Inspector Rex
Kommissar Rex, known as Inspector Rex in English-speaking countries, is an Austrian live-action police detective series. The title character, Rex, is a highly-trained German Shepherd dog who works with a team of homicide detectives in the Austrian Kriminalpolizei, initially led by detective Richard Moser.
The series originally ran from 1994 to 2004. In 2008 it was revived as an Italian co-production, with Rex being adopted by a visiting Italian policeman and going to live in Rome. It also produced a short-lived spinoff, Stockinger, in which Richard Moser's first sidekick is transferred to Salzberg.
Tropes used in Inspector Rex include:
- All Part of the Show: In one episode, the villain plans to invoke this trope by replacing a prop knife in a play with the real thing.
- Canine Companion: Rex
- Chekhov's Skill: If Rex demonstrates a new trick at the beginning of an episode, you can bet it will come in handy later on.
- Connect the Deaths: One episode features a satanic cult that murders women and leaves their bodies so that they form a giant pentagram.
- Detective Animal: Rex.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first time we see Alex, he takes off his jacket and jumps into a river to retrieve evidence. As you might have guessed, he's very dedicated, isn't afraid of taking risks and very sporty.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Happens quite often.
- Evil Brit: Many a Villain of the Week has a Northern German accent.
- Heroic Dog: Guess.
- Heroic Pet Story: This series about a cop-canine partnership combines the the Heroic Pet Story and Buddy Cop Show genres, as the titular canine cop fights crime with his human handler.
- Mr Fanservice: Brandtner in spades, although Moser has his moments. One episode has Brandtner stripping down to his underwear so show he has no concealed weapons. When asked how he feels about being so exposed, he replies "...Sexy". Moser also goes skinny dipping in "Ein mörderischer Sommer"
- Nobody Touches the Hair: Played for Drama; molested children in an orphanage freak out when their hair is being touched.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Although much of the time it's more like Rex has human sidekicks.
- Once an Episode: At least one joke involving ham rolls.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping / Unexplained Accent: Moser has a very High German (theatre) accent when alone, but when speaking to other humans or swearing he slips into Viennese. He is supposed to be Viennese so this is more a case of his accent slipping when he is alone.
- Spin-Off: Sidekick Stockinger got his own Type I series after he transfers to Salzburg. It lasted two seasons.
- Spiritual Successor: To other Heroic Dog tv series, such as Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.
- Spoiler Title: Moser's final appearance is titled "Moser's Death"
- Trademark Favorite Food: Ham rolls, for both Moser and Rex.
- Wire Dilemma: Subverted in an episode where the character facing the dilemma takes too long to decide and runs out of time -- but his colleague had pulled the detonator out of the explosives.
- You Look Familiar: According to The Other Wiki, Brandtner, Moser's replacement, and Hoffmann, Brandtner's replacement, were both played by actors who had previously appeared as villains. Several Austrian actors also have reoccurring roles throughout the series.