Murder, She Wrote - Magnum on Ice

[J.J. Walters]

I have a question. I watched Novel Connection on Netflix, which has the wrapped up ending to make it a one-off instead of a crossover. Does the DVD have the same ending, or do they have the original? I am wondering because I'd like to see how it's left hanging and because I was going to suggest these episodes on my blog's Must See Streaming TV theme...

Thanks for any help!

Amanda

Hi, Amanda.

The Season Seven DVD has the original broadcast version, which features the "cliffhanging" ending.

"I'm gonna say it like a man and make you understand, Amanda..." Sorry, couldn't resist that. I'm a huge Boston fan.

[AmandaByNight]

I have a question. I watched Novel Connection on Netflix, which has the wrapped up ending to make it a one-off instead of a crossover. Does the DVD have the same ending, or do they have the original? I am wondering because I'd like to see how it's left hanging and because I was going to suggest these episodes on my blog's Must See Streaming TV theme...

Thanks for any help!

Amanda

Hi, Amanda.

The Season Seven DVD has the original broadcast version, which features the "cliffhanging" ending.

"I'm gonna say it like a man and make you understand, Amanda..." Sorry, couldn't resist that. I'm a huge Boston fan.

lol! I do a podcast and that's the song they play whenever I come on! I love it and Boston too!

And thank you, I have the DVD, so that's a big help!

[MaximRecoil]

This is the best Murder, She Wrote episode ever, for two reasons: it has Magnum and Higgins, and, because it takes place in Hawaii, there are no ridiculous, annoying, fake Maine accents.

Fortunately, Angela Lansbury never did the fake Maine accent, but other actors on the show did; Tom Bosley being the worst offender. I don't know how the accents on the show sounded to other people, but to native Mainers, they sounded blatantly fake. In fact, I've never heard a convincing Maine accent in any movie or TV show. Fortunately, not many movies or TV shows are set in Maine. The ones that come to mind are Murder, She Wrote and various Stephen King movies, all of which feature horribly fake Maine accents. It would be better if the actors just used neutral accents, because plenty of native Mainers have neutral accents, including myself, my older brother, and my younger sister. My father, mother, and my older sister all have prominent Maine accents however. Funny how that works, considering we all lived / grew up together.

[Little Garwood]

Jessica Fletcher was always so "perfect." Calm, collected, and never ruffled by even the most arrogant of murder suspects. She was so darned nice all the time. I would have loved to see how well ol' Jessica would have held up under the strain of teaming up with Luther H. Gillis! Now there's a crossover adventure that was begging to be told!

Hey, how about a Luther H. Gillis smiley?

[ConchRepublican]

Jessica Fletcher was always so "perfect." Calm, collected, and never ruffled by even the most arrogant of murder suspects. She was so darned nice all the time. I would have loved to see how well ol' Jessica would have held up under the strain of teaming up with Luther H. Gillis! Now there's a crossover adventure that was begging to be told!

Hey, how about a Luther H. Gillis smiley?

That would have been great!

[MagnumILWU]

Jessica Fletcher was always so "perfect." Calm, collected, and never ruffled by even the most arrogant of murder suspects. She was so darned nice all the time. I would have loved to see how well ol' Jessica would have held up under the strain of teaming up with Luther H. Gillis! Now there's a crossover adventure that was begging to be told!

Hey, how about a Luther H. Gillis smiley?

I think the late, great Jerry Orbach, as old school P.I. Harry McGraw, fit that bill on Murder She Wrote!

[Little Garwood]

Jessica Fletcher was always so "perfect." Calm, collected, and never ruffled by even the most arrogant of murder suspects. She was so darned nice all the time. I would have loved to see how well ol' Jessica would have held up under the strain of teaming up with Luther H. Gillis! Now there's a crossover adventure that was begging to be told!

Hey, how about a Luther H. Gillis smiley?

I think the late, great Jerry Orbach, as old school P.I. Harry McGraw, fit that bill on Murder She Wrote!

