TONIGHT on Murder, She Wrote

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Viktor and Petra explore the political animals behind the scenes of small-town Idaho!It's more vicious than it sounds. Not only is someone already dead under mysterious circumstances, but the sheriff and his boy wonder seem in on it, and the investigating family still has a target on them. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) meets a new sparring partner with a badge (Ed Laurier), who is involved in a gambling enterprise full of conspiracy, manslaughter, and patio furniture. Mama Boss is Kate Gunnerson (Marie Windsor), a pit bull in a denim skirt, who runs the syndicate with a manicured hand. Jessica must decide who she can trust: the widowed wife (Ellen Bry), the charismatic upstart in office (Bruce Davison), the campaign manager who just buried his client (Joseph Campanella), the secretary with her ear to the door (Charlene Tilton), and the Police Captain (Mitchell Ryan), who could also be on the take. When another body ends up on the side of the road, and Jessica herself is driven off the road by the scariest truck since Jeepers Creepers, she has to live long enough to find justice in a rural community, manipulated by THE CEMETERY VOTE. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, there's NO ACCOUNTING FOR MURDER... and we hope you're doing okay after tax day last week. Alas, our protagonist Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton) is not.  Hapless and lovelorn, Grady is visited by his famous aunt Jessica (Angela Lansbury) in the midst of him being inundated with paperwork, suspicion of embezzlement, persistent horniness for the fabulous secretary (Kate Vernon), potential ghosts in the walls, and now a dead body!Naturally, when one of his bosses (James Noble, Michael Tolan) turns up skewered, we must debate whether this is manmade madness or a piece of the supernatural, as things have been disappearing and sightings of a phantom have been reported in the halls.  Jessica is less convinced of the otherworldly explanation, so she takes it upon herself to explore the dark catacombs on her own, despite the blood-red warnings on the wall.  Aided by an amiable Irish--very Irish--policeman (Barney Martin), this fairly simple urban murder mystery is further amplified by ambititous camera choices, a fantastic feminine ensemble including screen legend Dorothy L'Amour and suspicious widow Patty McCormack, and spooky moments offset by banter, including Jessica contending with IRS agent Geoffrey Lewis and corrupt appliance salesman Ron Masak (future Sheriff Metzger!).

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, we find ourselves in a closed-off location surrounded by vaudeville comedians! Ahhhh!Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence are bitter adversaries after breaking off their Martin-and-Lewis-esque comedy partnership decades ago, so it's a shock when their kids inexplicably fall in love and want to get married.  Everyone meets at a rustic lodge to have it out with each other, and when an attempted murder and an actual murder spice up the weekend, well, it sort of puts that old rivalry into perspective. Oh, and Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is there for some reason.Suspicions are further raised with agent (George Furth) versus accountant (Arte Johnson) when the comedy duo's video cassette sales seem to be making someone money... but who!?This is one of the quintessential episodes of Season 3, and Petra Fried and Viktor Devonne sink their teeth promptly into it.  From the bottle episode energy, the illustrious guest stars (George Clooney! Sheree North! Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure!), and the vicious quips back and forth between Hollywood legends, it may be NO LAUGHING MURDER, but it's a classic. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE... SIMON SAYS, COLOR ME DEAD.  The story behind that enigmatic half-joke will be revealed!Lauded painter—and resident of Cabot Cove—Simon Thane (Foster Brooks) is found stabbed with a carving knife after a tense dinner with friends, and purportedly his last piece leads the way to the killer— but it goes missing, too.  Immediate suspects are a study in class struggle; as "the girl" Irene Rutdlege (Tess Harper), who the Thanes employ as housekeeper and cook, is spotted late at night, spattered with blood; plus there's always his affluent guests of the evening, who include our liaison between worlds, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury).Power couple The Selbys (Dick Sargent and Ann Dusenberry), pass-around party bottom art dealer Felix (Leonard Frey), and The Wife (Diane Baker) are all on the list, but Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) is content to let Irene swing for it as long as he gets to adopt Irene's precocious adolescent child (Chris Hebert). Throw in a mysterious stranger who peers from car windows (Steve Inwood), and the plot thickens like oil paints left out overnight.Viktor and Petra deconstruct the complications of hero worship, maternity fraud, emotional affairs, and Jessica's search for the owner of a lighter that might bring it all together.  It's a wowza of a killer's confession, an anthology of women's hairstyles of the era, and a preponderance of handsome Cabot Cove deputies we only see once.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we are back in Boston watching guys punch each other, between shots of Angela Lansbury slowly putting on her sneakers, preppy strolls in a sweatvest, and rides in cabs with unconvincing city backdrops.In this ambitious but insecure backdoor pilot for Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) and his private investigations, we surprisingly find ourselves in the world of boxing.  Harry is propping up Blaster Boyle (Harold Sylvester), a nearly past his prime fighter who is being compelled to take a dive.  A suspiciously motivated journalist (LaVar Burton) and his gal Friday (Lynne Moody) are on the case, and just when they're ready to expose the shenanigans, an Adam West-shaped corpse throws a wrench in the works, and Harry is implicated.  Needing Jessica's help (and her $5,000), Harry calls upon our favorite New Englander busybody to not only clear his name, but bring his boxer to his fighting weight.  It makes about as much sense as it sounds, and if it seems like it's not possible to fit it all in 47 minutes, you are right!  This extra-sized episode is often truncated to an inscrutable edit that does it no favors.With appearances from John Amos, Ernest Borgnine, Bradford Dillman, and Caren Kaye, this experimental period in the show's development of season 3 continues with Petra Fried and Viktor Devonne trying to keep up with makeshift flashbacks and missing pieces, knowing it will somehow come out with a sunny walk in a park and the thrilling examination of a dingy sofa cushion. 

We’re investigating bulletproof vests, teddy bears, and tainted cheese TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE. But can we trust the reported results?  Questionable...Our busybody sleuth and mystery author, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), finds herself in the world of Consumer Reporting television. Lured at the request of her wet-blanket buddy, Jayne (Judith Chapman), who is struggling in her marriage to the show's producer, Steve (Robert F. Lyons), things turn bloody when the charming —at least on camera— yet volatile host, Kenneth Chambers (Rod McCary), is discovered, you guessed it, shot dead. Perhaps he should have worn the bulletproof vest after all?Naturally, everyone hated the guy, and all are better off without him, but whose motive was strong enough to do him in? Was it the ambitious and cutthroat aspiring producer (the fabulous Adrienne Barbeau) and her naive protégé (a delightful Pat Klous) who are quick to swoop in and fill Chambers’ high-profile shoes; the mobster toy hussler (Joe Santos) who the dead guy was blackmailing; the exhausted Steve who just wants a night off; the elusive executive hunk (Morgan Stevens) who has a lingering fondness for Jessica’s pal; or a begrudged techie (Brian Matthews) who our victim fired hours before biting the bullet?No surprise, our lieutenant (Barry Corbin) is more interested in a quick arrest and patting himself on the back than in doing actual detective work. Luckily, Jessica can count on custodian and unexpected Watson fill-in, Bert (George Takei), to bait a trap for our killer— and procure some rad celebrity memorabilia along the way.Coffee stains, bad dental work, and low-cut dresses won’t distract us, but a Gypsy-inspired musical theatre tangent might... Ultimately, THE BOTTOM LINE IS MURDER.

