TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE... SIMON SAYS, COLOR ME DEAD.  The story behind that enigmatic half-joke will be revealed!

Lauded painter—and resident of Cabot Cove—Simon Thane (Foster Brooks) is found stabbed with a carving knife after a tense dinner with friends, and purportedly his last piece leads the way to the killer— but it goes missing, too.  Immediate suspects are a study in class struggle; as "the girl" Irene Rutdlege (Tess Harper), who the Thanes employ as housekeeper and cook, is spotted late at night, spattered with blood; plus there's always his affluent guests of the evening, who include our liaison between worlds, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury).

Power couple The Selbys (Dick Sargent and Ann Dusenberry), pass-around party bottom art dealer Felix (Leonard Frey), and The Wife (Diane Baker) are all on the list, but Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) is content to let Irene swing for it as long as he gets to adopt Irene's precocious adolescent child (Chris Hebert). Throw in a mysterious stranger who peers from car windows (Steve Inwood), and the plot thickens like oil paints left out overnight.

Viktor and Petra deconstruct the complications of hero worship, maternity fraud, emotional affairs, and Jessica's search for the owner of a lighter that might bring it all together.  It's a wowza of a killer's confession, an anthology of women's hairstyles of the era, and a preponderance of handsome Cabot Cove deputies we only see once.

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we are back in Boston watching guys punch each other, between shots of Angela Lansbury slowly putting on her sneakers, preppy strolls in a sweatvest, and rides in cabs with unconvincing city backdrops.

In this ambitious but insecure backdoor pilot for Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) and his private investigations, we surprisingly find ourselves in the world of boxing.  Harry is propping up Blaster Boyle (Harold Sylvester), a nearly past his prime fighter who is being compelled to take a dive.  A suspiciously motivated journalist (LaVar Burton) and his gal Friday (Lynne Moody) are on the case, and just when they're ready to expose the shenanigans, an Adam West-shaped corpse throws a wrench in the works, and Harry is implicated.  

Needing Jessica's help (and her $5,000), Harry calls upon our favorite New Englander busybody to not only clear his name, but bring his boxer to his fighting weight.  It makes about as much sense as it sounds, and if it seems like it's not possible to fit it all in 47 minutes, you are right!  This extra-sized episode is often truncated to an inscrutable edit that does it no favors.

With appearances from John Amos, Ernest Borgnine, Bradford Dillman, and Caren Kaye, this experimental period in the show's development of season 3 continues with Petra Fried and Viktor Devonne trying to keep up with makeshift flashbacks and missing pieces, knowing it will somehow come out with a sunny walk in a park and the thrilling examination of a dingy sofa cushion. 

We’re investigating bulletproof vests, teddy bears, and tainted cheese TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE. But can we trust the reported results?  Questionable...

Our busybody sleuth and mystery author, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), finds herself in the world of Consumer Reporting television. Lured at the request of her wet-blanket buddy, Jayne (Judith Chapman), who is struggling in her marriage to the show's producer, Steve (Robert F. Lyons), things turn bloody when the charming —at least on camera— yet volatile host, Kenneth Chambers (Rod McCary), is discovered, you guessed it, shot dead. Perhaps he should have worn the bulletproof vest after all?

Naturally, everyone hated the guy, and all are better off without him, but whose motive was strong enough to do him in? Was it the ambitious and cutthroat aspiring producer (the fabulous Adrienne Barbeau) and her naive protégé (a delightful Pat Klous) who are quick to swoop in and fill Chambers’ high-profile shoes; the mobster toy hussler (Joe Santos) who the dead guy was blackmailing; the exhausted Steve who just wants a night off; the elusive executive hunk (Morgan Stevens) who has a lingering fondness for Jessica’s pal; or a begrudged techie (Brian Matthews) who our victim fired hours before biting the bullet?

No surprise, our lieutenant (Barry Corbin) is more interested in a quick arrest and patting himself on the back than in doing actual detective work. Luckily, Jessica can count on custodian and unexpected Watson fill-in, Bert (George Takei), to bait a trap for our killer— and procure some rad celebrity memorabilia along the way.

