SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First broadcast by CBS on February 12, 1989, Anthony Pullen Shaw (Angela Lansbury’s son) directed this midseason episode off Gerald K. Siegel’s script.
In New York City, Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury) aids her friend, NYPD Lt. Timothy Hanratty’s (Martin) investigation of a suspicious death that his glory-seeking boss (Winter) wants credit for. Missing a shoe, the presumably homeless victim is soon revealed as alcoholic hospital accountant Eliot Winston. As his corpse was also missing relevant identification, Winston’s personal property later turns up in the possession of a local wino.
Smelling a potential rat, Jessica goes undercover as a wealthy hypochondriac at the for-profit hospital Winston worked for. The slickster physicians (Coster and Benedict) she encounters gives her cause to believe that Winston’s demise was indeed no fluke.
Jessica Fletcher: Angela Lansbury
Dr. Craig Zachary: Nicholas Coster
NYPD Lt. Timothy Hanratty: Barney Martin
Dr. David Latimer: Dirk Benedict
Grace Fenton: Shirley Knight
Dr. Robert Markle: Dennis Patrick
Lisa Hilboldt: Stephanie Holtz
Dr. Sid Lantz: Peter Van Norden
NYPD Capt. Everett Larson: Edward Winter
Leon Schnable: Michael McGrady
Officer Donatelli: Stewart J. Scully
Wino: Mario Roccuzzo
Dr. Lowell Wheatley: Rudy Challenger
Greg Lewis: Phil Cashman
Eliot Winston: Uncredited
REVIEW:
An intriguing premise is let down by an underachieving guest cast and some contrived plot twists. Though Angela Lansbury & Barney Martin anchor the story well, the ensemble’s weakest link is The A-Team’s Dirk Benedict. Exhausting his arsenal of ‘smooth’ TV schtick far too soon, a miscast Benedict is utterly unconvincing as a supposed surgeon. Faring better, Nicholas Coster plausibly conveys a greedy doctor, though he isn’t given anything memorable to do.
Generally, the script holds up okay to the climax. The sinister reveal re: the culprit’s elaborate means of killing and disposing of Winston, however, ends up a disappointing shrug. “Smooth Operators,” accordingly, is worth catching just once.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
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