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Jessica Fletcher is gonna tell us a story. In an unprecedented turn of events, our mystery writing sleuth (Angela Lansbury) is taking a day off from actual bodies and clues, to instead actually do some work. She's proofreading her new novel, MURDER IN A MINOR KEY, in her robe and slippers, and, for some reason, we've been invited to watch. The story takes place largely at a college, where a student (Paul Clemens) accuses his professor (George Grizzard) of stealing his music and selling it to a Broadway show without giving him credit. When the professor ends up a corpse, said student is added to the list of suspects that includes The Wife (Karen Grassie), the Vice Chancellor (Tom Hallick), the Rival (Rene Auberjonis), the Producer (Herb Edelman), and anyone else who may have hated the man (hint: lots of people). Our Fletcher proxy is Shaun Cassidy, who, alongside Dinah Manoff, attempts to get his friend off the hook. Throw in some campus unrest, missing manuscripts, secret affairs, attempted burglary, and something to do with what light blinks when what phone rings, and it's all otherwise the usual... without Jessica. Petra and Viktor break down the theoretically straightforward plot that we're supposed to follow and solve alongside our heroes, as per the writer herself. We're grateful to have her as a guide, though, because we're not sure we would ever have made the connection without her. While season 3 has hurled surprises at us, this episode, without Jessica grilling the suspects, is an uneven change of pace. Familiar faces like Paris Vaughan, Scott Jacoby, and the particularly charming Manoff keep us going another week, and now that we know the ending of the new book, we can brag about it at the water cooler that we got it right from the source.

It's time for a little bed rotting TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, but even being confined to a bed due to a back injury won't stop Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) from being up in everyone's business.Inspired by SORRY WRONG NUMBER, this creepy, crawly thriller CROSSED UP features our heroine on the hunt for the raspy-voiced man whom she overheard plotting the murder of "the old man."  When the old man and the proposed hired killer both end up dead, the questions only mount further.  Naturally, our suspects are all rich douchebags: Tony Dow, Sandy McPeak, and Adam Rogers are conniving opportunistic brothers, and the cat-stroking Colleen Camp (playing Dow's wife) is on hand to look gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.  The only one in the family with a heart is Stephanie Dunnam, who may hold the clue to reveal the killer — if it isn't her. Jessica's nephew, Grady (Michael Horton), provides moral support and a bounty of Tuna Surprise for his ailing aunt, who can't get the men in her life to take her seriously; as usual, the good doctor Hazlitt (William Windom) and Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) fail to match her energy to catch the murderer.  Will she be able to assemble her men around her boudoir to crack the case on her behalf, or will the ill-timed rainstorm in our final act catch her vulnerable and unarmed?This heavy hitter of Season 3 also features appearances by inquiring diner owners, illicit tape recordings, and the most cops we've ever seen descend on a Cabot Cove house.  Do you like to tango?

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Kate Mulgrew looks amazing and is acting her face off, all for her $2 million necklace to go missing. Jessica and her Scotland Yard Watson (David Hemings) are along for the plane ride to determine who took it... and oh, yeah, who killed her bodyguard chauffeur (Mark Venturini)?In this closed circuit mystery set on international first class, THE CORPSE FLEW FIRST CLASS features Mulgrew as superstar Sonny Greer traveling with a cavalcade of suspects: John S. Ragin, James Shigeta, Robert Walker Jr., Mary Jo Catlett, Robin Dearden, and Pat Harrington. Jessica and cast have to contend with fake jewelry, bad batteries, shaving cream, and what wine pairs well with fish. If you can keep up with all of these characters, where they are at all times, and how England feels about American dogs, you'll experience one of the best-rated episodes of the show--and a knitting bag full of misdirection and revenge. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're objectifying a Brady boy between his visits to the dentist, bullying intellectuals, and sleeping with the college administration.  Join us!Petra and Viktor join Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) when she visits Vermont to help out protegee Dorian (Thom Bray), a romantically disabled Grady supplicant, who promptly passes her off as his mom to impress his sort-of-girlfriend (Karlene Crockett).  Jessica begrudgingly (although frankly, not begrudgingly enough... we think she likes the attention) plays along, meeting the college town's residents, one of whom is destined to die.Dorian is implicated in the killing, and Jessica must shed the matriarchal subterfuge to aid in his exoneration, despite the saber at his feet and proximity to the victim, whose head is freshly missing.  Whoops.It's a rollicking autumnal spookfest as Barry Williams, Hope Lange, Judy Landers, Guy Stockwell, Fritz Weaver, and Charles Siebert all get substantially meaty roles in the caper of embezzlement, revenge, secret clubhouse knocks, and amateur goldsmithing. It's NIGHT OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN, and we're gonna need a few more olives to go with our martini. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we head to the theatre! Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) reconnects with her friends, who have gone on to become stage legends and lovers, and now exes, Maggie Tarrow (Eleanor Parker) and Julian Lord (Edward Mulhare), on the eve of their production.  While they alternate between gentle affection and tense discomfort, the actors are leaving the drama all backstage with cryptic messages and meaningful glances.Our suspicious ingenue Barbara Bennington (Ann Turkel) seems to have a vested interest in taking her understudy position to opening night, a curious geek (Don Most) lingers a tad too long backstage, and Maggie's young lover (Shea Farrell) is more interested in the stage manager (Christopher Norris) than learning his lines... All of that comes to a head when someone ends up dead, and Jessica is thrust into the investigation with Chief Drock (Josh Schuck), who is in way over his head.Bob Hastings, Dan O'Herlihy, and John Pleshette round out the suspects in STAGE STRUCK, a delectable return to form in a wild third season of our cozy mystery classic.  Enjoy a glass of red wine, break out the scrapbook, and dwell on past regrets with Petra and Vitkor in this display of sophisticated playhouse homicide. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, mystery writer JB Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is approached by infotainment news program "Scrutiny" for a profile; she is notably skeptical. Things quickly overtake the small town of Cabot Cove, leading to trampled flower beds and the local hotel being overwhelmed by the crew. When the reporter reluctantly covering the segment is... blown up on a boat... (it'll make sense at the time?), the story shifts, and the real curiosity begins: why and by whom?! And how many toes does the guy have?!OBITUARY FOR A DEAD ANCHOR alternates between bonkers and quant, and features a cast made up of Tom Bosley, Chad Everett, Abby Dalton, and Robert Paul. Petra and Viktor follow along with the twists and turns of media coverups, regional distrust, and reporters with funky hats. 

