Well, there are some mighty fine performers mentioned on this thread (esp. Sutherland, Plummer (didn't know 'bout him), Pinsent, Myers, Short, Follows, Candy, Ackroyd, Bujold) but I must admit, when I saw the thread title, I thought of Paul Gross pretty much immediately. So I'll be over here in the "Due South" fans' corner with CarolC. Gotta admit, I've never heard it compared to "Murder She Wrote" either. Just don't see any similarities there. Among many other marked differences, MSW doesn't have a fraction of the wit or attitude of DS.

And of course, as a "Due South" fan and before that an "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" fan, I think Leslie Nielsen's a hoot.

And to add some musical content (not to mention drift) to this thread, a word or two should be said about the outstanding use of music in "Due South," not just in its selection (Loreena McKennitt, Sarah McLachlan, Dire Straits, Crash Test Dummies, Klaatu, Ashley MacIsaac, Leahy, and a bunch of other interesting-sounding stuff you and I may never have heard of), but in the often-seamless was it was used to accent the story line. I must also sheephishly admit that I was mostly unaware of the marvelous music of Stan Rogers until exposed to "Barrett's Privateers," "Northwest Passage," and "Watching the Apples Grow" in episodes of "Due South."

The show also included a fair number of original songs, much of them written or co-written by Paul Gross. My personal favorite is "Ride Forever," which Gross's character, Constable Benton Fraser, sings with the RCMP Musical Ride on a train:

Ride Forever - Paul Gross
(by Paul Gross & David Keeley)

I was born north of Great Slave, 1898
And I rode near all my life on a ranch near Devil's Gate
And I've seen this world about me bend and flip and change
Hey, it feels like rain - that's a thunder cloud

We'll, I've been called a coward, but I've seen two world wars
And I lost my son Virgil, my Korean reward
And my Lucy died last summer - you ask me if I cry?
Hell, I'll show you tears, they're all over this ground
They're falling from these blue Alberta skies

But I'm going to ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call, well it's only then
I might pull the reins

They tell me I'm an old man, they tell me I am blind
They took my driver's license, this house ain't far behind
I say jump back all you big suits, 'cause you've got something wrong
I ain't gone, no I ain't gone

I am still breathing, and I still have my pride
And I have my memories, your life it never dies
Like the wind that blows in thunder
Or the stallion on the fly - I got it all
And I'm standing tall underneath these blue Alberta skies
And I'm going to ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call well it's only then
I might pull in the reins

So I say to all you old men - don't let yourself get broke
If you think the world's gone crazy, and it's scratching at your throat
It's time to dust off that old saddle, get it on a horse Kick up your spurs, we're gonna run like stink
We're gonna tear across these blue Alberta skies

We're gonna ride forever
You can't keep horsemen in a cage
Should the angels call
It's only then
I might pull in the reins

And you know, how can you not just love a show where one of the most interesting characters is a domesticated wolf named "Diefenbaker?"

Chris