We love ourselves some Murder, She Wrote here at Team SpoCOOL Towers. Not in an ironic way or anything, but in a true, honest to Obi-Wan fanboy/fangirl fashion. It's easy to dismiss the show, of course, but it truly is well shot -- watch the intro sequence around the 25 second mark and see how brilliantly Hitchcockian the push-down-the-stairs scene is filmed (this might have been a veiled commentary on old people falling down stairs a lot) -- and the roster of actors is impressive.
Angela Lansbury and Tom Bosley aside, you get names like Olivia Hussey, Leslie Nilsen, Milton Berle, any actor that ever appeared in M*A*S*H, and, my personal favorite, John Saxon. The fact that many of these appear in multiple episodes, even though they have previously appeared as murder victims, seems to be of no concern to the producers.
As the people over at 2birds1blog found out, Murder, She Wrote lends itself perfectly to drinking games. The real question is, what does one drink with such a classy show? Pimm's definitely comes first to mind. You probably know the drink from your grandma's liquor cabinet. Another favorite is the Campari, but that should only be enjoyed when an edgy actor appears on the show. Like Mickey Rooney. If you're really feeling frisky, make it a Gibson.
And the game, well, I don't think there's a better one than what 2birds1blog came up with. Here are a few excerpts; make sure to read the whole entry. It's worth it.
- Drink when Angela Lansbury / Jessica Fletcher says:
"Tonight on 'Murder, She Wrote...'"
"Oh, no. I'm afraid this was no accident. No, it was murder."
"Of course!" or "Oh, how silly I've been!" followed by running off to
check something.
"X could not have known that the victim would be at the shooting
range. But you could."
- Drink when there's a guest star that went on to be famous for another show (Lucille Bluth, the host from "Unsolved Mysteries," Jerry Orbach, the mom from ALF, Goerge Clooney, etc.)
- Drink when there's a guest star that used to be famous (Tab Hunter, Dorothy Lamour) but has aged and now does guest shots on prime-time family crime dramas to pay the bills.
- Drink if the motive is hilariously obscure. Double if it involves an inheritance or revencge for something that happened many years ago.
- Drink if Jessica is involved because of a nephew/niece/cousin/old friend/old friend's niece's nephew's cousin who is either in danger or accused of murder.
- Drink whenever Jessica has to deal with a wacky subculture, like theatre people, pornographers, or the DAR.
Make tonight a Murder, She Wrote night!