Petra and Viktor head to Hawaii for some R&R--and objectification of one Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck), who meets up with our Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) in a meeting of the minds and test of wills. A friend of Jessica's (Dorothy Loudon) panickedly calls the mystery writer across the country (and over the Pacific) to suss out if someone's trying to kill her, the frazzled Stephanie Faracy, or the total knockout Jessica Walter. Alongside them is the intrepid and Magnum's number one guy, Higgins (John Hillerman), who seems to have quickly developed designs on Jessica. Magnum is unamused. He's also quickly indisposed when he's framed for a murder, and suddenly things shift to Jessica's perspective as she tries to clear his name. If things seem a little out of whack here, it's because we're crossing over TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE with a 2-part caper that begins with the MAGNUM P.I. episode NOVEL CONNECTION before actually going anywhere with MSW's MAGNUM ON ICE.   With a cast including John McMartin, Jared Martin, Andrew Prine, Ramon Bieri, and those three special ladies who each provide a curious connection to the dead man... dead men..., it's a rollercoaster of a bipartite.Get your short shorts, your Detroit Tigers hat, and an extra hotel key; it's one of the most unusual MSW jaunts we've explored yet. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Petra and Viktor just barely make their DEADLINE FOR MURDER... mostly because we're awfully busy talking about aubergine suits, bad A.D., and potentially gay newspapermen. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) returns to Boston to meet with a nearly dead writer (Harry Guardino) who suffered a heart attack while defending the lady from libel. The newspaper is run by a heartless shmuck (Peter Mark Richman) and a staff that doesn't seem to like him very much. When he ends up dead, the suspects include the businessman he edged out (Tim O'Connor) and his family (Ken Olin, Katherine Cannon), plus his subordinates (Glynn Turman, Sydney Walsh, Eugene Roch), who would all prefer him... indisposed. Except maybe his bodyguard (William Smith). So much is occurring, from Jessica taking on the His Gal Friday part to determine how the victim bit it, if his past or present relates to his death, and how it all led to the man passing out at a fancy party. Gretchen Corbett is our lieutenant of the week to butt heads with Jessica, and may be suspicious of our heroine always being around when a man falls dead, but likely needs her to determine who poisoned our terrible Scooby Doo Villain. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is reunited with a charming scoundrel from her past: Leslie Nielsen!Once again, Jessica is tempest-tossed with David Everett (Nielsen), who's on a path for pirate treasure with a bunch of co-ed airheads. Is he on the level, or is he behind the near-death and eventual death of two of his helpers?Find out with Petra and Viktor as we explore the pretty straightforward plot of DEAD MAN'S GOLD: greed, mob intimidation, and thirty-year-old teens. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) returns to visit her season 1 niece Victoria and her now-husband Howard (Genie Francis and Jeff Conaway) as they each stand at professional crosswords. While Howard is struggling for recognition as an actor, Victoria is routinely demeaned and harassed at her job at the boys' club advertising agency as she handles the big deal fast food chain contract. When the scumbag boss (Richard Kline) ends up dead, Victoria is a prime suspect--as is the lecherous king of corned beef (Ken Swofford), the pretty lady competition (Susan Anton), and whoever may have delivered the last sandwich he ever saw. CORNED BEEF AND CARNAGE gives Jessica plenty to work with, from investigating suspects and potential witnesses, bothering busy deli workers, and bantering with our cop of the week, James Sloyan, over the likelihood of our righteous bludgeoner. Marcia Wallace, David Ogden Stiers, Warren Berlinger, and William Macy all provide excellent performances in this glimpse of the cutthroat world of marketing in the era of shoulder pads.  

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, it's as good a time as any that Petra and Viktor discuss eastern German politics of 1987. And it just so happens, ONE WHITE ROSE FOR DEATH is all about that!Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is reunited with the charming scoundrel Michael Hagarty (Len Cariou) just in time for an assassination centered around two German sibling musicians (John Glover and Maria Mayenzet). This brother/sister team isn't quite on the same level of political passion, and their parents are soon in danger due to their attempted defection.   Soon, the suspicions heighten within this closed circuit mystery set in a British embassy when an agent winds up dead, and Jessica and Michael survey the potential perpetrators: Tony Bonner, Jenny Agutter, Michael Anderson Jr., and Bernard Fox.Settle in for an evening of sophisticated intrigue and taut diplomatic nightmares, with questionable German accents, discrete stabbing instruments, and evidentiary flora. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE, WROTE, we enter a chapter of Dr. Seth Hazlitt's past... one he is barely in or has much to do with, it turns out.  Indeed, this is a weird one. UNFINISHED BUSINESS largely focuses on the backstory of one police detective, Barney Kale (Pat Hingle), who seems obsessed with righting a wrong from years back. Seth (William Windom) joins our other cast of suspects from a possible murder a decade plus earlier: Dr. Terence Mayhew (Lloyd Bochner), his former secretary and lover Cynthia Tate (Hayley Mills), and gruff fishing resort innkeeper James Sanford (Don DeFore), who welcomes them all as guests again. Kale says one of them is responsible for that death that was deemed accidental; and now a fresh faced couple (Erich Anderson and Erin Moran) are pulled into the mix when the reunion is interrupted by another death and Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) has to match wits with another sheriff (J.D. Cannon) other than Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley) who's not quite as easy to push over.  It all comes together as a somewhat bizarre edit of a closed-circle mystery, full (and we mean stuffed) of characters about whom we learn bit by bit by bit, and a series of odd motivations that Viktor and Petra try to deconstruct and explain.  Wish us luck. 

For our Season 3 premiere of TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we are enjoying a lovely time at the traveling circus: full of stompy elephants, tightrope falls, missing persons, and heavy enunciation.Carol Bannister (a pre-FRIENDS and SCREAM Courtney Cox) asks Aunt Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) to go on a quest to see if her presumed-dead grandfather really sent her a leprechaun for a wedding gift (it'll sort of make sense in context). We are soon headed to the three rings in Arkansas. The cavalcade of clowns, carnies, and animal trainers is vast; among them are the ringmaster Preston (Alex Cord), the pretty showgirl Maylene (Lee Purcell), single mom rope walker Katie (Pamela Shoop), and handsome roustabout Brad (Greg Evigan).  Soon, as these things tend to go, someone awful ends up dead, and we have to figure out whodunnit.Jessica matches wits with an ambitious (and total dick) Mayor Powers (Ronny Cox), with a sympathetic sheriff in tow (Gregg Henry), to clear the name of the now-certainly-alive grandfather, Carl (Jackie Cooper), who is implicated because of course he is.  Is the circus truly financially solvent, or is this an inside job? Will Jessica manage to spare her not-dead brother-in-law in time to make it to the wedding?  Gosh, we hope so, but a whole lot of obstacles stand in her way: lions, tigers, and Florence Henderson.This is DEATH STALKS THE BIG TOP, and the greasepaint is smelling strong as the crowd roars on.  

