Yeah, I remember when US TV (on air and cable) would "fill in the spaces" with all kinds of short subjects, anything from random PSA films from the library to independent "artistic" short subjects.
I do like Murdoch. It's a very good cast, imo,. I wonder sometimes if it's the time of life for me to start watching stuff like Murder she Wrote, or Matlock, but Murdoch seems a notch or two "sharper" that them. Maybe more in the leagues of Colombo or Rockford or McMillan & Wife, only with the twist of the whole turn-of-the-century thing thrown in to add that little twist.