Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Meta, they wrote

From the Murder, She Wrote episode “Widow, Weep for Me” (September 29, 1985):

“Will you please come with me at once, ma’am? The Inspector wants to see you at the hotel.”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“There’s been another murder, ma’am.”
Where Jessica Fletcher goes, murder follows. It’s difficult to think that Mrs. Fletcher’s question and her look of surprise are not a writerly joke.

Here’s a YouTube clip with this dialogue.

comments: 10

The Crow said...

Yeah, and where was the blood if the woman had been stabbed? I mean, c'mon people!

(That was not one of their best episodes.)

Michael Leddy said...

I’m pretty undiscerning — I just like seeing stars of the past. (Cyd Charisse is in this one.)

The Crow said...

As the episodes increased, so did the quality of the writing. Angela Lansbury settled into her role and made it her own.

I enjoyed seeing actors from the 40s on up, too.

Michael Leddy said...

You know the series better than I do. You and Diane (Slywy), blogger and MSW fan, might want to say more.

Pete said...

My theory is that Jessica was a serial killer who was responsible for every murder in Cabot Cove. That tiny town sure had an inordinately high number of murders. And who would be best at covering up all those murders? The amateur sleuth who was supposedly investigating every case, and whose pal was the police chief.

Michael Leddy said...

Murder, she committed. :)

Michael Leddy said...

Or “police chief,” with phony Maine accent.

Pete said...

Tom Bosley was a Jewish kid from the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, where he went to high school with my dad. My dad was heartily amused, years later, to see his old neighbor portraying the title character of The Father Dowling Mysteries.

Michael Leddy said...

That’s a nice memory to have.

I always liked Tom Bosley, esp. as Val’s dad in The World of Henry Orient.

Michael Leddy said...

P.S.: I wanted to leave a comment on your Ellison post, but comments don’t seem to be working. I just wanted to wonder out loud about the fate of Invisible Man on 21st-century classrooms. The novel is as timely as ever, but I can imagine many a teacher in a college setting shying away. I always found it a hugely rewarding novel to teach.