BONUS! TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE: In celebration of Petra and Viktor closing out the second season of our favorite cozy mystery, we are upping the cozy and adding some froth, saccharine, and a full Jerry Herman (LA CAGE, MAME, HELLO DOLLY) score of songs we think may have been in a drawer for a while.  It's MRS. SANTA CLAUS, the post-Murder She Wrote television movie also starring Charles Durning, Michael Jeter, and Terrence Mann.  If you've not yet experienced this overstuffed spectacle, you don't even have to whistle: we're here to get you through it.In this musical that depicts early 20th century New York as a rich, clean, patchwork quilt of races that get along, on the cusp of women's liberation, and one that still sort of glorifies child labor as long as they're well-heated, Angela Lansbury takes on the the titular role as only she can: fully committed, utterly delightful, and surrounded by actors who can only try to keep up. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, it's a full-season review with Viktor and Petra to share the highs and lows of our second year with Jessica Fletcher and friends.  We've visited tropical islands, college campuses, archaeological digs, mansions filled with secret passages, and even prison. In this special edition of the pod, revisit the femme fatales, studs, bonkers scenarios, a cast of old Hollywood, and those soon to be discovered, and (so much) more. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we enter a tangled web of country club snobs and social climbers via indomitable busybody and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). Jessica is visiting friends in high places, and we soon learn they're all just as dysfunctional and terrible as the rest of us, but with money. Her bud is Lloyd Marcus (Norman Lloyd), who is trying to pitch Jessica his first novel... uh, a FRIEND's first novel.  During the course of the visit, we meet his terrible daughter (Anne Scheedon), her adulterous husband (Christopher Allport), his jealous other daughter (Andra Millian), and the husband's mistress (Ellen Davis). We wouldn't really miss any of them, and in fact, soon one of them is dead--the victim, it appears, of the town's cat burglar who's been nicking precious paintings for the last year. Broken clocks, orphaned suit buttons, and Italian-American kitchen utensils are all part of the crime scene, where Jessica meets this week's detective, Police Chief Cooper (Cliff Gorman). They round up the suspects, from the delightful dandy Binky (John de Lancie) to the clueless mayor and his sharp-tongued wife (Gordon Jump and Audrey Meadows), and, of course, the butler (Aubrey Morris). As this sordid burg is further exposed for its secrets, IF THE FRAME FITS shows that even after a full second season of shocks and thrills from MSW, they were saving up for this truly lurid gem of a finale. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, WROTE, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is heading to New Orleans, so naturally, we're in the midst of Mardi Gras. Viktor and Petra watch and encounter masked religious figures, ambitious Shakespearean wives, and a hot shirtless executioner we'd all give (our) head to. Just as the debaucherous party is coming to a frenzied climax, a mob boss (George DiCenzo) ends up dead, and a distant cousin (Peter Bonerz) of Jessica's is in need of her help to clear his name. Jessica must contend with a skeptical investigator (Cesare Danova) with a grudge, a political power couple (Barbara Babcock and Granville Van Dusen), and a staff full of suspects (the bodyguard, Robert Forster, and the mistreated lover, Lisa Langlois). As we determine our actual killer, THE PERFECT FOIL is scattered with IOUs, furnadents, sword fights, and letters left on the carpet made of blood. Watch out for who is left-handed, whose stutter appears natural, and keep an ear out for the one actual clue that leads Jessica to her proper conclusions.

When Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) finds herself at a cutthroat charity tennis tournament, it only stands to reason that someone would get blown up and someone else would get stabbed to death. MENACE, ANYONE?TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we are engaged in a rapid-fire noir mystery this side of Hitchcock, DePalma, and Fincher featuring people we thought were dead, people who actually are dead, and the folks who know them. At the center of it all is Carol McDermott (Linda Hamilton), who is just trying to make it in the business called “sport” while tragedy after tragedy strikes her. We meet her boss, Van Johnson—whose daughter (Betsy Russell) wants her job—and her supportive boyfriend (Bryan Cranston), as well as two tennis pros who are depicted as just the worst people ever, played by Kelli Maroney and Doug McKeon. But it's not all office backstabbing and tight shorts on the court; we soon have a murder to contend with, and Jessica has her hands full with the hysterical Carol, who may or may not be harboring multiple deep, dark secrets. See, Carol might actually be bonkers and the one behind the murder... make that murders... plus, is she concealing a major medical condition that only an 80s detective drama can depict so sensitively?Is Carol truly crazy, or is someone else behind the mayhem? We WILL find out, but you need to pay attention because SO MUCH is going to happen; even your pod hosts, Viktor and Petra, aren't sure we caught it all. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're leaning into the spoilers because the actual episode title is CHRISTOPHER BUNDY - DIED ON SUNDAY. The reason behind that enigmatic half-joke of a reference to a children's nursery rhyme aside, we're dipping into the seedy world of adult men's magazine... publishing. Our title character (Bert Convy is back!) is a smut peddler who somehow got the rights to a JB Fletcher short story, and our heroine (Angela Lansbury) isn't taking the matter lying down. With her nephew Grady (Michael Horton) in tow, she heads the the mogul's estate where we see him and his desperately unhappy family: a bratty niece (Michelle Nicastro), a sullen nephew (Bobby Di Cicco), and a superglam sister (Carol Lawrence) ready to take the reins of his empire because... well, he dies on Sunday. We're further entrenched in suspects on the property: a spurned businessman (Robert Stack, being his most Robert Stack), an assumed faithful bodyguard (Alex Rocco), a suspicious butler (Robert Hooks), and a rising star in girlie-mag pictorials (Katherine Moffat). Whether it was family, foe, or the IRS (jeepers, ANOTHER subplot?), it's up to Jessica and the cop of the week (Robert Costanzo) to solve the killing of the pervy publisher!Get the drapes, would you?

We return to Cabot Cove, and even we're a little surprised there's a coffin so quickly.  But what really shakes things up is when that coffin is opened most indelicately —it contains the wrong corpse!So much mayhem ensues, with blueberry stains and lead pipes and oddly formative burial sites in tow.  It's IF A BODY MEETS A BODY, a Jessica Fletcher mystery that brings our tenacious investigator (Angela Lansbury) into the business of all her neighbors, with the local doctor (William Windom) and the sheriff (Tom Bosley) looking for the missing dead(?) man and a whole lot of money stolen from the townspeople.We, naturally, must look to the wife (Carrie Snodgress), the mistress (Audrey Landers), and the business partner (Monte Markham) as our easily assumed perpetrators; but there's no shortage of possibilities when we can implicate the undertaker (Robert Donner), an intrepid nonconformist in tight jeans (Rex Smith), and the couple who wants to pull out of the shady investment deal (Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling) at just the worst possible moment.When our missing dead body winds up... found and still dead... the mystery thickens like a New England chowder, and soon the money also appears to turn up in less than pristine condition.  Will this lead to the ruin of the small town's residents?  Find out with Viktor and Petra on TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we enter the sordid setting of... the auction house. In a somewhat chilling depiction of our culture's obsession with celebrity, even after (especially after?) death, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is tasked with being the highest bidder for a scandalous smut rag of a diary from a recently deceased starlet. When several more people end up dead, one has to assume it's pretty juicy. Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) is back with Jessica, seeking out the most likely suspects, which include a neurotic psychiatrist (Karen Black), an opportunistic film producer (Nancy Lee Grahn), and a semi-pornographer (Vic Taybeck) at the top of the list. They compete with semi-useless detective Lt. Casey (Ray Girardin), waiting in the wings to nab a former lover, a colleague, or a maniac fan. This episode features a killer's confession that splits the vote between Petra and Viktor, many quotable lines from Ms. Black in particular, Harry being THE WORST FRIEND EVER, and a lot of leaps to make a chessboard the answer to clues better found elsewhere. Will the diary be found and returned to hands that won't exploit the mysterious screen star that definitely isn't meant to invoke Marilyn Monroe at all in any way?  ONE GOOD BID DESERVES A MURDER, as those with the cash seem the most likely to get what they want. Edward Mulhare, Hurt Hatfield, Cotter Smith, and Rebecca Street round out the cast of victims and villains. Beware what you end up putting in print. 