Coffee stains, bad dental work, and low-cut dresses won’t distract us, but a Gypsy-inspired musical theatre tangent might... Ultimately, THE BOTTOM LINE IS MURDER.

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Jessica Fletcher is gonna tell us a story. 

In an unprecedented turn of events, our mystery writing sleuth (Angela Lansbury) is taking a day off from actual bodies and clues, to instead actually do some work. She's proofreading her new novel, MURDER IN A MINOR KEY, in her robe and slippers, and, for some reason, we've been invited to watch. 

The story takes place largely at a college, where a student (Paul Clemens) accuses his professor (George Grizzard) of stealing his music and selling it to a Broadway show without giving him credit. When the professor ends up a corpse, said student is added to the list of suspects that includes The Wife (Karen Grassie), the Vice Chancellor (Tom Hallick), the Rival (Rene Auberjonis), the Producer (Herb Edelman), and anyone else who may have hated the man (hint: lots of people). 

Our Fletcher proxy is Shaun Cassidy, who, alongside Dinah Manoff, attempts to get his friend off the hook. Throw in some campus unrest, missing manuscripts, secret affairs, attempted burglary, and something to do with what light blinks when what phone rings, and it's all otherwise the usual... without Jessica. 

Petra and Viktor break down the theoretically straightforward plot that we're supposed to follow and solve alongside our heroes, as per the writer herself. We're grateful to have her as a guide, though, because we're not sure we would ever have made the connection without her. 

While season 3 has hurled surprises at us, this episode, without Jessica grilling the suspects, is an uneven change of pace. Familiar faces like Paris Vaughan, Scott Jacoby, and the particularly charming Manoff keep us going another week, and now that we know the ending of the new book, we can brag about it at the water cooler that we got it right from the source.

It's time for a little bed rotting TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, but even being confined to a bed due to a back injury won't stop Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) from being up in everyone's business.

Inspired by SORRY WRONG NUMBER, this creepy, crawly thriller CROSSED UP features our heroine on the hunt for the raspy-voiced man whom she overheard plotting the murder of "the old man."  When the old man and the proposed hired killer both end up dead, the questions only mount further.  Naturally, our suspects are all rich douchebags: Tony Dow, Sandy McPeak, and Adam Rogers are conniving opportunistic brothers, and the cat-stroking Colleen Camp (playing Dow's wife) is on hand to look gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.  The only one in the family with a heart is Stephanie Dunnam, who may hold the clue to reveal the killer — if it isn't her. 

Jessica's nephew, Grady (Michael Horton), provides moral support and a bounty of Tuna Surprise for his ailing aunt, who can't get the men in her life to take her seriously; as usual, the good doctor Hazlitt (William Windom) and Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) fail to match her energy to catch the murderer.  Will she be able to assemble her men around her boudoir to crack the case on her behalf, or will the ill-timed rainstorm in our final act catch her vulnerable and unarmed?

This heavy hitter of Season 3 also features appearances by inquiring diner owners, illicit tape recordings, and the most cops we've ever seen descend on a Cabot Cove house.  Do you like to tango?

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Kate Mulgrew looks amazing and is acting her face off, all for her $2 million necklace to go missing. Jessica and her Scotland Yard Watson (David Hemings) are along for the plane ride to determine who took it... and oh, yeah, who killed her bodyguard chauffeur (Mark Venturini)?

In this closed circuit mystery set on international first class, THE CORPSE FLEW FIRST CLASS features Mulgrew as superstar Sonny Greer traveling with a cavalcade of suspects: John S. Ragin, James Shigeta, Robert Walker Jr., Mary Jo Catlett, Robin Dearden, and Pat Harrington. 

Jessica and cast have to contend with fake jewelry, bad batteries, shaving cream, and what wine pairs well with fish. If you can keep up with all of these characters, where they are at all times, and how England feels about American dogs, you'll experience one of the best-rated episodes of the show--and a knitting bag full of misdirection and revenge. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we're objectifying a Brady boy between his visits to the dentist, bullying intellectuals, and sleeping with the college administration.  Join us!

