Season 1 Episode 6 : It's a Dog's Life

I've haven't been keeping up with the blog since I've been job hunting for most of the first half of 2016.  But now that I don't have to stress out about looking for a job, I can get back to this blog to write about the most ridiculous episode so far: It's a Dog's Life.  We begin with the greatest episode recap at the start of the episode that features a dog in jail, literally.  The costumers did restrain themselves by not dressing the dog in an orange jumpsuit or black and white stripped clothes. And then time for the theme that I will never get tired of hearing!
We open on horses in the field, a fancy house with columns, and someone making a horse named Sawdust eat a pill, without having to coat the pill in anything like sugar or peanut butter, which I would have thought was necessary.  But what do I know about doping (or duping if you are Red Skelton/Jack Sprat) a horse.  Based on the glove and arm, the doper/duper looks like it may be female.  We then go to a hunting party with a very theme appropriate string quartet. Trish flirts with a married man, drinks too much, and annoys her brother Spencer (Jared Martin).  Trish also introduces her niece, Echo (Cherie Currie), and says that Echo is into subwolfers, tweeters, and heavy metal. When those 3 things are put altogether means it that Echo is into Electronic Music.  Oh, the 80s! We meet Morganna who is a late stage hippy with an interest in auras. She is also Echo's mother (so Trish and Spencer's sister).  And then the glorious JF rolls up with the family patriarch Denton Langley,  admiring a painting of a horse that I assume is supposed to be like a Stubbs painting.  Denton introduces JF to his dear friend Tom (Forrest Tucker!!!).  I'm assuming that the only reason Forest Tucker is in this episode is his experience in filmed hunting party scenes  JF is there visiting her cousin Abby (Lynn Redgrave). Abby is English (and 20ish years younger than JF) so of course she loves horses and dogs (and maybe clocks, but we don't see any evidence of that).  JF is mildly famous to this group, and she weirdly negs herself by saying that she is not a good rider.  And Denton makes subtext text by saying the he is loaded.  We find out that this hunting party is in honor of Denton's 80th birthday.  Most importantly, we meet Denton's dog Teddy, in his pre-convict days.  Also, Teddy is only thing that Denton loves. He likes Abby, but he hates his human family, that's obvious!  Time for the hunt!
Trish does what everyone would do, as she downs a cocktail before getting on her horse to ride.  Abby doesn't want Trish to ride in her inebriated state; saying it is dangerous for the horse (and the rider, presumably).  Trish basically tells Abby to piss off and that Abby's days at the farm are limited to the number of days Denton is alive (red flag!).  Abby remarks to JF that Denton's family are garbage.  Denton brings by two tame horses for Abby and JF, which seems unneeded for Abby, the horse trainer.  The gates open and the hunt commences to the rousing Symphony 6 (Pastoral) by Beethoven.  The hunt moves along very bucolically until it isn't!  Sawdust reacts poorly to the sound of the horn and takes off while Denton is struggling to regain control.  Sawdust leaps over a hedge while Denton yells Tally-ho (seriously!).  Then Denton falls to his death - in slow-motion! I don't mean to belittle this character's fake death, but there is a close-up on the actor very gently pulling on the reins before we go to a wide shot of the stunt double trying to stop the horse. Abby and JF are nearby and JF looks pretty spry getting off that horse (or maybe that was Angela Lansbury's stunt person).  Teddy is now on the scene, licking Denton's face.
Cut to some police officer placing his jacket over Denton and Tom looking very sad (and comforting those two delicate flowers, Abby and JF).  All three talk with the sheriff and the vet (who claims that Sawdust, I assume like Mediation from Auntie Mame, is clear off in the next county by now).  JF wants the vet to run a test on Sawdust, but the tests comeback negative for drugs. Abby is inclined to chalk this up to Sawdust metabolizing the drug since it took so long for the vet to catch Sawdust. The timing between when Sawdust was drugged to when he freaks out with Denton in the saddle is unknown.  Abby is convinced that Denton's death was not accidental and throws shade on Denton's family.  JF offers to stay with Abby until the will is read to comfort Abby after her loss.
