The murder of the leading lady’s understudy disrupts a play starring two previously married actors.

Season 3, Episode 10: Stage Struck (December 14, 1986)

Two of Jessica’s old friends bring her back to her old job at a theater. One of them faints on stage, and then her understudy dies.

Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?

Shea Farrell is Larry Matthews.

Bob Hastings (Commissioner Gordon’s voice in the Batman cartoons) plays Eddie Bender.

Donald Most — come on, Donnie! — is T.J. Holt

Edward Mulhare may have been Rex Harrison’s understudy in My Fair Lady on Broadway. But we all know him from Knight Rider. Here, he plays Julian Lord.

Christopher Norris (Eat My Dust) as Pru Mattson.

Dan O’Herlihy (Conal Cochran and The Old Man!) is Alexander Preston.

Eleanor Parker plays Maggie Tarrow.

John Pleshette is Nicky Saperstein.

John Schuck from McMillan and Wife is Chief Merton P. Drock.

Ann Turkel (Humanoids from the Deep) as Barbara Bennington.

Smaller roles include Richard Hoyt-Miller, Annie Gagen, and Jeffrey Lippa as reporters; Weldon Bleiler as a doctor; and Fritz Ford as an onlooker.

What happens?

Julian Lord and Maggie Tarrow are essentially the Lunt and Fontanne of Jessica’s past, a legendary acting duo who were once married and still share a spark, though it’s heavily smothered by egos and secrets. They invite Jessica to the Applewood Playhouse for a revival of The Night of the Phoenix, but the production is cursed from the jump.

Maggie’s health is failing, and her understudy, Barbara Bennington, isn’t just waiting in the wings. She’s actively sharpening her claws. But when Maggie faints and Barbara gets her big break, she doesn’t just break a leg. She drops dead mid-scene after drinking from a prop decanter.

In the middle of all this, the cop in charge — Chief Drock — tries to sound like Hercule Poirot.

While he’s being a weirdo, Jessica realizes that the poison in the prop wine was meant for the leading lady, but the real target was always the person holding the secret.

Who did it?

When JB confronts Julian backstage, she learns that the blackmail was over the fact that he and Maggie had conceived a child and given it up for adoption. Julian admits to Jessica that he poisoned the wine specifically to kill Barbara and keep their secret buried. To make the accident look like it was meant for Maggie and deflect suspicion from himself, he had previously played with Maggie’s vitamins to make her faint, ensuring Barbara would be the one on stage to drink the lethal dose.

Who made it?

This was directed by John Astin, who was Harry Pierce in other episodes, and written by Philip Gerson.

Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?

No! Ugh.

Was it any good?

It’s a decent one.

Any trivia?

This episode reveals how Jessica met her husband Frank. Their romance blossomed in the theatre community, proving that Jessica has always had a flair for the dramatic, even if she prefers the technical side of the stage.

Edward Mulhare and Ann Turkel were also on Knight Rider. 

Give me a reasonable quote:

Jessica Fletcher: Oh, certainly not. No, but I was Applewood’s second-best set painter. And in case you haven’t guessed, there were only two.

What’s next?

Jessica comes to the aid of Dorian Beecher, a shy poet who is the prime suspect when his bully is found dead.