The night deputy, who has been paying attention to various Cabot Cove ladies, needs Jessica’s help when he becomes the prime suspect in his wife’s murder.
Season 4, Episode 7: If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly (November 8, 1987)
Jessica and Sheriff Amos investigate the murder of the wife of Cabot Cove’s night deputy, Jonathan Martin. He has been going above and beyond his public duties, secretly forming relationships with several single women in town.
Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury, Tom Bosley and William Windom?
- Julie Adams (Eve Simpson): The undisputed queen of the creature feature! She is etched into horror history as Kay Lawrence, the woman famously terrorized in the 1954 classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. This is the first of her ten appearances as this character.
- Antoinette Bower (Mrs. Audrey Martin): A staple of 60s and 70s television, she brought a chilling elegance to Star Trek and famously appeared in the cult horror flick The Mephisto Waltz.
- Gloria DeHaven (Phyllis Grant): A classic MGM musical star who made a fantastic transition into character work, popping up in genre staples like Fantasy Island.
- Ray Girardin (George Tibbits): A reliable television face who spent decades appearing in everything from The Incredible Hulk to various crime dramas.
- Dody Goodman (Beverly Hills): A comedy legend, but we have to tip our hats to her role as the mother in the cult classic Grease and her surreal, hilarious appearances in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
- Kathryn Grayson (Ideal Molloy): A legendary operatic soprano and Hollywood golden age star who brought a touch of class to this murder mystery.
- Rick Lenz (Deputy Jonathan Martin): Best known to genre buffs for his role in the creepy and atmospheric thriller The Mephisto Waltz alongside Antoinette Bower.
- Ruth Roman (Loretta Speigel): A true noir queen. She starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, one of the greatest suspense films ever put to celluloid. But for me, she’ll always be Mrs. Wadsworth from The Baby.
In a smaller role, Sally Klein is Corinne.
What happens?
Welcome back to Cabot Cove, the town where the crime rate is higher than a mid-70s exploitation double feature at a rain-soaked drive-in! This time out, we’re looking at a classic case of small-town domestic drama turning into a full-blown homicide investigation. Amos has a real headache on his hands. His night deputy, Jonathan Martin, is living a double life that would make a soap opera character blush. The guy’s marriage is on the rocks — ain’t no surprise — and instead of working on his relationship, he’s been burning the candle at both ends by playing the field with a different woman for every day of the week while he’s supposed to be on patrol.
But things go from scandalous to lethal in a heartbeat. Jonathan’s wife, Audrey, is found dead right in her own kitchen, snuffed out by her husband’s own spare service revolver. While the finger-pointing starts at home, Jessica notices the one thing everyone else missed: the local mail delivery in New Hampshire is suspiciously behind schedule. The motive? Audrey was holding a winning New Hampshire lottery ticket, a prize someone else was willing to kill for.
Who did it?
The culprit turns out to be the local postman, who clearly took “neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night” a little too far when it came to his career change into homicide.
Who made it?
Another episode by Peter Crane. This was written by Wendy Graf and Lisa Stotsky.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
No. Come on, J.B. Also, as a single woman, why wasn’t she getting pounded out by the deputy? Everyone else is, all these single ladies of a certain age getting their groove on, and the only thing getting fingered in J.B.’s house is her typewriter.
Was it any good?
Not a bad episode. Lots of sin in this little town.
Any trivia?
This is the first time we see Loretta’s Beauty Salon. Travel agent Phyllis Grant (Gloria DeHaven); hairdressers Loretta Spiegel (Ruth Roman) and Corrine (Sally Klein), and divorcee Ideal Molloy (Kathryn Grayson) would come back for two more episodes.
The episode title references the movie If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.
While examining Audrey Martin’s body, Dr. Seth opens her left eye to examine her pupil. As he does this, her other eye opens.
Give me a reasonable quote:
Jessica Fletcher: (Jessica and Seth are discussing their interrupted dinner of calamari) And, anyway, it’s not your fault they came out a little tough.
Dr. Seth Hazlitt: A little tough? They were so rubbery you could have turned them into snow tires!
What’s next?
While Jessica was inquiring about her latest novel’s plot being plagiarized by a popular TV series, the show’s executive producer gets blown up by a bomb.