On the day of the will reading, all Deton's children are pre-gaming (except Morganna who is drinking tea so she can read the tea leaves, of course). Marcus Boswell (Dean Jones), Denton's lawyer, rolls up, but not in Herbie the Love Bug, unfortunately.  Boswell breaks out a videotape, because since it is the 80s, Denton embraced the "latest in will technology" and did a video will.  Denton takes the time in his will to yell as his children from beyond the grave.  We find out that Spencer is a disgusting lobbyist for dictators (again, so 80s).  Trish is scolded for being a drunk and maneater; Morganna is accused of being a hippy and flighty and having a superficial daughter with a "unique haircut".  We get down to brass tacks; Denton leaves his shotgun to Tom, money for the staff, and donates his paintings to the National Gallery (A+, Denton!)  Then Denton pulls a Leona Helmsely, and leaves his money to Teddy (not Abby as Trish feared).   Denton embraces Teddy on film and then out trots Teddy to bark and look cute.  Echo is then pointing out the obvious saying "This is insane! Teddy's a dog".  Spencer says that they will try to break the will but Boswell points out there is a clause   will that cuts out anyone who tries to do that.  And if anything happens to Teddy, all the money with go to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Sad trombone...
Cut to JF on the phone to her Cabot Cove boyfriend,Ethan, telling him that she will be staying at the farm a little bit longer.  She and Abby have some investigating to do!  And then we go to Abby trying to help Trish with a horse which is basically Trish butting heads with Abby, with she (Abby) insisting that she works for Teddy now,  not the rest of the Langleys.  Morganna tells Abby to be careful of Trish for astrological reasons (Trish's Gemini is rising).  But Morganna and Abby are distracted by Teddy (a beagle) cornering Spencer in a stable.  The vet comes a-calling and says that Teddy was drugged and must have bitten someone: there is blood on his collar!  The sheriff rolls up with some guy named Potts accusing Teddy of attacking him and biting his arm.  Potts insists that Teddy should be put down and  Spencer agrees. Teddy gets arrested I guess. I can only assume that is what happens because Boswell calls Abby to tell him that Teddy got RORed (released on his own recognizance). Now, I have watched a lot of Law and Order (I think I have seen every episode from season 4 to season 20; I don't watch any pre-Jerry Orbach seasons), so I have seen many, many bail hearing and not that many people are RORed (especially for murder/manslaughter cases).   Murder, She Wrote has done the world a disservice but not making that bail hearing a scene in this show.  I guess Boswell argued that Teddy wasn't a flight risk and he has ties to the community.  Abby can go retrieve Teddy from the sheriff's department. She and JF suspects that the person who doped of Sawdust/murdered Denton and the person who doped Teddy are one in the same.
Now, we get some background info on Potts.  Specifically he is a well-known liar and this time he may be a liar for hire (by trying to sue the Langley). Abby and JF head to Boswell's office just in time to see him have some weird interaction with Morganna and Gary, a DC lawyer, with a specialty in will-breaking. They overhear demands for Boswell to call his broker. Boswell says that Gary's angle for breaking the will is to determine that Teddy, the beagle, is not of sound mind.  How would you prove or disprove that a dog is of sound mind? There are so many strange legal issues that are part of this episode.  Boswell's secretary comes in demanding that Boswell talk to his broker.  The broker demands payment for something, indicating that Boswell is broke. Serving as the executor of the Langley estate could be a big payday for him.  We learn that a tip from Spencer lead to Boswell losing a lot of money, his the only consolation being that Spencer lost even more money.
Now we head off to the security office at Langley Estate with Barnes opening the door to a whining Teddy. We learn both that Teddy comes to see Barnes everyday at the same time and that Barnes is leaving his post as soon as the paintings go to DC.  One of the TV monitors shows a drunken Trish buzzing to open the gate and then falling down.  Barnes heads out to see if Trish is okay and leaves Teddy to man (or dog) the office.  As Barnes heads down to the gate (and hears a bird call), he sees that the gate is closing shut on Trish's head and kills her.  Cut to Teddy in the security office.  The only way the gate could have been shut is if Teddy had pushed the button! The police roll in (as does lawyer Boswell) and the cops dust the gate button for (paw) prints.  Morganna claims to have seen Trish's ghost and crying like a mourning dove (which doesn't sound like the bird calls being played when Barnes headed down to the gate).  She also says that she is only one with a room with a view of the gate.  Morganna is up nights because that is when her aura thrives.  Oh, and she looked out the window because she heard a car horn.  When the sheriff announces to Boswell and the rest of the residents of Langley estates that the police recovered a paw print from the gate button, the Langley family gets excited.  They hope that means that Teddy will be put down.  Spencer insists that Teddy should be euthanized because the dog has murdered Trish.  Boswell asks if the sheriff can seriously believe that a dog is capable of murder.  Abby helpfully points out that of course a dog would have to be trained to do it.  Remember, Abby is a horse AND dog trainer.
