SUMMARY: APPROX. RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First airing on CBS on March 4, 1990, John Llewellyn Moxey directed this episode off a script by the program’s co-creator/executive producer, Peter S. Fischer.
Per a regular practice for Murder, She Wrote’s sixth season, “Murder – According to Maggie” briefly depicts Angela Lansbury’s ‘Jessica Fletcher’ in the first scene introducing the subsequent standalone story. There is a dual purpose: 1. To allow an elderly Lansbury extended vacation breaks from filming, and 2. To test the waters for potential spinoff options. In this instance, Jessica introduces a tale about her former writing student, Mary Margaret “Maggie (aka “M.M.”) McCauley (Canova).
Unable to get her heartfelt poetry and more down-to-earth literary works published, Maggie has reluctantly established herself in Hollywood’s TV industry. As the stressed creator/executive producer/head screenwriter of a popular, hard-nosed cop drama, “Beat Cop,” Maggie battles both her ungrateful cast and self-serving TV network executives. With the likelihood of “Beat Cop” being abruptly cancelled by the scheming network president (Sandy), someone opts to influence that decision through homicide.
Given that the murder weapon is his own prop gun, the show’s egocentric moron of a star, Bert Rodgers (Thomerson), is subsequently arrested as the prime suspect. Under pressure from executives (Hickman and Guilbert) to save “Beat Cop,” a snarky Maggie must then play amateur detective. Evading disapproval from the condescending LAPD homicide detective (Arndt) she is dating, Maggie probes a plethora of self-serving secrets off the set of “Beat Cop.” As she fears, it’s likely that one of her own show’s insiders committed murder for an ulterior purpose.
Jessica Fletcher: Angela Lansbury
Mary Margaret “Maggie” McCauley: Diana Canova
Bert Rodgers: Tim Thomerson
Dana Darren: Leann Hunley
Andy Butler: Bruce Kirby
Brian Thursdan: Dwayne Hickman
LAPD Lt. Vince Palermo: Denis Arndt
Julie Pritzer: Talia Balsam
Keith Carmody: Gary Sandy
Leo Kaplan: Paul Kreppel
Harriet De Vol: Ann Morgan Guilbert
Director: Tom Troupe
Screening Room Projectionist: Vince Howard
LAPD Uniformed Cops: Paul Ganus, Ron Steelman, & Myles O’Brien
Dooley: Greg Norberg
Burnsie: Ben Stack
Vi: Miriam Flynn.
REVIEW:
Entertainment-wise, this derivative episode (*see below) is easily watchable yet just as easily forgotten. In terms of actual storytelling substance, unfortunately, it’s weak stuff – including Lansbury’s forgettable contribution. Aside from guest star Diana Canova’s fun presence, the episode’s backstage TV industry chuckles provide its other endearing asset.
With Fred Dryer’s Hunter as a then-Nielsen ratings rival, it’s obvious that Murder, She Wrote pitches its “Beat Cop” as some good-natured parody along the lines of Police Squad. Despite an amusing premise, this episode is self-sabotaged by too many subpar contrivances and the cast’s purely routine performances. Ironically, in terms of laziness, the script’s mediocrity mirrors that of the even more insipid “Beat Cop.”
The following revelation isn’t meant as a plot spoiler, but to demonstrate a sample of the storyline’s dreadful plotting. Specifically, the mystery’s pivotal clue is ridiculous, as it somehow precipitates Maggie and the culprit then converging alone after hours at the studio. More so, the LAPD have conveniently deduced the same via lab testing before showing up right on cue. Calling this silly climax a Hollywood TV murder-mystery cliché is frankly an insult to clichés. More so, the innocuous item providing the script’s eye-rolling clue might be the epitome of inoffensive TV murder-mystery pap.
Peter S. Fischer’s lighthearted script laughs at macho TV cop shows (and, by extension, Hollywood’s jaded industry), but “Murder – According to Maggie” is hardly a gem itself. It’s just a shame that Canova’s appealing character sinks into rerun oblivion with an inferior whodunnit.
*Note: Déjà vu! Moxey and Fischer trotted out this spoofy Murder, She Wrote premise once before in Season Four’s “Steal Me A Story.” In that instance, the fictional TV detective show they gleefully knock is Jack Klugman’s Quincy, M.E. – it’s a bit of foreshadowing considering CBS debuted Diagnosis: Murder six years later.
Unsurprisingly, this decent Season Four episode suffers the same problem: lots of good TV insider jokes, but its formulaic mystery isn’t really much of a whodunnit. Between the two of them, “Steal Me A Story” surpasses “Murder – According to Maggie,” due to a slightly more complex plot … and a few extra originality points.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
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