Petra and Viktor join Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) when she visits Vermont to help out protegee Dorian (Thom Bray), a romantically disabled Grady supplicant, who promptly passes her off as his mom to impress his sort-of-girlfriend (Karlene Crockett).  Jessica begrudgingly (although frankly, not begrudgingly enough... we think she likes the attention) plays along, meeting the college town's residents, one of whom is destined to die.

Dorian is implicated in the killing, and Jessica must shed the matriarchal subterfuge to aid in his exoneration, despite the saber at his feet and proximity to the victim, whose head is freshly missing.  Whoops.

It's a rollicking autumnal spookfest as Barry Williams, Hope Lange, Judy Landers, Guy Stockwell, Fritz Weaver, and Charles Siebert all get substantially meaty roles in the caper of embezzlement, revenge, secret clubhouse knocks, and amateur goldsmithing. It's NIGHT OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN, and we're gonna need a few more olives to go with our martini. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, we head to the theatre! Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) reconnects with her friends, who have gone on to become stage legends and lovers, and now exes, Maggie Tarrow (Eleanor Parker) and Julian Lord (Edward Mulhare), on the eve of their production.  While they alternate between gentle affection and tense discomfort, the actors are leaving the drama all backstage with cryptic messages and meaningful glances.

Our suspicious ingenue Barbara Bennington (Ann Turkel) seems to have a vested interest in taking her understudy position to opening night, a curious geek (Don Most) lingers a tad too long backstage, and Maggie's young lover (Shea Farrell) is more interested in the stage manager (Christopher Norris) than learning his lines... All of that comes to a head when someone ends up dead, and Jessica is thrust into the investigation with Chief Drock (Josh Schuck), who is in way over his head.

Bob Hastings, Dan O'Herlihy, and John Pleshette round out the suspects in STAGE STRUCK, a delectable return to form in a wild third season of our cozy mystery classic.  Enjoy a glass of red wine, break out the scrapbook, and dwell on past regrets with Petra and Vitkor in this display of sophisticated playhouse homicide. 

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, mystery writer JB Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is approached by infotainment news program "Scrutiny" for a profile; she is notably skeptical. Things quickly overtake the small town of Cabot Cove, leading to trampled flower beds and the local hotel being overwhelmed by the crew. 

When the reporter reluctantly covering the segment is... blown up on a boat... (it'll make sense at the time?), the story shifts, and the real curiosity begins: why and by whom?! And how many toes does the guy have?!

OBITUARY FOR A DEAD ANCHOR alternates between bonkers and quant, and features a cast made up of Tom Bosley, Chad Everett, Abby Dalton, and Robert Paul. Petra and Viktor follow along with the twists and turns of media coverups, regional distrust, and reporters with funky hats. 

Petra and Viktor head to Hawaii for some R&R--and objectification of one Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck), who meets up with our Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) in a meeting of the minds and test of wills. 

A friend of Jessica's (Dorothy Loudon) panickedly calls the mystery writer across the country (and over the Pacific) to suss out if someone's trying to kill her, the frazzled Stephanie Faracy, or the total knockout Jessica Walter. Alongside them is the intrepid and Magnum's number one guy, Higgins (John Hillerman), who seems to have quickly developed designs on Jessica. Magnum is unamused. 

He's also quickly indisposed when he's framed for a murder, and suddenly things shift to Jessica's perspective as she tries to clear his name. If things seem a little out of whack here, it's because we're crossing over TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE with a 2-part caper that begins with the MAGNUM P.I. episode NOVEL CONNECTION before actually going anywhere with MSW's MAGNUM ON ICE.   

With a cast including John McMartin, Jared Martin, Andrew Prine, Ramon Bieri, and those three special ladies who each provide a curious connection to the dead man... dead men..., it's a rollercoaster of a bipartite.

Get your short shorts, your Detroit Tigers hat, and an extra hotel key; it's one of the most unusual MSW jaunts we've explored yet.