Tom comes by in his old beat-up truck because he heard about the events at the Langley Estates over his CB radio (again, the early 80s). JF surveys the police working the scene and offers to help a deputy(?) fold Trish's fur coat.  JF notices that the coat looks new but that the seams are starting to split.  JF is a master of observation or maybe just a woman.  JF kicks her investigating into high gear as she interviews Barnes and finds out that the security office locks automatically and Barnes has the only key.  JF is sure that Teddy was the one who pushed the button but she suspects that was someone trained him to do so.  We learn that Barnes' view of the gate was obstructed during his walk down to the gate.
We head to the kitchen to see JF and Abby sharing a spot of tea.  Boswell comes in to get some ice so the rest of the Langley family can start drinking.  While Boswell is on the stepladder getting the ice bucket down from a shelf, JF observes that he has a grease stain on his trouser leg. Boswell explains it away as a result of  having to change a tire a half-mile from the house.  Since no one drove by Boswell, it means that the killer must be someone in the household.  Abby explains how someone might train a dog to push a button through either a verbal or an auditory command. Abby and JF rejoin the rest of the household just in time to hear Boswell insist that anyone trying to frame Teddy won't get away with it.  Abby blows up JF's spot by announcing that JF has figured out the mystery. They won't get away with using Teddy to kill Trish.  JF discusses the crime and notes that Trish didn't speak into the intercom, just buzzed the office.  JF suggests that someone else (pretending to be Trish) fell in front of the gate and then when Barnes left the office, jumped up and placed an unconscious Trish  in the path of the gate.  Morganna saw this but didn't understand what it meant. JF insists that someone has trained Teddy to respond to a whistle, but the only whistle that they find belongs to Abby, wah-wah.
Cut to the jailhouse with now both Abby and Teddy in prison.  Boswell and JF try to convince the sheriff that Abby had no motive but the sheriff tells them that they are wasting their breath.  He states that the inquest is going to be on Friday and Teddy is going to be held as an accessory after the fact.  Based on my L&O knowledge, Teddy is a accessory to the murder, not after the fact. If Teddy were harboring Abby somewhere, then he would be an accessory after the fact. The sheriff maintains that Denton's death was accidental and then good ol' boys JF out of his office.
On the ride back to Langley estates, Boswell drops JF off about 1/2 mile away so she can walk/observe the area where Boswell claims to have had his flat tire.  Will, the deputy that she was friendly with before,  stops when he sees her.  JF tels him she is looking for a bicycle clip. Later we see JF on a horse asking Echo if she has seen Spencer.  JF wants to talk with Potts and heads off on the horse (despite her claims to the contrary, JF looks like a pretty competent horsewoman - or maybe that is her stunt-double). JF stumbles on Potts without his bandage and discovers he was faking his injury.  Unfortunately, Spencer was at Potts' farm as well, and now JF is a hostage. She tries to talk Potts down, as he claims he had been the jail  before and he isn't going back. Obviously murdering someone is a good way to avoid jail time.  JF tells Spencer that she figured out Trish's murder and his interest overwhelms Potts' desire to kill JF and plant her in the orchard.  On to the inquest!
The inquest begins with JF acting as a friend of the court and explaining how Teddy was trained to push the button. She and deputy Will show that an ultrasonic whistle could not be heard over the intercom. JF points out that Spencer's attempt to discredit Teddy and the murder of Trish were actually two separate incidences.  She says that Boswell, in need of money, convinced Trish to drug Sawdust with reminders of her inheritance.  Of course, Boswell knew that Trish was not going to inherit and so planned for the eventuality of having to eliminate her.  He got Trish drunk and unconscious and then planned on riding away on his bike.  But he forgot his bicycle clip and thus got a grease stain from the bike chain.  JF observed the tire tracks from Boswell's car and found no evidence of one tire being flat; all the tires were evenly worn.  Will then plays the bird call over the intercom and Teddy pushes the button and goes over to Boswell for his treat.  Boswell then dissolves into the tears as JF has solved another one!
For the wrap up, Abby says that she is looking forward to returning to Kent.  Tom comes over to take Teddy and says that he is going to give the money to people who need if more than he does.  He then insists that the rest of Langley family get jobs.  He plops Teddy into the back of his truck and as he pulls away, we see that he has started a new business - Cassidy Kennels, prize winning beagles and home of the millionaire stud.  We finally establish that all this took place in Virginia.  I spent much of the episode trying to figure out the location.  I thought it was near DC but they kept saying "run down to DC" . Well, DC is north of Virginia.  But I maintain that they didn't implicitly say that is took place in Virginia because this episode is insulting to the Virginia justice system!