TONIGHT, ON MURDER SHE WROTE, we're going to take you to church.Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is mid-visit with her old teacher Carrie McKittrick (Mildred Natwick) when the vultures descend; her opportunistic step-son (Richard Herd) and grandson (Art Hindle) express their outrage that the family money is going to the charismatic Reverend Willie John Fargo (Steve Forrest), who preaches over the airwaves.  Carrie becomes conveniently ill and dies; the family contends the motivation behind her healthcare was more than Christian charity and accuses the Reverend and his hospital staff of foul play.  Jessica is the only one who's able to suss out the real cause of death because the district attorney (Dick Van Patten) is totally useless, the doctor and on-call nurse (Jack Bannon and Barbi Benton) maintain their innocence, and the good Reverend's wife Sister Ruth (Judy Geeson) provides few answers to explain away why her husband may not have killed for a fortune.The possibilities are many in this exploration of exploitative televalenglism and dysfunctional family dynamics this side of a Sam Shepard play.  What ensues is a mystery involving hypodermic needles, forged wills, black eyes, and fanciful hair dye, with Jeannie Wilson, Frank Bonner, and Jill Hill as even more suspects, ranging from the devout to the devious.  Will Jessica solve the MURDER IN THE ELECTRIC CATHEDRAL?  Yes, of course she will, but it's a wild ride to get there.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we head to Alabama for a cozy mystery full of nooses, hobo fires, multiple stab wounds, pointy bullets, vigilantism, racial bias, and infidelity. It's a doozy this week as Viktor and Petra deconstruct one of the least "fun" episodes of the season, but it's not without merit and satisfying performances from multiple guest stars, particularly from Pat Corley and Dorian Harewood. When Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) joins a friend (Craig Stevens) to "happenstance" visit an old flame, it quickly becomes apparent that more is going on in this small town than expected. The flame's son (Brian Lane Green) is an aspiring musician with a bully who ends up dead. Naturally, he's the main suspect, and when the sheriff (Harewood) fails to immediately publicly execute him, the townspeople get awful mad. Jessica finds herself in the middle of trying to prove who really committed the murder, how, and where... because none of what the grisly scene provides makes sense.  Find out with us what slurs and inferences CBS deemed appropriate in 1986 as we roll out this POWDER KEG; also featuring Jackie Earle Haley, Larry Wilcox, and Stuart Whitman.  

This week, we encourage you to KEEP THE HOME FRIES BURNING as you take a little time to gorge on some good old-fashioned cooking... and leave room for MURDER. Noted "crisis hound" Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) joins Sheriff  Tupper (Tom Bosley), Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom), and no-nonsense health inspector Margo Perry (Anne Francis) to determine the cause of sickness and death at a local eatery one morning, and the suspects are many. Two women traveling together (Sharon Adler and Marcia Ross) visit Cabot Cove's hideous Americana eatery and fall victim to what appears to be mysterious food poisoning alongside some locals with all different arguments and backstories. It may be the work of an ornery cook (Alan Dupree), a rival, bitter restaurateur (William Lucking), or even a friendly and accommodating waitress (Donna Pescow); perhaps it's even a suspicious husband (John McCook) spotted in the kitchen, or a cranky local businessman (Orson Bean) or two (Alan Young).It's a curious course of jams, jellies, popovers, and the botulism that may be the link between them; perhaps we should all beware of old ladies bearing homemade preserves made in their kitchens TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're going behind the scenes of a murder trial. Join Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) as she incongruously takes the role of jury foreperson and weighs the evidence with her fellow eleven jurors, including Vicki Lawrence (Mama's Family), Allan Miller, Richard Sanders, Arlene Golonka, and more faces that you've seen all over 80s and 90s TV.Tony Bill is Mark Lee Reynolds, and he is having the worst night ever: accused of killing a one-night stand's husband the same night his own wife dies of car accident injuries.  Did he do it alone?  Was that floozy (Doran Clark) involved, clad only in the rumpled sheets of their passions?  Was it self-defense against said jealous husband (Michael Swan) who stormed the room with a gun? Jessica and co. go over the testimonies, dubious recreations of the night's events, and attempts by the A.D.A. (David Ackroyd) to get his man.However, things get further complicated by Mark's earlier accident, and when a witness implicates him and his purported one-time lover as knowing each other, it shifts the motive and timeline significantly.  And what of his wife's death; accidental after all, or just step one in an exhaustive series of events that leaves two people who never met, dead.Petra and Viktor deconstruct the case, the actors, and the plot, heavily inspired by 12 Angry Men, and see if it adds up the way Jessica will inevitably come to.  Stick around after this TRIAL BY ERROR, because Jessica has more to say after the verdict is given.  We're not sure how legal all this is, but it certainly is compelling! 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're back in New York for the celebration of Lila Lee Cosmetics' annual gathering, and things aren't going well. The no-nonsense Lila Lee Amberson (a particularly great Jayne Meadows Allen) is stressing out about the photographer using the wrong shade of lipstick in his shots, making sure all the Lila Lee Ladies are in uniform and get their choreography correct, and cutting down anyone who stands in her way. Her partner and brother Norman (Robert Culp) is distracted by a woman she finds beneath him (and she's... been beneath a few others); her name is Elizabeth (Ann Dusenberry) and she just happens to be a former student of... oh, you know it, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) who is town to visit her nephew Grady (Michael Horton). Grady himself is seeking a job with the makeup giant, via a college buddy, Todd (Leigh McCloskey), who happens to be Norman's son, and also peeved by the May-December relationship in which his father is engaged. Throw in a penthouse madam (Christine Belford), a mediocre actor (Robert Desiderio), a harried but increasingly glamorous personal assistant (Glenda Vandevere), and detective of the week Lieutenant Varick (Herb Edelman), and we have an eccentric ensemble circling a shocking grisly murder that Jessica is determined to solve; even if that means going undercover and donning the lilac and lavender of a spokeswoman for Lila Lee. It's an MURDER BY APPOINTMENT ONLY, and Jessica's schedule is packed with worthy vixens and villains to suss out. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, this MURDER DIGS DEEP!Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is doing research for an upcoming novel set during an archaeological dig, and her bud, Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom), is an amateur dig enthusiast, so she joins him in The Land of Enchantment.  As it happens, this whole affair is a sham, full of opportunistic gold hunters, Indigenous identity fraudsters, possible ghosts, and horny grad students.Wealthy douchebag Gideon Armstrong (Robert Vaughn) is joined by shifty professor Dr. Stan Garfield (David Groh) and grandiose blowhard Dr. Aubrey Benton (George Grizzard) to uncover the lost city of gold in a secluded area of New Mexico.  In tow are archaeology's answer to Moonlighting, Karen Parks (Cecile Callan) and Steve Gamble (Stephen Shortridge), who spend more time will-they-won't-they flirt-fighting than actually picking up a shovel.  We also have Armstrong's wife, Cynthia (Connie Stevens), who would rather be anywhere else, and Raymond Two Crows (Randolph Mantooth), the stone-faced First Nations guide who seems more annoyed that white people are trying to ransack the earth of his homeland than actually sharing accurate information with them.  When one of the party ends up dead in the desert by means of drowning, the adventure only gets that much deeper for our heroes, struggling to figure out just how the hell that happened.  Will Jessica and Seth discover unexpected connections certain figures have with each other, unmask what secrets lie in the real estate contracts of a lifetime, and demystify a supernatural dancing vision just in time to save the day? Yes! But it may require you to scrape your shoes off afterward.

