Show Notes: Episode 7-6: Murder, She Wrote

*Murder, She Wrote aired on CBS for 12 seasons and 264 episodes from September 1984 to May 1996, and there were also 4 TV movies.  The first 5 seasons are available on Prime Video, and the complete series is on DVD.

*Season 1 Episode 19, Murder Takes the Bus, premiered Sunday, March 17, 1985, at 8:00 P.M. on CBS. Preceding it was 60 Minutes, and following it was Crazy Like a Fox and Trapper John M.D.

ABC countered with Ripley's Believe It or Not, Brubaker (the 1980 Robert Redford film), and Foul-Ups, Bleeps, and Blunders. The NBC lineup that night included Silver Spoons, Punky Brewster, Knight Rider, and a rerun of The Burning Bed.

*Angela Lansbury played Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple in 1980's The Mirror Crack'd, which was originally supposed to kick off a series. Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson, and Kim Novak co-star. Sadly, they are among the only stars who didn't show up on Murder, She Wrote.

*A guest star who IS in this episode of Murder, Terence Knox, was indeed still a regular on St. Elsewhere when this aired.'

*Mike mentions on the show what Jimmy Hoffa says in The Irishman about facing a knife as opposed to a gun. Here is the quote from the source material, the book I Hear You Paint Houses:

Frank Sheeran tells Charles Brandt: "Bill Isabel told me that Jimmy said, 'You always run away from a man with a knife and toward a man with a gun.' I don't know about that. You have to know the circumstances.  He's right if you can startle the man with the gun, because he doesn't expect you to come at him. Jimmy did the right thing in these circumstances. But if you go toward the man with a gun who cannot be startled, the closer you get the more you improve his aim.  Most of the time you don't see the knife until you're cut with it. The best thing to do is to be a choirboy."

*Angela Lansbury won numerous Golden Globes for the series yet never won an Emmy despite a record 12 nominations. She lost Emmys to: Tyne Daly, Sharon Glass (Cagney and Lacey), Dana Delany (China Beach), Patricia Wettig (Thirtysomething), Kathy Baker (Picket Fences), and--most surprising to me--Sela Ward for Sisters.

*At this time, there are over 40 official "Jessica Fletcher"novel in our world. In the Murder, She Wrote world, who knows how many novels she wrote? We're not sure she even keeps track.

*Father Dowling Mysteries with Tom Bosley aired 1989-1991 on NBC and then ABC.

*This series was a top-10 show in 8 of its first 11 years, never finishing lower than #13.  It crashed in its final season, falling to #58 overall after an ill-fated move from its longtime Sunday 8:00 timeslot to Thursday at 8:00/

*You can see a clip from Lansbury's Positive Moves exercise video in this week's YouTube playlist. We chose a PG-rated selection.

Murder, She Wrote playlist is now live!

After listening to us discuss Murder, She Wrote on the podcast, take a look at our video playlist for this episode. You'll find A Whole Lotta Lansbury as she sings, shills, and performs with Bea Arthur! Plus appearances by Linda Blair, Rue McClanahan, Larry Linville, and many more! And of course there's clam chowd-ah!



And remember to visit our official YouTube channel for episode-specific playlists as well as past installments of the podcast.

Episode 7-6: Murder, She Wrote "Murder Takes the Bus"

On a dark and stormy night, America's favorite mystery writer/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher takes a bus ride with a bevy of guest stars. While they hole up in a roadside restaurant, a passenger gets murdered, and everyone's a suspect (except Jessica and Amos natch). Whodunnit? Whydunnit? Will Jessica figure it out, or will they all fall victim one by one? Most importantly, will they make it to the Sheriff's Conference in time for Amos to get some potato soup? Let the man have his potato soup!


Check out this episode!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...

YouTube Spotlight: Chariots of the Gods?

As a treat for this week's YouTube playlist devoted to our look at Spider-Woman, we wanted to give a little taste of one of the seminal "aliens & pyramids" works of the 1970s.