Famous Guest Stars:  Dean Jones (famous for driving Herbie, the Love Bug), Lynn Redgrave (of the Redgrave acting dynasty, her most famous role is from Georgie Girl), Cherie Currie (from the Runaways!), and most importantly Forest Tucker (aka Beuregard Jackson Pickett Burnside from the great Auntie Mame, he was also in the less good Crawling Eye with the actress that played Katie in Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I want it to be known I have only seen the Crawling Eye because of Mystery Science Theater 3000); Jared Martin (he looks very familiar, according to iMDB he was on Dallas for a long time, guest starred on about 30 shows during the 70s and 80s and was on the TV version of The Fanstastic Voyage).  
Relative Count: 1 Nephew, 1 Niece, 1 cousin (who is English)
Body locations: On the other side of a hedge, in the gate of a fancy estate
Remaining Episode Count: 253

Guess the Guest Stars for It's A Dog's Life

Guesses in the comments!
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2)

3) (This one is a singer)

4) The one that matters the most:

And then I just fell down an Auntie Mame rabbit-hole, enjoy!

Season 1, Episode 5: Hooray for Homicide

Sorry for the short hiatus, I was in the process of moving 500 miles north and then Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year happened. But I'm settled in now and there are no major holidays for awhile, so let's get back to JB Fletcher!

This episode opens in Cabot Cove with JF testing murder methods.  After attempting to strangle a dummy, she determines that a bayonet would be cleaner (how exactly?).  Also, Ethan is back! And doing some plumbing work for JF when she gets a phone call telling her to turn on the TV. A movie producer is being interviewed about the film "adaptation" of her first book, The Corpse Danced At Midnight.  The producer is turning it into a gore- and violence-filled horror movie, or as the entertainment lawyer (played by Lyle Waggoner) JF later hires in LA describes it  - "a combination of Porky's, Halloween, and Flashdance". (Hey everyone, guess what year this episode was written!) Naturally JF wants to stop the production of the film, but she can't even get on the studio lot. Dating the episode again, the guard at the gate says he doesn't care if she's Jackie Collins, she isn't getting on the lot.  However, the costumer for the movie, Martina, shows up and manages to get JF on the lot, after all.

The action moves to the trailer of Eve (Melissa Sue Anderson), for a tense conversation with her and the producer of the picture, Jerry Lydecker.  Lydecker accuses Eve of having an affair and reminds her that he is responsible for casting her in this star-making role. When we later see parts of this movie, I don't understand how it could make any one a star! Then, back outside to Martina and JF, Martina is saying how much she enjoyed JF's book (naturally), but doesn't love the screenplay.  This gives us the chance to see an interaction between the screenwriter Allen (James MacArthur) and Jerry. We learn that Allen feels he is being underpaid and has/had a pretty heavy drug and alcohol problem (which is probably why he is a burned-out wonderboy with an Oscar nom at 25). Allen also accuses Lydecker of changing the script due to Eve's lack of acting talent.

We finally see a scene from the movie: the two stars preparing to make love in a graveyard, as you do. As the scene is finished, we meet the director, Gomez Addams...er, I mean Mr. Ross (John Astin).  JF again meets with the producer (and we learn that in the book, the protagonist was the 10 year old son of a Presbyterian minister) and says that she will do what ever it takes so stop this movie.  Back at her hotel, the underling (Norman) sent by her law firm (played by Ron Palillo) arrives and attempts to help her.  But JF figures out she really doesn't have a legal leg to stand on and decides to eat crow and apologize to Lydecker.  But, instead, JF discovers his body in the staged graveyard! Dun dun dun!!

