In Which We Discuss Reruns of Murder She Wrote on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel

Did she sing "Fresh Meat Pies"?

have to watch bit every night of angela

the charm and glow of that era is so intoxicating...warm, fuzzy and the parade of fine old stars.....

I liked Len Cariou's guest shots. I've got to say this for Angela: she gave a lot of older actors work when they needed it, including but not limited to former costars.

Last week they had an episode featuring Betty Garett, Margaret O’Brien, and Jane Withers - plus both Earl Holliman and Max Baer Jr.

I was quite disappointed when Jane Withers was killed in the first act.

I've been watching MSW a lot lately and I've noticed when perusing IMDB to check out the guest stars after watching a particular episode, that she seems to frequently have given work to people who were sick. Quite a few guest stars died not long after their appearance from cancer or the like. Clearly she was making sure to give people work so they could keep their union medical insurance going.

One episode I always enjoy is “Who Threw the Barbitals in Mrs. Fletcher's Chowder?” even though I can’t stand the guest cast. Barbara Rhoades, Henry Gibson and Geoffrey Lewis are three TV character actors who have always annoyed me and they’re all here together in this one. Anne Meara isn’t great either. But the episode is charming despite them. I love the ones set in Cabot Cove.

I miss the days when you could watch a show and see familiar actors has guests. Now, I don't know who the hell they are.

R5 Interesting. I love Barbara Rhoades, for some reason, and always like seeing her turn up in something. I think maybe because she was gorgeous but seemed to shrug it off, and she had an incongruous "burroughs" accent to boot. And she could be drily funny, particularly in a Columbo she was in as a carnival photographer. I've often thought she was born about 25 years too late and would've been really famous if her prime had occurred in the '40s rather than the '60s and '70s.

I love this show. Its so comforting after a long day. No doubt it became a little stale and less cosy as the tears went in but I think it had a solid level of quality.. Even the bookend episodes!

I don't mind Amos and even his replacement is bearable in small doses, but I cannot abide Seth, he's just the worst!

I’d do Len Cariou.

R10 needs to leave this thread immediately.

Everyone know Seth whacked off thinking of Jess.

r5 I don't remember the name of the actress confined to a wheelchair but supposedly she had guest spots so she could keep her insurance.

There's somebody who hates Seth? What have we come to?

What's everyone's favourite and least favourite episodes?

I always loved Murder Takes The Bus for its atmosphere, the guest stars and the clever twist on who was the murderer.

I didn't care for a lot of the later NYC ones when Jessica became a bit too with it.

Madlyn Rhue was the name of the actress in the wheelchair. She had MS.

She was a great librarian, always able to help Jess find esoteric books needed for her research or locate old newspaper clippings to aid tracking down a killa!

R16 I agree. Murder Takes the Bus is my favorite followed by Death Stalks the Big Top. Never cared for the Dennis Stanton episodes. I agree about the New York seasons. Jessica loses something in those seasons.

Loved Mirror, Mirror from season 5, with guest star Jean Simons, seething that Jessica has dethroned her as the Queen of Mystery writers!

Any more fans?

Even though it's technically a "Nephew Grady" (ugh) episode, I love "Something Borrowed, Something Blue." It was a rare (intentionally) funny script with fun and witty performances.

Conchata Ferrell as the aggressively bitchy maid, Bill Macy as the horny uncle, Gale Storm as the high strung mother, Betsy Palmer as a Southern belle, Howard Morris as a pussy-whipped mama's boy.

Lots of funny lines. Gale Storm to her husband, "Everything is falling apart, and what are you doing? Sitting here and smoking with Jessica!"

Betsy Palmer after meeting the ditzy Gale Storm, "You are exactly as I expected you to be."

As far as the worst, there were several bad ones from the last season when they thought having young characters would pry viewers from Friends. For instance, "Death Goes Double Platinum," where Jessica was hanging around a college Latin band.

Where did she get all the time from!

Just watched Lovers and Other Killers last night. This was the sixth-aired episode of the first season, but it was the first episode made after the pilot, and boy is it weird.

Andrew Stevens plays the "Drummy" character Jeff Chandler played in Female on the Beach. He's a handsome young guy who claims to prefer MUCH older women, and if they so happen to give him cash and expensive cars, hey, so be it. He hones in on Jessica and in a super creepy denouement, he follows her to the airport and after she rejects him, the camera holds on him sending a death stare her way as she boards the plane. Credits.

WTF?? This isn't how you end an episode of MSW. They never even brought him back!

This episode is also the source of the "Jess being pushed down some stairs" and "Jess fires a fake gun" clips that were in the opening forever.

Then you've got Andrew Prine as a professor suspected of killing his girlfriend... Just like Prone was suspected of killing his girlfriend Karyn Kupcinet 20 years before. Yikes.

Just a very strange episode.

I really like the two-part Season 1 opener, about costumed characters at a fancy soiree. The suspenseful ending was very well-done.

Aside from that, I prefer the episodes that have JF in Europe.

Season 1, Episode 1, “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes” is running on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries right now.

With Brian Keith in the eponymous role - and Bert Convey as a Liberacesque piano player.

Ned Beatty was promised in the credits - but he hasn’t shown up yet.

Who did Gloria Stuart play when she was on the show?

And what about Capucine?

I'm disturbed this shows up in an image search - -

[quote]I don't mind Amos and even his replacement is bearable in small doses, but I cannot abide Seth, he's just the worst!

I would rather rim Seth for eternity than watch a Mort Metzger episode. Ron Masak should have been relegated to Raytown and Mama's Family. Plus he looks like a Trumptard

I didn't quite get the crossover episode with Magnum, PI. It seemed like there was no real conclusion to the story. The scene with Magnum getting out of the pool was a great butt shot, however.

One of tonight’s episodes is the first season quasi-Mame homage with big dick hall-of-famer Forrest Tucker reprising his fox hunting southern gentleman role.

Also - Lynne Redgrave, Dean Jones and an adorable beagle.

One thing I can’t get past watching these old reruns for the first time... every episode introduces a new “young”, “hot” girl and guy as part of the story. The girls are generally 80’s pretty, but the guys are universally pushing 40 with a receding hairline and a beat face.

Cut to Jessica and every other character treating them as if they were a couple of high schoolers. It’s so distracting.