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.
Season 4, Episode 8: Steal Me a Story (November 15, 1987)
Struggling TV writer Gayle Yamada finds herself in a tight spot when her producer Sid Sharkey demands she rip off Jessica Fletcher’s latest novel. Not one to take plagiarism lying down, Jess marches right into an executive’s office to set the record straight and protect her intellectual property. Before you can say “J.B. is the real murderer,” that man is blown up real good.
Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?
- Vincent Baggetta (Bert Puzo): A familiar face on 70s and 80s TV, you might recognize him from The Dukes of Hazzard or Hill Street Blues.
- Bradford Dillman (Avery Stone): A heavy hitter in the genre world. He starred in Escape from the Planet of the Apes and the cult classic Piranha, just part of his war with nature in the 1970s.
- Fionnula Flanagan (Freida Schmidt): She was in The Others and the cult hit Waking Ned Devine.
- Lenore Kasdorf (Brenda Blake): She famously played Rita in the Guiding Light soap opera, but Chuck Norris fans know her from the classic Missing in Action.
- Yaphet Kotto (Lt. Bradshaw): Absolute legend. Between Alien (as Parker), Live and Let Die and the gritty cult film Blue Collar, he is a heavyweight in every sense.
- Doug McClure (Gary Patterson): The king of the creature feature. He starred in The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core and Warlords of Atlantis.
- Kim Miyori (Gayle Yamada): Known for her role in the St. Elsewhere series and appearances in The Terror Within II.
- Gail Strickland (Kate Hollander): A busy character actor known for her role in the cult favorite Bound for Glory and various genre TV staples.
- Ken Swofford (Sid Sharkey): A consummate character actor who popped up in The Thing and the cult slasher Fade to Black.
- Gail Youngs (Diane Crane): Known for The Great Santini and various television projects.
- Joe Horváth (Sergeant Gates): A reliable television face often seen in procedural dramas.
- Barry Pearl (P.R. Staffer): Famous for his role as Doody in Grease, but he also has roots in horror with a role in the cult favorite Night of the Creeps.
- Liz Torres (Carmen): An iconic television presence known for The John Larroquette Show and Gilmore Girls, and she even had a bit part in the movie version of The Addams Family.
In smaller roles, you’ll find Jeff Abbott, Kate Williamson, Scott Lawrence, Jay Roberts Jr., Matt Stetson, Chris Hubbell and Bill Dunnam.
What happens?
This episode of Murder, She Wrote—titled “Steal Me a Story”—is a cynical, meta-textual blast at the television industry. When struggling writer Gayle Yamada is ordered to rip off Jessica Fletcher’s latest novel, she turns to the one woman who knows how to handle a hack producer: Jessica herself. After Jess marches into the executive offices to protect her IP, the show’s power-hungry kingpin, Sid Sharkey, gets a package that literally blows him away. Naturally, our favorite mystery author takes a staff writing job to sleuth through the backstabbing, cutthroat world of the television backlot.
Gayle Yamada (Kim Miyori) is a struggling TV writer who is ordered by her sleazy producer, Avery Stone (Bradford Dillman), to plagiarize a plot from Jessica Fletcher’s latest novel. Instead of playing the game, Gayle finds her backbone, tracks down Jessica at a book signing and spills the beans.
Jessica, never one to let a creative thief slide, marches into the studio to protect her work. She soon realizes that the show’s big-shot kingpin, Sid Sharkey (Ken Swofford)—a man who makes a career out of burning bridges and blackmailing his staff—is the real problem. But before Jess can clean house, Sid receives a gift that sends him to Heaven. Or Hell. Who can say?
To find the killer, Jessica takes a gig as a scriptwriter, sleuthing through the backlot while dealing with a cast of characters who have more ego than talent and enough motives to fill a miniseries.
Who did it?
The killer is Bert Puzzo (Vincent Baggetta), the show’s director. Bert was being blackmailed by Sharkey over a cocaine-fueled breakdown. When Sid dangled the promise of a new show but made it clear he was still going to hold the leash, Bert snapped. He planted the bomb on Sid’s desk, thinking he’d end the blackmail for good.
Who made it?
Another episode by the greatest TV movie director, John Llewellyn Moxey, and written by series creator Peter S. Fischer.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
No, but she does get pitched a show that sounds exactly like this show and remarks how silly it is.
Was it any good?
A great one!
Any trivia?
Bradford Dillman appeared in a total of eight episodes, and Ken Wofford was in eleven.
The central premise of the Danger Doctor episode is almost the same as Diagnosis Murder.
Give me a reasonable quote:
Kate Hollander: Forget the mini. I’ve a much better idea.
Jessica Fletcher: Oh?
Kate Hollander: A weekly series. The Jessica Fletcher Mystery Hour.
Jessica Fletcher: What?
Kate Hollander: The real-life adventures of a crime-busting mystery writer.
Jessica Fletcher: No, no, no, no.
Kate Hollander: Oh, yes, yes. It’ll be sensational. New, different, original, but familiar.
Jessica Fletcher: (sighs) Miss Hollander, I don’t write gunfights, car chases or bedroom scenes, so who would watch? I’m sorry, but that is absolutely the worst idea I have ever heard.
What’s next?
As a favor to a close female friend, Jessica travels to a town in Oregon and poses as her friend to investigate the suspicious circumstances under which the friend’s sister died. Will Stuart Whitman get all up in Jessica’s guts? I hope!