JF brings over a security guard and notices that a button is missing from the crime scene...Oh, and of course the guard suspects that JF killed Lydecker.  The police arrive and we meet JK's investigation partner for the episode, Lt. Henandez (he's a fan, has a screenplay, and calls her JB; a nod to her author name JB Fletcher). And he straight up asks her for her help.  When Martina is told of Lydecker's death, she almosts faints while  director Ross claims that everyone hated Lydecker.  JF heads out to see Eve to talk about Lydecker's death.  She finds her in a condition that indicates Eve has a serious substance abuse problem. However, JF just tough-loves her back to normal (I guess).  Back at her hotel, she is mobbed by reporters and then questioned by Lt. Henandez. He doesn't think that she did it, but his captain does...obviously the captain doesn't have a writer's insight.  JF claim that she doesn't want to get involved in the case (JF, you big tease). We also learn that the movie is still happening because Ross is also a producer.  JF officially meets Allen (screenwriter) who had been re-hired (I guess Lydecker fired him).  And then we see another scene from the movie, an 80's explosion of a dance number (this is a horror movie, remember?), that has to been seen to be believed.  Cut to Lydecker's secretary saying that JF threatened Lydecker; JF had said that "what she had to do had to be done in person".

After this, Lt. Hernandez takes JF to the police station as a ploy to throw off the real killer, and so JF can start working her magic! JF and Norman meet up and she has him do some deep backgrounding on Eve, Allan, Ross, and Martina, searching for any possible motives.  As JF views more scenes from the movie, she deduces that Eve and her co-star (Scott) are romantically involved. She continues to snoop around the movie set and meets the head costumer, Eleanor (Virginia Mayo!). JF learns that Ross and Martina lied to police regarding when they heard the police arrive. Furthermore, Eleanor tells JF that a drum majorette costume was made for Eve (I wonder if it is missing a button!).  JF heads to Eve's trailer only to be pushed aside by an escaping Ross, who is then tackled by Norman.  Norman then reveals what he had learned to JF: Ross is broke and desperate for a hit; Eve has diabetes; Allan has recovered from this drug problem but he is still an alcoholic; and Martina is the jealous former mistress of Lydecker.  Ross is arrested for Lydecker's murder, but JF isn't sure he is guilty.  At a farewell party at Eve's (with Allan, Martina, Eve, and Scott), JF tells the gathering her doubts about Ross's guilt. After this announcement, almost everyone makes a quick exit except for JF and Eve.  JF says that Ross didn't kill Lydecker but he did clean up the scene, removing the button. He assumed that Eve killed Lydecker and even broke into her trailer to destroy the majorette uniform.  The button did come off the majorette uniform and was lost in a struggle between Eve and Lydecker.  She had attacked Lydecker because he was threatening to replace Scott and ruin Scott's reputation via rumor.  Eve confesses to the murder, saying that she pretended she had been drinking all night, when in reality a diabetic would not drink in that manner, if at all.  And JF gets another confession!  Start calling her The Closer!

Show Stats:
Famous Guest Stars:  John Astin (Gomez from the Addams Family, being married to Patty Duke, being Sean Astin's dad), Lyle Waggoner (Wonder Woman!), Melissa Sue Anderson (Little House on the Prairie), Virginia Mayo (The Best Years of Our Lives, and from a couple film noirs I can't remember), James MacArthur (Swiss Family Robinson), Ron Pallilo (Horshack from Welcome, Back Kotter.  Making this two episodes in a row that feature someone from that show!).   
Relative Count: 1 Nephew, 1 Niece
Body location: In a graveyard on the set of a movie
Remaining Episode Count: 254

Guess the Guest Stars for Hooray for Homicide!

You know the drill, guesses in the comments!

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2.

3.

4.

5 (Saving the best for last!)