Erich Von Daniken's book, originally published in Germany in 1968, swept the USA in its English translation by Michael Haron. The German documentary of the same name (seen here in the trailer) was a box office hit here in 1970, and Von Daniken's best seller continued to be popular well into the 1970s despite a lack of critical appeal and a wave of authorities debunking its fantastic claims.



Of course, the book has another BOTS connection. Alan Landsburg's re-edited version of the film, In Search of Ancient Astronauts, and follow-up In Search of Ancient Mysteries, inspired the TV series In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy replacing Rod Serling as narrator/host. if only In Search Of... explored some of the amazing phenomena featured on Spider-Woman!

BOTNS Investigates: The Voice of Spider-Man

When preparing the show notes for the latest episode, the Crack Research Team thought it might be enlightening to discover who actually voiced Special Guest Star Spider-Man in Pyramids of Terror, the debut installment of Spider-Woman. Unfortunately, the series has generic credits for voices, listing everyone who has a role in any episode, not just any particular one, and they aren't matched with the characters.

Well, it's 2020, so this should be easy, right? Well, not so much. IMDB and TV.com don't help. Wikipedia doesn't help.

According to this article, Paul Soles voices Spidey in both his appearances on Spider-Woman, but he sure sounds different in his return in episode 7. The Kongo Spider. I believe the article is incorrect. Soles voiced Spider-Man in the immortal 1967 cartoon series (which should be on Disney Plus NOW), but it certainly isn't him in both Spider-Woman appearances, and maybe not even in either one.

Adding to the confusion, Spider-Man's voice in his 1981 solo series is Ted Schwartz. I love that, by the way, and want it to sink in for a minute: Ted Schwartz.



(Schwartz (1934-2014) was also Thrasher in G.I. Joe and starred in a Transformers arc as well.)

In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends a year later, Dan Gilvezan is Spidey.



And just for the record, 1977's live-action series stars Nicholas Hammond.



So that's 5 different Spider-Men in about 5 or 6 years, and I still don't know who it is in Pyramids of Terror.

Does anyone know this man's secret identity?

Or this one?

Top Ten #53

1) Spider-Woman: The subject of this week's podcast episode just might be the coolest thing on Disney Plus. What can we say? We love shows with thoughtful plotting, deep characterization, and lush animation. And we also love shows like this.



2) Mean Joe Greene: The star (his acting totally blows the little kid off the screen) of what is still the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time:


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3) Fred Silverman: R.I.P. The Man with the Golden Gut. Hey, why hasn't anyone said we "need" a "fat" James Bond yet?

Anyway, rest in peace to the man who played a huge role in scheduling and programming at all 3 networks in the BOTNS era. In our Facebook group, Mike linked to this great piece by Mark Evanier.

4) Khan!: The TV Confidential podcast did a great segment on this rare 1975 ABC updating of Charlie Chan that was protested by Asian-Americans and disavowed by its own star, who took his name off the credits! Of course now I want to see it, but apparently no one has it. Someone on Twitter posted a news article about the show's demise while noting how difficult it is to get info on it.



5) Superdome: Anyone else plan on preparing for the Big Corporate Showcase by watching this 1978 TV movie about disaster at the Big Corporate Showcase?



6) Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless: The long-running soap operas earned renewals of one year and four years from their respective networks, meaning they will have been on a combined total of...approximately forever.

7) Midnight Special: The late-night ABC music program premiered on this date in 1973



8) Michael Talbott (1955): Happy birthday to Miami Vice's Stan Switek:



9) Bugs Bunny: Kudos to the guys at 20th Century Pop for spotlighting this awesome PSA in their recent episode. "Keep those pot handles toined in!" was a mantra of my childhood.


10) Jack Burns: R.I.P. to comedian who did all kinds of stuff, including the unenviable task of "replacing" Don Knotts on The Andy Griffith Show. For our era, I remember him most for wearing that jacket on Fridays and for his role as Ralph in this show: