While on a flight to London, a wealthy woman’s chauffeur dies suddenly, and when the priceless necklace he was carrying turns up missing, it becomes a case of murder.

Season 3, Episode 12: The Corpse Flew First Class (January 18, 1987)

JB is headed to London to research some dusty old Victorian slaying, because apparently, Cabot Cove doesn’t have enough corpses to keep her busy this week. But before she can even touch her complimentary peanuts, the guy in 4B, Leon Bigard, decides to kick the bucket right there in coach.

Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?

Mary Jo Catlett plays Mrs. Metcalf. She was Rosemary in Serial Mom. 

Robin Dearden is Kay Davis.

Pat Harrington Jr., Schneider from One Day at a Time, is Gunnar Globle.

David Hemings is investigator Errol Pogson. He was in so much, but Deep Red is the one.

Kate Mulgrew is Sonny Greer. Captain Janeaway!

Gene Nelson is Louis Metcalf, Andrew Parks is Fred Jenkins, Vince Howard is Blanton, Robert Walker Jr. (Star Trek’s Charlie X) is Otto Hardwick, Charles Hoyes is Carney, John S. Ragin is Dr. Clint Strayhorn, and Chris Robinson is Capt. Whetsel. 

James Shigeta, Takagi from Die Hard, is John Sukahara.

The dead person, Leon Bigard, is played by Mark Venturini, who was Suicide in Return of the Living Dead. 

Lia Sargent is Elizabeth Welch. She’s done a ton of animated voices.

In smaller roles, Charles Davis is Mr. Stegmeyer, Don Maharry is Mr. Miley, Crystal Jenious is Mrs. Miley, Ron Barker is British Chief, Ian Howard is a security man, Ron Southart is Bobby, Jim Malinda is a photographer, Curtis Hood is a porter, John Straightley is a customs man, Gerald York is a man on the phone, and Robert Bakanic, Dotty Ertel, Buddy Gates and Walter Spear are passengers.

What happens?

Leon was the bodyguard (read: boy-toy) for heiress Sonny Greer. He was also carrying the Empress Carlotta necklace, a bauble worth more than a mid-sized European country. When Leon expires, the necklace vanishes, and J.B. Fletcher has to solve a locked-cabin mystery at 30,000 feet.

Enter Inspector Pogson of Scotland Yard. Usually, the local heat wants to throw J.B. Fletcher in jail, interfering, but Pogson realizes pretty quickly that he’s outmatched by a woman who writes mystery novels and has a 100% conviction rate. What follows is a high-altitude whodunit where everyone on the flight is a suspect, the motive is pure greed, and the only thing more dangerous than the killer is the airline food.

The craziest thing is that Gunnar Globle is based on Roger Corman. He’d like Jessica to touch up the script for Off-road Aliens 2, and I’d like her to take on that project. He could also be a reference to the Cannon Go Go Boys, Golan and Globus.

Sonny Greer turns out to have poisoned Mr. Bigard. Jessica finds out that they were in a situationship and he’s been moving on, ready to break up with her when they get to London. She kills him before that.

There’s also the matter of the Empress Carlotta necklace, which Mr. Hardwick was planning to steal. Maybe he had some help. We’ll see. When it’s switched out for a fake, John Sukahara turns out to be a gem expert and calls it out as fake.

Between a necklace and a murder, that’s a lot on one plane. But when you let Jessica fly, I’m shocked no one died.

Who did it?

The real enemy is Pogson, who planned to switch out the necklace and retire.

Who made it?

This was directed by Walter Grauman and written by Donald Ross, who also wrote Hamburger: The Motion Picture.

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

No. It seemed like she was going to bang it out with the inspector, but once he’s bad, she can’t get with him.

Was it any good?

Yes. A great cast!

Any trivia?

The Blues Brothers is the in-flight movie.

Twelve of the characters have the last names of musicians, singers or arrangers who worked for Duke Ellington.

This was made on the set of Airport 1975.

Give me a reasonable quote:

Jessica Fletcher: Mr. Globle… Here’s your script. You know, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the sophisticated imagery and the poetic wit. I see it as a cross between cinema verite…

Gunnar Globle: Imagery and cinema verite?

Jessica Fletcher: I think if you change the title, it might do very well in those quaint little, uh, art theaters.

Customs Man: Anything to declare, sir?

Gunnar Globle: Yes. This is a dud.

What’s next?

The phone lines get crossed during a storm, and Jessica can’t convince anyone that what she heard was a real murder plot. It’s directed by David Hemings, who was in this episode!