Season 1, Episode 4: Birds of a Feather

The episode opens (after the summation), and we see Al Drake (Martin Landau!) and Howard (Jeff Conaway) in a tense conversation. Howard wants to get out of a secret shameful deal and is refused.  He jogs off and then Drake is threatened (again) by this other dude named Mike.  So within the first 3 minutes, we totally know that Drake is a goner.  We meet up with JF and her niece, Vicky, at the church. Vicky is planning a small, intimate wedding to Howard, who is late.  Howard shows up later to meet JF, but says he must bow out of the proposed dinner (again!) because of work (we learn this is the 5th night in a row of cancelled dinner).  JF and Vicky go off to dinner to a seafood restaurant. So JF flies to California to eat lobster flown in daily from Maine?  Vicky tells JF that Howard wanted to be an actor but now he works as an insurance salesman to support Vicky, who in turn doesn't care what his job is, she just wants to marry Howard.  During dinner, Vicky confides in JF that she (Vicky) thinks Howard is having an affair as evidenced by late nights, matchbooks from a nightclub, and a handkerchief smeared with lipstick (not Vicky's color!).
We shift to Drake's nightclub and find a full house, Drake talking to his secretary Barbara about having no desire to sell the club.  Then Patterson (Bart Braverman), a talent agent, sidles up to tell Drake that Patterson will get Freddy York (Gabe Kaplan), a comedian/drummer, out of his terrible contract with Drake, but Drake refuses to let him go!  Vicky and JF arrive at Drake's club and are unable to get a table.  Vicky attempts to use JF's celebrity to get a table, but that doesn't work; the host doesn't know who she is!  However, when Vicky appeals to Drake and reveals that JF has written 6 best sellers and is on a press junket out in San Francisco (JF is not going to waste any time in Cabot Cove, I guess).  We then hear Freddy York's terrible act (it is really bad).  Mrs. Drake show ups with the most stereotypical evil eyebrows (permanently arched and located half-way up her forehead).  The staff goes out of their way to notify Mr. Drake that his wife is here (so you know their marriage is great!).  And then the club's drag show starts!  Barbara discovers the body of Mr. Drake and then calls out to stop the figure running about.  The figure then runs on stage and we discover that it is Howard in a dress!  By the way, I have to say the drag queens in this show are not committed at all to their craft.  They aren't even trying; RuPaul would not approve!
Vicky is then reunited with Howard and is so relieved that Howard is not cheating.  But Howard is then immediately arrested for Drake's murder. While at the scene of the crime, a feather is discovered on Drake's body and is thought to have come from his pet bird. JF (of course) attempts to insert herself in the investigation, but Novack (the lead investigator) is not really interested.  She then shows off both impressive knowledge of gun shot residue tests and understanding (for the time) towards Howard and his current employment.  Howard explains to JF that Drake would not let him out of the contract and he went to Drake's office to talk to Drake.  While in the office, he picked up a gun (smart, get those prints on anything you can!) before discovering that Drake was dead.  The police think that they can pinpoint the time of death since the sound of Freddy York's terrible drum act would drown out the sound of the gunfire.
We switch over to a waterside scene between Mrs. Drake and Mike that lets us know that they were having an affair and both aren't sure the other one didn't kill Drake.  We head back to the club with JF who is talking with Freddy York in his dressing room and finding a chaise lounge under a window with a great view (one of the few rooms with a window).  As JF is leaving, she overhears Mrs. Drake firing Barbara (the secretary).  During a shared cab ride, JF extracts a variety of information from Barbara that throws suspicion on both Mrs. Drake and Patterson.  And we learn that Mike wanted to buy the club.  JF and Novack return to the club to determine if York's act would indeed drown-out the sound of gunfire. While JF is onstage, a set of lights falls to the stage that almost crushes her, forcing Freddy to jump off the stage, injuring his neck.  JF later meets Novak at his insanely decorated apartment (which includes ceramic duck and cow busts on the wall and bunch of ferns) to discuss the case and why she thinks that Howard is innocent. She later bails out Howard (and buys him a suit) and reassures him that she is on the case and she will clear him of the charges.
JF meets with Mrs. Drake while she (Mrs. Drake) is golfing and learns that Freddy had indeed ended his contract with Drake.  She heads over to the hospital and finds Freddy (wearing an inapproriately short hospital gown) and Patterson celebrating, Patterson speculating that the falling lights were meet to kill Freddy (though Mike and JF are also listed as potentially targets).  While returning JF to her hotel (with light construction occuring in the next room), Howard tells Vicky that they should postpone the wedding because he doesn't have a good job (I guess she doesn't either).  After attempting to drown out the construction noise with a pillow, JF realizes that the source of the the feather on the Drake's body is due to a pillow being used as a silencer for the gun!  That means that the time of death was not fixed to overlap with Freddy's act.  When they return to Drake's office, they find that the pillow in the chaise is not missing, but it was missing on the day of the murder (as shown by the crime scene photos that JF has procured, which I think maybe against the law).  JF figured out that Freddy could have heard the lights and then just waited until the last moment to jump out of the way. JF accuses Freddy of killing Drake and replacing the damaged pillow with the sun-bleached pillow from his own chaise (he was the only with a window in the dressing room). When reminiscing about his career, Freddy legit says: "I'm the Edison of comedy. I'm Robert Fulton on the drums." because he is the first comedian that does his own rimshots (but not the first one to use the terribly bad jokes that make up his act, I guess).  He also claims that Drake broke his spirit and his heart.  Freddy staged the falling lights to throw suspicion off himself.  We then attend the wedding of Vicky and Howard.  At this point we see Vicky with her hair down. Prior to this, any other time that we have seen Vicky, he hair was up in this Gibson girl updo.  And based on the amount of hair she had, she would have to be wearing a lot of wigs to get that updo. Howard gets ready to start a career in real estate after their honeymoon (job supplied by JF), but Patterson comes to the church to tell him that he got Howard a job as a day player (2 days a week) on a soap opera, which may be the thing that dates this episode the most!

