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.

Season 1, Episode 11: Broadway Malady (January 13, 1985)

Tonight on Murder, She Wrote…

Broadway legend Rita Bristol (Vivian Blaine) and her daughter Patti (Lorna Luft) are set to star in the Broadway musical Always April, produced by her son Barry (Gregg Henry), but death — and Jessica — are close.

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

Lew Feldman is Milton Berle, who at one point was the biggest star on TV. He also was and had the most enormous cock or so it has been reported.

Rita is Vivian Blaine, perhaps best known for Guys and Dolls, but she was also in Parasite and The Dark.

Lonnie Valerian is Elaine Giftos, who also appeared in Angel, Gas!, Body Chemistry 4, and The Secret Night Caller.

Barry Bristol is played by Gregg Henry, who starts all the problems in Body Double.

This is the second of twelve episodes where Michael Horton plays Grady Fletcher, Jessica’s nephew. If you think Jessica is bad news, Grady causes problems everywhere he goes and is my most hated supporting character, not just on this show, but in history.

The doomed Patti? That’s Liza’s half-sister Lorna Luft. This is her first of two appearances on the show.

Marc Faber is portrayed by Robert Morse, who played Bertram Cooper on Mad Men. He’s also in The Loved One.

Si Parish is Patrick O’Neal, who was in The Stepford Wives and The Stuff.

Gregory Sierra appeared in six Murder, She Wrote episodes but is perhaps best remembered as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller. He’s another cop in this, NYPD Det. Sgt. Moreno.

Gretchen Pasko is played by Barbara, who also portrayed Whinnery and Sister Sara in Hamburger: The Motion Picture, as well as in Crawlspace.

In the smaller roles, Kate Metcalf is Sharee Gregory, Ed Bakey is Monsignor Kelly, Roberto Roman is Taki, Johnny Seven plays “Man,” Irma Garcia is Veronica, Edson Stroll is De. Peter Weber and Victoria Harned is a newscaster.

What happens?

Former star Rita Bristol is returning to the stage, thanks to her kids, Barry and Patti. How does Jessica get involved? Brady, her hated nephew, is in charge of the books. He gets all excited about inviting her, but there are already some problems, as the director, Marc Faber, is really tough on the star. Grady, you should also know, always dates exactly the wrong woman and here he’s with Kate, Patti’s understudy.

After dinner, Barry and Patti are mugged. Patti is shot while Barry returns gunfire and kills their attacker. Jessica sees through everything and thinks that this was a planned murder, but the NYPD is too busy to listen.

Patti survives, but is replaced by Lonnie Valerian. Meanwhile, Jessica sees the mugger on an old TV show and tells the cops again, yet they still have no interest. Soon, mother and son are fighting and Rita is out of the show. Who is going to come now?

Meanwhile, Rita goes all in on unaliving herself, using alcohol, pills and the gas oven, eventually expiring at the hospital. Of course, it’s acting…

Who did it?

Barry, who wanted to be out from under his mother’s shadow. She lives, as does his sister.

Who made it?

Hy Averback was all over TV, but also made Where the Boys Are 1984, The Girl, the Godl Watch & Dynamite, the second Love Boat TV movie, Chamber of Horrors, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! and also had 27 acting roles.

This episode was written by Tom Sawyer, who produced 79 episodes of this show and wrote 24, as well as The Carpenters…Space Encounters TV special.

Some facts…

Rita is watching a black-and-white movie that she says is “Moon Over Rio.” It’s really Three Little Girls in Blue and that’s Vivian Blaine singing “Somewhere in the Night.”

There is a missing scene, as a different ending was shot with choreographer Miriam Nelson featuring dancers on stage, showcasing the final performance. Instead, we get Grady talking on the phone.

Grady was dating Kate when we last saw him in The Murder of Sherlock Holmes.

Does Jessica get some?

No.

Does Jessica dress up and act stupid?

No. Too much Grady.

Was it any good?

Not bad, despite Grady. Seriously, I can’t deal with him and how he just serial dates and gets Jessica into trouble.

Give me a reasonable quote:

Jessica Fletcher: Well, tell me about Kate.

Grady Fletcher: There’s not much to tell, Aunt Jess. She ran off with some TV weatherman from Pittsburgh.

Jessica Fletcher: Oh, Grady, I’m so sorry.

Grady Fletcher: Oh, she was okay. We didn’t have that much in common. But wait till you meet Francesca. Aunt Jess, she’s beyond belief. Now look, how soon can you get down here?

What’s next?

A trip to New Orleans gets off to an eventful start when the leader of a popular jazz band is poisoned during a performance.