When a congressman suddenly dies from a heart attack, Jessica is asked to temporarily replace him in Washington.

Season 1, Episode 10: Capital Offense (January 6, 1985)

Tonight on Murder, She Wrote…

Congressman Wendell Joyner (Frank Aletter) has a fatal heart attack at a party arranged by lobbyist Harry Parmel (Nicholas Pryor), so the governor of Maine asks Jessica to fill the seat. Of all people!

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

Kaye Sheppard is played by Edie Adams, who was in The Apartment as well as The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, Under the Yum Yum Tree and more. Her character also has an incredible cat named Peaches!

Detective Avery Mendelsohn is the lawman in this. His name is Herschel Bernardi. He definitely had police experience, as he was Jacobi on Peter Gunn.

Diana Simms is Linda Kelsey, who was also on Lou Grant.

Congressman Dan Keppner is played by Stephen Macht, Sean’s dad from The Monster Squad. He was also in Amityville: It’s About Time.

Lobbyist Harry Parmel is Nicholas Pryor, who was in The Omen II, Halloween Kills, Brain Dead, The Happy Hooker and two more episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

Ray Dixon is Mitchell Ryan, Dr. Wynn from Halloween 6!

Joe Blinn is Gary Sandy, who was in Troll.

Mark Shera plays Thor Danziger, which is a very metal name. This is Mark’s first of four roles in Murder, She Wrote.

Wendell Joyner is Frank Aletter. Aletter was also in Private School.

Harold DeWitt is Colby Chester, who does much voice-over work.

David Hooks, Jensen Collier, Jade McCall, Lyle Howry, Gwen Humble, Kathryn Janssen, Lemuel Perry, George Sasaki, Nick Trisko and Paul Van play smaller roles.

What happens?

Jessica becomes a congresswoman after that aforementioned death, keeping on staff like press agent Joe Blinn and administrative assistant Diana Simms. Detective Mendelsohn believes that Joyner was murdered because there’s blackmail in Washington. But ah—it may all tie into lobbying for a Maine-based cannery. Trust me, I worked for StarKist for a bunch, and nobody spends more on lobbyists than the canned seafood industry.

Can congresspeople be put in office without due process? I know that the government is a total mess these days, but back in 1985?

Who did it?

Joe, who worked for the congressman. He also killed Marta, who was a party girl.

Who made it?

This was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, one of the greatest TV movie directors ever. Check out Home for the Holidays, The House That Would Not Die, The Night Stalker and 18 episodes of Murder, She Wrote. Series creator Peter S. Fischer wrote it.

Some facts…

Mitchell Ryan also played a cannery owner on Dark Shadows.

IMDB states, “The US Constitution does not allow a governor to appoint a replacement representative, even temporarily, to fill an open seat. The governor can only schedule a special election to pick the new representative. Therefore, this plotline does not match real life. However, if it were a senator who she was replacing, then the governor could have appointed her to fill the seat until the special election to fill the seat.”

Does Jessica get some?

No.

Does Jessica dress up and act stupid?

No. Again, it’s going to happen.

Was it any good?

Three no answers lined up. There are a lot of plot holes in this and the show is still trying to find itself. This is an example of how it is silly and not true to Jessica’s character.

Give me a reasonable quote:

Jessica Fletcher: We’ll get along just fine if you try to remember that I’m not your addlepated great-aunt from East Nowhere.

What’s next?

Former Hollywood star Rita Bristol and her daughter Patti are about to open in a big new Broadway musical, until Patti is gunned down in a bizarre robbery attempt.