Show Stats:
Famous Guest Stars:  Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back, Kotter! Your dreams were your ticket out!), Jeff Conaway (Kenickie from Grease and Taxi), Martin Landau (North by Northwest!, Mission Impossible, and Space 1999), Bart Baverman (I only know him from episodes of Match Game, but he was in Vega$, which also starred Robert Ulrich as a PI)
Relative Count: 1 Nephew, 1 Niece
Body location: In a office
Remaining Episode Count: 255

Guess the Guest Stars for Birds of a Feather!

Here are TV Themes for shows that feature the guest stars for the Murder, She Wrote episode "Birds of a Feather".  There are 4 guest stars, so put your guesses in the comments section! Plus this is an excuse to post some great(ish) TV themes from the 70s!

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4)

Season 1, Episode 3: Deadly Lady

Starting with this episode, we get to see a short summation of what to expect for the episode, sort of a warm opening instead of a cold opening. So we open on literally a dark and stormy night with JF hard at work (on a typewriter of course). She's trying to squeeze in 3 more paragraphs before the lights go out due to the "deadly lady" (episode title! drink!) : a hurricane near Cabot Cove.  A friend (possibly a suitor; he is very flirty) named Ethan stops by to check on JF/ to do an exposition dump about a yacht with passengers aboard, possibly lost at sea.
The next day, JF is up for her morning jog and visits with some fisherman. She returns home to find some kind of hobo named Ralph who would like to exchange some landscaping work for food/board.  While in the kitchen, Ralph picks up a copy of her book, says that he had read it and complements her (I don't know about you, but I always keep hardback copies of books in my kitchen).  JF says that this is an Advanced Reader Copy of her new book. Ralph must know some muckety muck to be able to get his hands on this. She mentions that she doesn't think he is actually  a hobo since he didn't use the proper term. We learn that the act of being a hobo in "boing" (long o), not "hoboing".  She also could see where his wristwatch was.  Oh, Ralph, you would have fooled her if you just said bumming around.
Sheriff Tom Bosely then calls to tell JF that the boat has turned up but one of the passengers didn't!  The Bos asks for her help/advice (because, I guess, we should assume that the Cabot Cove deputies are useless).  We learn that Stephen Earl and his four daughters: Nan (a designer), Maggie (a fan), Lisa (HBIC, clearly the oldest), and Grace (who mentions that her husband has disappeared!). And when I saw this with my cousin, Lindy, I said that I was certain the Grace totally killed her husband.  This is what comes from watching too much film noir! The Earl family was sailing from Newport and got caught in the storm.   While the 4 daughters were below, Steven was on deck and being swept off the boat to sea.  The Bos doesn't buy this story and wants to investigate.  He orders the daughters to stay in Cabot Cove until the body washes ashore (so, your basic family vacation!).  This leads to a side point: based on comments from both Ethan and Maggie, it sounds like JF has published multiple books (which, rudely, the Bos says he had read none of).   And later we find out it is 6 books (so a bunch of time much have passed in the Cabot Cove universe)
Grace tells JF that none of the daughters really loved their father, Steven, and he had meddled in Nan's romance with a man named Terry (Steven was convinced that Terry was just a gold digger).  JF returns home to find Ralph, the psuedo-hobo, in the hammock and that he made a phone call to Paris (Kentucky).  JF fills him in about Steven Earl.  We learn that Mr. Fletcher (Frank was his first name) was a pipe smoker (this scene is scored with super nostalgic/romance music) and JF gives Ralph the pipe and they bond over both losing spouses.  Lisa's husband, Mr. Shelby, choppers in and lights a fire under the Bos to investigate Earl's death.  Cleaning up and watching the water drain from the sink makes JF realize something.  