Things are getting spicy TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE.  The town of Cabot Cove is flooded with suggestive letters about affairs, fraud, arson, and more, and it's up to Sheriff Harry Pearce (John Astin) to uncover the truth from the lies!Wait, who?  The real estate guy, Harry Pearce, is the sheriff now?! What is going on? Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley) attempts retirement and hands the badge to Gomez Addams here just in time for chaos to consume the mail slots of every resident. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) makes efforts to help solve the flood of questionable accusations after a young woman ends up dead in the tub, and wonders if there's a connection... what are the odds, really? Our new Avengers also includes an enterprising young writer (Parker Stevenson) in the mix, alongside Dr. Hazlitt (William Windom), Tupper, and Pearce, all seeking the answer behind the unusual, mismatching letters that even get Jessica a pocketbook across the face from a jilted wife. Following some fistfights on the docks, arguments between neighbors, curious motivations between three condominium investors led by the glorious horror movie icon Betsy Palmer (Friday the 13th's Mrs. Vorhees), the exposure of a false German, and the death of an innocent old lady, it's up to booze and butter to get us the answers we need.Our cast this week also includes Evelyn Keyes, Marsha Hunt, Denny Miller, Christopher Stone, John Campanella, and Paul Benedict. Join Petra and Viktor for STICKS AND STONES as we examine some suspiciously underused kitchenware.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE: Jessica is getting put in the slammer! When murder mystery writer and former English teacher Jessica Fletcher is tapped to fill in for a friend at the local maximum security prison for women, all hell breaks loose when a body is discovered, leading to a lockdown and hostage situation. The warden (Psycho's Vera Miles) is the prisoners' main suspect, and well-liked inmate Mary (Linda Kelsey) is the staff's and Jessica needs to figure out if either of them done it or someone else might get killed... well, someone else other than the other person who gets eventually killed. Our intrepid inmates include Adrienne Barbeau, Margaret Avery, Susan Oliver, Eve Plumb, and Susan Peretz in this all-ladies cast of convicted thieves and murderers (sometimes wrongly) torn between rioting and shooting their way out and working together to save one of their own. Since the food there sucks, the clinic drugs don't work, and the staff doesn't seem to treat them well, it could go either way. Among our prison employees are the doctor (Janet MacLachlan), the chef (Yvonne de Carlo), the deputy warden (Barbara Baxley), and a collection of guards of varying likability.Will Jessica be able to prove Mary innocent, the Warden ethical, and the prison food actually edible before the hotheads overtake the practical and a bloodbath of fire and fury? And is this the first TV episode where a poster of a uterus made it on TV? All this and more will be revealed in JESSICA BEHIND BARS!

And weeeeeeee're off to the races TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE! Place your bets* on the killer of the week or on our favorite dirty nose* Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), persistent meddler and murder mystery writer who this week is at the track to help exonerate yet another family member, this time niece Tracy (Linda Grovenor). Detective of the week Misko (Roy Thinnes in a stupid hat) joins Jessica to determine who's behind the murder, centered around Anchors Away, a 20-to-1. The usual jockey, Carlos Gallegos (Bert Rosario), gets replaced by Tracy at the last minute, a major boon for a rookie steeplechaser*. It's all just in time for Aunt Jessica to learn from his wife, Vicky (Priscilla Barnes), and a couple of gambling eccentrics (Carole Cook and Jack Carter) all the reasons why the sleeper won't win; but when he does, it's almost more shocking than the corpse found soon after. Is it a ringer?* A fix* Something clubhouse turn?*It's a story of mob ties, undocumented Panamanians, food poisoning, lip tattoos, and carrots; this is DEAD HEAT. Norman Fell joins the cast as a mobster in a great suit, Clu Gulager returns as a horse vet whose medical bag goes missing, Ramon Bieiri is the cranky security guard, and Derrel Maury is Cookie the horse wrangler and our latest inductee into the #HotGuysOfMurderSheWrote.(* horse racing talk, sorry.)

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE, WROTE, we are heading for a restful jaunt to a local lake resort to enjoy the company of new friends, get in some nature walks, and catch up on our sun.  Oh, sorry, no. This one has dead bodies, lascivious affairs with the staff, fugitives, mental abuse between spouses, and naked women running in the woods. Bring your binoculars because things are about to go down. Intrepid murder mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is persuaded by a friend in real estate (John Astin) to visit this perilous cabin in the woods. We get a quick glimpse of the matron of the property (Lee Meriwether) staring threateningly out of the upstairs window, setting the tone that this week may have more in store than planned. The players are many: the nebbish birdwatcher Hollis (William Christopher), the outgoing naturalist (Lee Purcell), and two sets of unhappy couples! There's the uncharismatic Turneys (Lauren Tewes and Charles Frank), where the wife is having an affair with the pool house boy/handyman (Charles Taylor); and the bickering Cranes (Susan Blanchard and Laurence Luckinbill), who give us all an unpleasant look into their home life during a particularly aggressive card game. When a body fails to wash up after going overboard during a morning boat ride fight, the question is how and why, as the who seems pretty straightforward. Naturally, Jessica is not convinced and will have to spend the rest of the week letting Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) know how incorrect he is every step of the way.  We also have William Windom returning as Dr. Seth Hazlitt to provide medical clues that will shock everyone... except our fearless protagonist, who's one step ahead in this mystery of A LADY IN THE LAKE. Hope you know your regional birds' nesting patterns. It'll be on the quiz. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, are you ready to face your REFLECTIONS OF THE MIND?! The music boxes are going off on their own, ghastly visages of mutilated bodies are in the bathroom, and the canaries are of uncertain vintage. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is a noted mystery writer who has scads of friends and family members who find themselves in trouble. This time around, she's visiting the hysterical (the freaking out kind, not funny kind) pal Francesca Lodge (Ann Blyth), who's convinced someone is sneaking around her house, and who's to say she's wrong?She's recently lost a husband, has a new hot race car driving one (Ben Murphy), is still reconnecting with a daughter (Stacey Nelkin) who's in recovery from drugs and rock and roll, and even the hired help are suspicious: the gardener Carl (Wings Hauser) and the maid Margaret (Esther Rolle). Perhaps the only one in her corner is her doctor/pill provider (Steven Keats), if he's not the one causing her mental break. When things keep going wrong (cars going off the road, possible ghosts, and really bad album art), Jessica is the one to bet on to get to the bottom of it, alongside the sheriff (Martin Milner), who actually seems to listen to her this time.  Your intrepid podcasters, Viktor and Petra, can't wait to see how this turns out, but we may need a drink (wait, is that right?) to prepare for the drive. 

