After her publisher announces his impending retirement, Jessica heads to New York City, where she is wooed at the same time by potential new publishers and a smooth-talking jewel thief.
Season 5, Episode 2: A Little Night Work (October 30, 1988)
Jessica Fletcher is in New York City attending a posh publisher’s party, but before the night is over, diamonds go missing, a slimy real estate mogul dies, and a charming jewel thief makes a grand entrance through her balcony door.
Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?
- Keith Michell plays Dennis Stanton. Beyond his fame as King Henry VIII in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Michell voiced the titular beast in the cult Australian animated fantasy Grendel Grendel Grendel and starred in the eerie mystery thriller The Deceiver.
- Jamie Farr plays literary agent Theo Wexler. Immortalized as corporal Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H*, Farr had a memorable horror television guest spot on Kolchak: The Night Stalker (as bone-collecting teacher Jack Burton in “Primal Scream“) and hit the road in the all-star action comedy classics Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II.
- Conrad Janis plays Miles Hatcher. Best known to sitcom audiences as Mindy’s dad Frederick McConnell on Mork & Mindy, Janis dabbled in genre territory as Otto Palindex in Buck Henry’s cult sci-fi comedy series Quark and turned up in the disaster blockbuster Meteor as well as the horror-comedy The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox.
- Rick Jason plays the doomed Axel Weingard. Best known as Platoon Leader Lt. Hanley in the classic WWII series Combat!, Jason dipped his toes into genre thrillers with the Sci-Fi monster movie The Bamboo Saucer and the 1978 TV movie horror thriller The Critical List.
- Julie Parrish plays Marta Weingard. She traded quips with Elvis Presley in Paradise, Hawaiian Style and appeared in Star Trek (as Miss Piper in “The Menagerie”), with genre credentials including the sci-fi cult classic The Time Travelers and the devil-worship thriller The Devil’s Hand.
- Joe Santos plays NYPD Lt. Bert Alfano. Beloved as hard-pressed Lt. Dennis Becker on The Rockford Files, Santos brought his gritty tough-guy persona to the classic Mob thriller The Friends of Eddie Coyle, the action-horror flick Fear Is the Key and TV movies like The Last Dinosaur.
- Leann Hunley plays insurance investigator Shannon McBride. A daytime staple from Days of Our Lives (where she won a Daytime Emmy as Anna DiMera) and Dynasty (as Dana Waring Carrington), Hunley also popped up on shows like Knight Rider, Airwolf and Battlestar Galactica.
- John Dye plays the aspiring writer/waiter Andy Broom. Years before becoming a household name as Andrew, the Angel of Death, in Touched by an Angel, Dye starred in the martial arts cult classic Best of the Best and the horror comedy Once Bitten.
- William Court is Ray. He played Veronica’s dad in Heathers and a game show host in Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.
- Smaller roles are played by Jensen Court as Joanna, Gerald Sharp as a cop, Ronda Pierson and Harry Cason as reporters, Armand Cerami as a security guard, Roger Trantham as a detective, George Sasaki as a maitre’d and Shirkey Anthony, Walter Smith, Nico Stevens, Paul Van, Frances Bergen, Robert Buckingham, Faith Burton, Richard Monahan and Monty O’Grady as partygoers.
What happens?
JB is at a fancy gala thrown by her literary agent, Theo Wexler, where Manhattan’s elite rub shoulders and stab each other in the back. Among the guests are wealthy developer Axel Weingard, his long-suffering wife Marta, real estate broker Miles Hatcher and a dashing gent named Dennis Stanton who sweeps J.B. off her feet on the dance floor.
That night, world-class jewel thief Dennis scales Jessica’s hotel balcony, desperate for a place to hide. Moments earlier, his attempt to steal Marta Weingard’s legendary diamond necklace was cut short by a grim discovery: someone had already strangled Axel and taken off with the jewels. Now framed by relentless NYPD Lt. Bert Alfano, Dennis forms an uneasy, quick-witted alliance with J.B. to track down the true murderer before time runs out.
Who did it?
Miles Hatcher. Axel was planning to back out of a massive condominium deal with Miles, which would have ruined Miles financially and left him completely broke. Miles choked Axel to death in his hotel room, snatched his wife’s diamond necklace out of the safe to make it look like a botched burglary, and tried to frame Dennis for the whole thing.
Who made it?
Walter Grauman directed this episode, and series creator Peter S. Fischer wrote it.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
No dressing up or acting foolish this week—Jessica is strictly upscale Manhattan glam. As for getting some? Dennis Stanton lays the charm on thick, dancing with her, breaking into her hotel room and making some “highly personal and only moderately selfish” proposals. JB keeps her cool, but there’s definitely some witty, romantic banter floating around.
Was it any good?
This is an absolute top-tier episode. Keith Michell debuts as Dennis Stanton, and his suave, Cary Grant-esque chemistry with Angela Lansbury is brilliant. Add in Jamie Farr rocking a solid dramatic role as a stressed-out agent and Conrad Janis doing his thing, and you’ve got an entertaining, polished entry in the series. It’s easy to see why the producers brought Dennis Stanton back for multiple guest spots (and eventually let him narrate his own episodes).
Any trivia?
This episode introduces Dennis Stanton, played by Keith Michell. His character became so popular that during Season 6 and Season 7, when Angela Lansbury wanted a reduced filming schedule, several episodes featured Stanton solving cases as an insurance investigator, narrated by Michell.
Give me a reasonable quote:
Dennis Stanton: Now, Jessica, there’s something that you and I ought to discuss. The thought of pursuing steady employment is absolutely terrifying, and it occurred to me that there might be some profit to be made out of lending my name to a book, or a series of books, about a roguish jewel thief.
Jessica Fletcher: What?
Dennis Stanton: A wonderful idea, isn’t it? I’ve already been contacted by an agent who wants to represent me. In fact, I think you know him, a fellow called Wexler. Says he’s been your agent for years
What’s next?
Jessica is perplexed by the death of an elderly man, as suspicion points to the two elderly spinster sisters he was living with and helps the new sheriff finds the truth, as a myriad of suspicious characters descend on Cabot Cove.
