, when he's exonerated and returns to the force, there's no question that he's got issues.  His brilliant mind is too often hidden beneath his odd behavior which leaves his co-workers puzzled and frustrated.  But he's driven to figure out who was responsible for sending him to prison.  And heaven help them when he does.  A man who has gone through hell and survived.  Complex and secretive, what's not to love?

Special Agent LeRoy Gibbs.  An enigmatic leader who has trouble with authority figures, he lives by a strict code all his own.  When he's not busting bad guys, he's building a boat in his basement.  (How the hell did he get it out of there?)  The strong silent man all the ladies want, but can never have.

And how could I not include Monk.  Talk about a man with issues.  But a genius.  Tortured by the loss of the love of his life and trapped by his OCD, he braves his worst fears to solve crimes. 

Who are some of your favorite TV detectives?