SING A SONG OF MURDER features our most illustrious special guest star yet: Angela Lansbury herself!We meet Jessica Fletcher's English cousin Emma MacGill, headliner of the Mayhew Music Hall, which is only filling at partial capacity these days. Her co-star, Shakespearean actor turned terrible vaudevillian comic, Oliver Trumbull (Patrick Macnee), is of no help in getting folks in the seats, and his daughter, Kitty (Olivia Hussey), is hoping he sees the light and goes legit. She spends most of the time yelling his name; buckle in.  Her business partners, the Weems (Sarah Douglas and Kenneth Danziger), want to sell to shady local character Danny Briggs (Gregory Paul Martin). Still, Emma is holding things up, much to their chagrin--and the frustration of her personal assistant Bridget (Glynis Johns). Jessica is brought into the fray when an attempt is made on Emma's life--which means we're going full on Parent Trap with Lansbury meets Lansbury on screen.  Plus, we get a musical number, mistaken identities, and an inspector (Barrie Ingram) who actually listens to our intrepid mystery writer. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE we're goin' back to school where the teachers are all sluts who are lying to each other, the typewriters are ever so distinctive, and the train station attendant is just out to mess with you. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), noted mystery writer and murder solver, has been asked to speak at the commencement for Grenshaw College. She is quickly witness to the extracurricular activities of the faculty, made up of professors who are either sleeping with each other or utterly shocked at the notion that they're sleeping with each other. Things get wild at the party held by English department head Dr. Jocelyn Laird (Polly Bergen) when a frequently shirtless, up to no good former student (Morgan Stevens) shows up with Laird's daughter, literary smut writer Daphne Clover (Mary Kate McGeehan). Mother and daughter are both suspects when the hunky alumnus is found dead on campus the next evening. Detective of the week, Police Chief Griffin (Jack Kehoe), is certain it's either of them, but Jess is unconvinced when there are so many other partygoing academics that it could be instead. Could it be Dr Kenyon (Roddy McDowall) or Professor Mercer (James Sutorius), who are both up for the next promotion, or the easily appalled Henry Hayward (John Vernon)? Mrs. Mercer (Darleen Carr) also seems to know the murder victim, and Beryl Hayward (June Lockhart) seems to be the only sensible one who knows what everyone's been up to.  Train schedules, candlesticks, and curved typography all factor into the conclusion of SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. This is going to affect enrollment, isn't it?

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're gettin' soapy.Anyone alive in the '80s knows that we were an American culture obsessed with bitchy women in shoulder pads duking it out and saying nasty things to each other in the world of soap operas.  We meet a cast of actors who either want job security or want to be off the series, and no one is getting what they want.  Villainous writer Joyce Holleran (THE Jessica Walter) is making massive changes to the series OUR SECRET LIVES, and TV characters are getting killed off left and right by an in-universe masked and cloaked assassin, The Avenger.  When Joyce herself falls apparent victim to the mysterious figure, the question is, who was in the disguise?  Perhaps it was the actress Nita (Alice Krige) who donned the visage for the show, or is that all a distraction from one of her more ambitious co-stars, afraid of Joyce's pen?  The possibilities include longtime legend of the show Julian Tenley (Lloyd Nolan), series sex object Todd Worthy (Nicholas Hammond), the lascivious lead Bibi Hartman (our patron saint, Tricia O'Neil), the recently ousted Martin Grattop (Robert Lipton), or maybe it's the show's detective Herbert Upton (Paul Burke).Since Nita is Jessica Fletcher's niece, you know she needs to get involved; our intrepid murder mystery author and busybody (Angela Lansbury) storms the set to determine if someone may be responsible. On the call sheet, it's our director Gordon LaMonica (Terry Kiser), assistant staff writer Carol Needom (Mackenzie Phillips), and Joyce's very own boy-toy husband Larry (William Atherton).  Robert Walden is our Watson of the week, Lt. Antonelli, and Lurene Tuttle is a delightful 2-scene wonder as Nita's grandmother, all while Jessica explores the secrets to be revealed via teleprompter; it's MURDER IN THE AFTERNOON.

When is it a good idea to lie to the FBI? We may learn TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE! This week, we return to Cabot Cove just as a skeleton is unearthed on the construction site of a controversial hotel project. When the body is a likely candidate for either the town's revolutionary hero Joshua Peabody, some rando who liked reenactments, or this week's local good guy with a shameful secret, it's up to local celebrity busybody Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) to lead the case. The town is appropriately aghast when the hotel project's opportunistic businessman Henderson Wheatley (John Ericson), whom no one likes, soon joins the unknown body on the morgue slab. Now the question is who killed the terrible man and what connection may he have to corpse #1?Suspects include the construction tough with a mysterious hand wound (Ken Swofford), the sultry and dedicated blue-eyed newscaster with a vendetta (Meg Foster), and a real estate money man (John Astin)--plus nice guy (Michael Sarrazin) who the FBI (represented by the granite jaw of Chuck Connors) who it Just Can't Be. Jessica, Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley), and newcomer to the series Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) try to decide whether or not JOSHUA PEABODY DIED HERE... POSSIBLY. Grab a tarp and ready the wheelbarrow because this one's a doozy!