With the help of Ethan, she points out to the Bos that, based on the story from the girls, the boat would have been in the eye of the hurricane when they claimed Steven went overboard.  When this is revealed to the girls, Maggie claims that she shot Steven when he was in a drunken rage (and Maggie was over it, officially).  And according to Grace, Maggie was the daughter that had to put up with this Steven's shit (so no one could blame her for losing it, I guess?).  Ethan and JF return the girls to their inn and pick up a copy of the paper that contains Steven Earl's biography (he started out as an actor before founding a cosmetic company, Mark of Earl) and a picture: Suprise! Ralph is Steven Earl (and both loved the boiled scrod made by JF).  Ethan is skeptical of JF revelation but will help her look for Ralph.  Then these two poor children, playing fetch with their dog, find Ralph/Steven Earl's body (for realies this time!).
At this time, Terry (Nan's fiance) shows up to be supportive of Nan.  JF expresses anger over the death of Ralph.  We move to a scene between Shelby and Lisa, with Shelby is saying that if Maggie goes to jail, they will get her shares and greater control of Mark of Earl.  Maggie then tells JF that the original plan was to fake Steven's death to draw Terry out (and break Nan and Terry up for good).  So Maggie has no idea how Steven ended up dead! Maggie is released from police custody when it is determined that the bullets in Steven do not match Maggie's gun.  Shelby tells JF that she is a sweet old lady but she should butt out of other people's business (so now, you don't have to feel guilty if you want Shelby to be dead).  Terry then gives Nan the hard sell for marriage, but she is not really into it.  Later, Terry tells JF that Maggie told him of Steven's scheme.  He came to Maine when he heard about Steven's fake death (from Steven himself; that was the call to Paris, Kentucky) to be with Nan (in Portland).  But once he heard about Steven's real death, he came to Cabot Cove to convince Nan he really wanted to marry her.  JF heads off to find the Bos, and at the police station, we meet Emma, the only supporting character in this whole episode that has an actually Maine accent.  The Bos is on the beach, where a search has turned up a pair of ladies high heels (with the heel broken off one shoe).  The Bos and JF prove that the shoes belong to Nan, but JF doesn't think that Nan is guilty. She decides to lay a trap to catch the guilty party. Meanwhile, Nan will be in jail.
Returning to the inn after celebrating Maggie's release, JF tells Shelby and the other daughters about finding a heel (but not the shoes) and Nan's arrest and mentions that she (JF) thinks that someone else could have worn Nan's shoes.  Lisa (and Shelby) walk away in a huff, but Grace and Maggie agree to let the police search their rooms. Maggie tells JF she isn't sure they should waste their time in her room; she wasn't Nan's (shoe) size and she doesn't wear pink.   Maggie realizes her mistake (JF never said the shoes were pink) and heads off to JF's house to silence JF!  We learn the Maggie travels with an all-black ensemble just for emergencies!  JF confronts Maggie with the fact that the attempted framing of Nan was so obvious. Maggie threatens to hurt JF.  Their conversation is being monitored by the Bos though a phone off the hook, so JF is not under any real threat).  JF takes Maggie to the police station and Nan is then released. Maggie tells JF how put upon she (Maggie) was, and that the only daughter that Steven really loved was Nan.  JF and Nan have a conversation about Steven Earl (and Nan's future).  However, they never really resolve if Steven was an a-hole or not.  JF (and Nan) don't think he was, but 75% percent of his daughters disagree! Anyway, the episode ends with some light flirting between JF and Ethan and a promise of a romantic fishing date!

Show Stats:
Famous Guest Stars: Tom Bosley (from tons of stuff including Happy Days and Love with a Proper Stranger (that one it for you, mom!)) 
Relative Count: 1 Nephew (no relations in this episode)
Body location: On the beach
Remaining Episode Count: 256