Jerry Orbach was always an outstanding performer (he's great in the Woody Allen film Crimes and Misdemeanors) but I've never seen him on Murder, She Wrote but he can't possibly be worse than Luther H. Gillis!

[marlboro]

I was never a big fan of MSW, but I will give Angela Lansbury a huge "attagirl" for employing a lot of former movie and tv stars whose careers had dried up. I can't tell you how many classic actors I've stumbled across with a MSW credit. Kudos to her.

[KingKC]

I recently read an article that the crossover with Murder She Wrote was to help MPI with its falling ratings. A couple of articles both mentioned that MPI had fallen out of the top 30 shows in its 6th Season (1985-86) all the way to 48th and it was Jessica Fletcher to the rescue as her show was clearly on the rise since 1984. I have heard luke-warm commentary about Murder She Wrote. I wish I knew the ages of these people because back in the mid-eighties there really wasn't much to choose from with only three major networks producing first run shows. Sunday night for me was Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote and the ABC Sunday night movie. The movie came on at 8PM central time and pretty much signaled the end of the weekend.

Ahhhh...the good ole days.

KingKC

[KingKC]

This isn't about the crossover episode but last night I saw a 1991 episode of Murder She Wrote with Jameson Parker as a guest star but not as A.J. Simon. Does anyone know if Gerald McRaney ever guest starred on Murder She Wrote???

[Kate Sullivan]

This isn't about the crossover episode but last night I saw a 1991 episode of Murder She Wrote with Jameson Parker as a guest star but not as A.J. Simon. Does anyone know if Gerald McRaney ever guest starred on Murder She Wrote???

According to imdb, he was in a 1995 episode called A Quaking in Aspen. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0574468/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[thechickinthemiddle]

So from what I remember from this episode, I like how Magnum got the killer in Jessica's book wrong, even if he's pretty sidelined and clearly written by MSW writers and not Magnum writers, but at least it was in character for him. For those wondering, the syndicated version is on the MSW season three DVD set, not the original, which certainly makes this episode make less sense

Also, the inclusion of Captain Browning was of course done because Jessica wouldn't have an obstacle in dealing with Tanaka. Of course, after this, we never see Browning again

[thechickinthemiddle]

Random Internet Pics/Screencaps:





This really shows how tall Ange really is. (She's 5'8".) It's not all that noticeable on MSW since she's often with male co-stars. An exception is in "Old Habits Die Hard" when Eileen Brennan first calls her and she stops and turns around.

This amusing gif:



And of course that creepy-ass smile she gives Captain Browning.

BTW that last photo's from an episode review you can read here.

[Little Garwood]

Jessica really "owns" Browning, doesn't she? Anytime Lansbury even remotely channels her Manchurian Candidate persona is worth mentioning.

Your blog is a fun one! I'm adding it to my reading list.

As I've mentioned before in this thread, in the Magnum half of this crossover, there are expositionary efforts made to clue in the Murder, She Wrote audience with things like who Rick and T.C. are, as well as Jessica and Higgins having just as much screen time as she and Magnum.

I thought I read somewhere that this crossover was an attempt to boost MPI's ratings. That's kind of sad since it was five seasons before when MPI did the same thing for Simon & Simon. I know that during the resurgence of sitcoms led by The Cosby Show I was displeased that the detective adventure shows that I enjoyed so much in my childhood were being kicked to the curb by sitcoms was something I definitely did not appreciate at the time.

Murder, She Wrote belongs more in the world of Matlock and Diagnosis, Murder more than it does with MPI and Simon & Simon. It's not a criticism, but rather a matter of similarities among programs. I really like Diagnosis, Murder, and MSW is enjoyable.

[thechickinthemiddle]

LOL the review/recap blog isn't mine, it's run by a fine gal from Australia. It's a real gem to read though, what with all the guest stars shared between MSW and MPI. MSW and DM were definitely in a similar league, with all the TV and film legends guest-starring. Magnum had that too, but with the main cast skewing a bit younger, you weren't gonna see on that show an episode-long homage to cop shows or sci-fi or Mission: Impossible.