While in Seattle for a series of lectures, Jessica meets a young male secretary accused of killing his wealthy older friend.

Season 1, Episode 5: Lover’s and Other Killers (November 18, 1984)

Tonight on Murder, She Wrote…

Jessica goes to Seattle, and the show is being shot on location.

Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury, and were they in any exploitation movies?

Jack Schroeder is played by Grant Goodeve, who mainly works as a voice-over artist today. You might know him from Eight Is Enough.

Dr. Edmund Gerard is Peter Graves, James Phelps from Mission: Impossible and the brother of James Arness. You may also recognize him from Airplane! and tons of TV movies, like The Memory of Eva Ryker, Death On the Freeway and Scream of the Wolf.

Lt. Andrews? That’s Greg Morris, who was Barney Collier alongside Graves on Mission: Impossible. 

Amelia is Lois Nettleton, Sister Marion from Mirror, Mirror II: Raven Dance, and Joanne St. John in 22 episodes of In the Heat of the Night.

Professor Todd Lowery is, of course, Andrew Prine, whose grindhouse resume is perfect. Eliminators, Amityville II: The Possession, The Evil, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Grizzly, Simon King of the Witches and so many more.

David Tolliver, who is accused of murder, is played by Andrew Stevens, who six years after this would change the direct-to-video and late night cable world with Night Eyes.

Lila Schroeder is played by Lory Walsh, who was a guest star on many TV shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s before dying young. She was also in the band The Fauves.

David J. Goldfarb and Dean Rubin, who was a featured skater in Skatetown U.S.A. and a featured dancer in Xanadu, play the small roles.

What happens?

Edmund Gerard invites Jessica to Seattle to lecture at Sequoia University. This episode mentions one of her books that we’ve already heard about, her first book, The Corpse Danced at Midnight. Before all that, Allison Brevard was strangled in her home in a scene that totally looks like a Giallo. We should also know that Edmund and Lila, a teaching assistant, are sleeping with each other.

Edmund is also friends with Frank, Jessica’s husband.

Meanwhile, Jessica hires David Tolliver as her secretary, just in time for her to be accused of the murder of Allison. This episode doubles up the murder, because Lila tries to tell Jessica a secret, only to be killed as well.

So: Lila was sleeping with Edmund and David, but is still married to Jack, who is quite jealous. It seems that he should be. As for the teacher that Jessica is lecturing for, Professor Lowery, she starts to believe that he’s the killer.

Unlike so many episodes of this show, in which Jessica isn’t ever in real danger, this one has her get pushed down the steps when she comes back to the college to talk things over with the professor. Everything seems to set up David as the killer, but that would be too simple.

Who did it?

Amelia.

Who made it?

Director Allen Reisner made four episodes of Murder, She Wrote, and so many other shows, including Future Cop, Night Gallery (“The Nature of the Enemy” and “Brenda“), Lancer and The Green Hornet. Wonder if he ever met Rick Dalton?

One of the show’s creators, Peter S. Fischer, wrote it.

Some facts…

The title of this episode is a reference to the 1970 movie Lovers and Other Strangers.

This may have been the second pilot and the first regular series episode to be filmed.

The actress playing Allison Brevard, the first victim, is not credited.

Does Jessica get some?

Nope. I was ready for her to hook up with Peter Graves, but he was into young women.

Does Jessica dress up and act stupid?

No, but the gun scene in the credits is from this episode.

Was it any good?

This episode covers all the bases of the show, except that Jessica doesn’t know how not to do disguise yet.

Give me a reasonable quote:

Jessica: Now, Elizabeth Taylor. Now, that is famous. I still have to take a number at Cooper’s Bakery, which is the same as ever.

What’s next?

A car with no driver kills an inventor. Can Jessica figure that out?