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, let's go on a vacation... of death!Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is undercover at the resort where a dear friend has been murdered, and she's determined to find the culprit.  Along the way, she finds the dashing Michael Haggarty (Len Cariou) who seems to know more than he's letting on, the suspicious hotel security (Howard Hesseman), the cornfed midwest darling schoolteacher Veronica Harrold (Anne Lockhart), the hotel manager Eric Brahm (Mel Ferrer), and the fabulous Ms. Alva Crane (Mary Wickes), who's after what we're all after: the man in the tight pants with the drinks.Jessica's detective chort this time is Raymond St. Jacques as Chief Inspector Claude Rensselaer, who would be more helpful if he didn't constantly blow her cover in public.  When another murder takes place, it's up to them to suss out what the connection is... and why everyone's jewelry seems to be really fake.  Expect it to require invigorating iced tea (no chemicals), a purple turban, misplaced safe deposit keys, and an accent that can intimidate even Cyd Charrise. Our taste is expensive; we only drink Rothschild '61.  If you don't have it, get it, and turn on WIDOW, WEEP FOR ME.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE: We are stretching, candlelit bathing, and taking time for ourselves between jaunts on our bikes and bouts of on-land swimming. That's right, folks, get your peach onesie because we're exploring Angela Lansbury's POSITIVE MOVES.  This landmark in celebrity lifestyle, wellbeing, and fitness videotape is full of advice for the mah-tour, sexual, and active woman. Viktor and Petra are going to do their best to keep up in this bonus episode as we cap our season 1 of MURDER SHE WROTE. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, it's a full-season review with Viktor and Petra to share the highs and lows of our first year of Jessica Fletcher, the denizens of Cabot Cove, and the many people who live and die in and around it. In this special edition of the pod, revisit the hot guys, thrilling locales, sizzling action sequences, our favorite one-scene wonders, the most deserving to get bumped off, and more. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE hits our first season finale: FUNERAL AT FIFTY-MILE, and we're super excited even if this one is kinda a downer!We head west with Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) to Wyoming to meet a whole bunch of guys and one lil' lady they're all dead set on protecting within an inch of her agency.  Mary Carver (Kathleen Beller) is mourning the loss of her father and is further blindsided when old town crumb bum Carl Mestin (Clu Gulager) and his sexy broad of a ladyfriend, Sally (Stella Stevens) blow in to let her know she's not going to keep the farm she assumed was bequeathed to her.Soon, a murder in the barn leaves Jessica and her local sheriff --- uh, Marshall (Cliff Potts) scratching their heads to figure out who had the nerve and opportunity.  Was it small-town affluent white guy number 1 (William Windom), small-town affluent white guy number 2 (Donald Moffat), small-town affluent white guy number 3 (Noah Beery Jr.), small-town affluent white guy number 4 (J.D. Cannon), Mary herself, or her well-intentioned fiancé (Jeff Osterhage)?  Our bets are on the arm-wrestling glam/trashy Sally, frankly. Fair warning, it does get a little heavy at the end, folks, but we will still enjoy ourselves determining left-handed people from right, quirky and forthright secretaries, and curious tan lines.Your hosts, Viktor Devonne and Petra Fried celebrate 22 episodes of the podcast, and thank you for joining us on this journey!  We have a special round-out wrap-up next week, and then we dive into season 2!

It's a family affair TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE. Acclaimed but total douche Johnny Shannon (Ed Ames) is found dead, and the suspects are mostly all related to him: the sultry ex-wife (Piper Laurie), the sensitive son (Joseph Bottoms), and the promiscuous daughter (Linda Purl) all make good cases as they are used and abused. Instead, let's also consider the help: the devoted but goofy guy Friday (Joey Bishop), the hothead goon who doubles as a chauffeur (Jack O'Halloran), or maybe it's the thorn in Johnny's side in the form of opportunist tennis lothario (Joseph Cali). Is that everyone? Oh, there's a mob connection. So, well, good odds for that one. Friend to the wife and always intuitive mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) assists the detective of the week (Ken Howard) in narrowing it down to the most likely scenario that led to the MURDER AT THE OASIS. It's a sexy time in the desert, complete with bad fashion, misdirection, strategically angled security cameras, warm milk, missing pictures, and fully clothed pool action. Will Jessica act in time to save the day? Probably! But it might surprise you how, in this delicious slice of familial dysfunction that still has a nice bounce to it. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, nothing can keep Jessica Fletcher from meddling - not even a fractured ankle! JB Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is on the scene in a Texan private hospital where the doctors hate each other, the nurses wear false eyelashes, and the patients are comedy legends. Why, yes, we'd love to spend a weekend. Naturally, someone everyone seems to hate is murdered (Stephen Elliot), and the question is, who wouldn't? The suspect list is surprisingly sparse and is largely made up of the staff (Sam Groom and Martin Kove as battling MDs; Kay Lenz and Susan Oliver as our sisters of mercy). Everyone else is just chewing the scenery for the sake of it and filling in gaps, from the wonderful Martha Raye and Eddie Bracken as negging almost-lovebird rich inmates, to Victoria Carroll in her own southern drama miniseries in her mind, to Lucille Meredith as our pick for Best Supporting Actress as a sort-of witness to the crime and this episode's one-scene wonder. Somewhat useless detective Ray Jenkins (Bo Hopkins) is upfront about his need for help from the temporarily disabled Jessica, even if he fights her most of the way; we get some fun moments of bickering between them that escalate in the final act, for a higher purpose. And finally, there's greasy lawyer Kevin McCarthy, who is all too willing to sue on behalf of everyone if they've got the cash. It's a fairly straightforward mystery with some bonkers additions and non-sequiturs that may or may not pan out. You'll need a strong glass of carrot juice to prepare for the finale, which uses the very latest in technology. We do have one question, though: where are the koi fish?! This is ARMED RESPONSE!

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're in the scariest place ever: public transportation. Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) and Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) are heading to Portland with a busload of criminals and curios in a heavy rainstorm. When a recently released prison inmate (John Davis Chandler) is murdered while on board, they'll need to figure out who had a motive and who is just along for the ride. Soon we're off the road and in a coffee shop diner full of intrigue, misdirection, mysterious detective novels, the wrong kind of sailor knots, and ill-timed power outages. Will Jessica and Tupper unveil the killer in time?! Probably. Rue McClanahan, Linda Blair, Mills Watson, Terence Knox, and Michael Constantine are our passengers in MURDER TAKES THE BUS. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we keep misplacing our umbrellas, eyeglasses, and manuscripts. Famed writer who might not have it anymore, Hemsley Post (Kenneth Mars) ends up dead after a posh NYC literary awards gala, and the suspects are multiple. We have, of course:- The Wife (Diana Muldaur)- The Guy Whose Book He Stole (Vincent Baggetta)- The Sexy Opportunistic Editor (Morgan Brittany)- The Lush of a Poet (Paul Sand)- The Bitchy Queen Novelist Rival (Rex Reed)- The Ambitious, Aspiring Amateur (Talia Balsam) - and The Dishy Breakout Smut Writer (Constance Forslund)Frankly, it could be any and all of them, and we can all agree he had it coming. Amateur detective and mystery writer Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) must contend with keeping track of all of those suspects (when the law can't) and convincing the assistant district attorney (Pat Harrington Jr) that he's way off base. We also have Ron Masak in a pre-Sheriff Metzger appearance! With FOOTNOTE TO MURDER, it's an evening of bathroom punch-outs, bad sonnets, poorly chosen cigarette lighter designs, plagiarism, revolving doors, and subterfuge through optometry as only Murder, She Wrote can deliver.