Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) No Laughing Murder (1987) User Reviews

Martin and Lewis anyone?

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 10 July 2017]

Can you imagine if offspring of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis decided to get married? Who knows but the most famous comedy team break up of all time might have reconciled.

That's something the equivalent of what happens in this Murder She Wrote story as Jessica Fletcher gets an invite to the old Catskills resort just taken over by Buddy Hackett. His daughter Beth Windsor is engaged to George Clooney playing the son of Hackett's former partner Steve Lawrence now a host of a late night variety show.

Even with the kids engaged these two are going at it hot and heavy until Hackett is wounded with a stabbing in the back and later their manager Arte Johnson is killed and it made to look like suicide.

I really liked the performance of young deputy David Knell who now thanks the Deity that Angela Lansbury was on the scene of his first big homicide. It's also good that Lansbury got Hackett and Lawrence to call a truce on the feud until the murder is figured out.

Her biggest stumbling block.

The Chuckle Brothers get caught up in a murder.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 25 October 2017]

Mac and Murray were once comedy partners, after years of divisions they are forced back together by the pending marriage of their children. At a small gathering Mac is stabbed in the back, but survives, but tragedy strikes as Murray's agent Phil is found hanged. On the case is rookie cop Wiley, a bit wet it takes Jessica's skill to work out that Phil was murdered.

The acting chief Wiley is a buffoon, clearly not picked up a single book on detection or policing, thank goodness for JB. That moment when he says his mum will help, classic. The actor does a good job though, he makes him likable.

This episode gathers a lot of attention of course, as George Clooney is in it, looking handsome of course, but having little to do, other then looking serious. Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence are entertaining as Mac and Murray, I like their characters very much.

I wouldn't say it's an out and out classic, but it's very good, light entertainment. 8/10

Murder is no laughing matter

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 10 August 2017]

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

"No Laughing Murder" is a good if not great episode, not much wrong but somehow there's something missing. It is a touch lacking in the mystery aspects, but in terms of the guest star power and the character/cast interaction it scores very highly. The mystery has its good points certainly, the final solution is not foreseeable, it's fun to see how Jessica figures it all out and pieces it all together as well as how she investigates and the victim is very different to who one would expect it to be. It's just that the episode fares more memorably in other areas, one doesn't get to know the victim enough to properly invest in the mystery no matter how well executed it is.

The real joys of "No Laughing Murder" are the character/cast interaction (simply terrific all round) and the joy of seeing Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence sink their teeth into their roles and give it their enthusiastic all as warring former comedic partners reminiscent of the double act of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Hackett at times overdoes it but mostly it doesn't unbalance everything else. The performances in general and the guest star cast are other joys.

As always with playing Jessica Fletcher, Angela Lansbury is terrific while Hackett and Lawrence seem to be enjoying themselves thoroughly. David Knell is an appealing presence as are a young George Clooney and Beth Windsor. Pat Crowley and Sheree North are also good. Arte Johnson however has little to do and doesn't really register.

Production values are slick and stylish as ever with 'Murder She Wrote'. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.

Writing is thought-provoking, light-hearted and amiable and it and all the above help make the episode very watchable and at its best enjoyable even if the show has better mysteries.

Overall, enjoyable and good fun if more for the interaction, the comedy feud and the cast than the mystery itself. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Someone is literally stabbed in the back!

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 18 October 2022]

A comedic team has an epic break up and then goes radio silent. Fast forward twenty some years to their two children getting engaged and trying to get the two in a room together. The engaged couple plan a weekend with family and friends one father ends up stabbed in the back and their agent ends up murdered! Don't worry Jessica is on the case in this star-studded episode that includes Gearge Clooney and it may all come down to a lightbulb. Will this comedic team be reunited...or at least survive the wedding without killing each other.

Back to an all-star cast with lots of witty banter in this well written episode.

Taking a Stab at Hanging It up in the Boondocks

[WeatherViolet · 9/10 · 26 August 2009]

When Corrie Gruen (Beth Windsor) and Kip Howard (George Clooney) decide to marry, they face a few major problems, including a feud between his father, Mack Howard (Steve Lawrence), and her father, Murray Gruen (Buddy Hackett), a stabbing in the back, and murder in their secluded Catskill Mountains retreat.

It all begins in New York City, at the television studio at which Mack Howard performs his Comedy program. Three characters of this sequence, Manager Al (Daniel Chodos), Production Assistant (Paul Ganus) and Reporter Miss Kline (Pat Delaney) provide background material toward the plot of "No Laughing Murder," an episode bearing the alternate title of "No Laughing Matter."

Thirty years earlier, Mack and Murray were billed as "The Comedy Sensation of 1957," but over the years they have become estranged, they bickering over lost profits from videocassettes sales of their vintage programs.

And now, Mack's lovely peacekeeping wife, Edie Howard (Pat Crowley) gives Mack an ultimatum, as she plans to gather the troupes for a retreat at Hiawatha Lodge, a dilapidated Catskill resort isolated in upstate New York, which Murray Gruen has purchased to renovate with the assistance of sweetheart Norma Lewis (Sheree North).

Talent Agent Phil Rinker (Arte Johnson) and Business Manager Farley Pressman (George Furth) join in the forthcoming problems, as Kip and Corrie arrive at the old inn with Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), a dear friend of Corrie's late mother, Doris Gruen.

Twelve in all have access to Hiawatha Lodge, nine guests, who were locked inside on the night of its fateful incidents, plus Cook Henrietta (Alice Nunn), Doctor Worth (Richardson Morse) and unseasoned Acting Police Chief Wylie Ledbetter (David Knell), as the mounting feud turns deadly.

"No Laughing Murder" also alludes to a reference of the Classsic Film "Rage in Heaven" (1941), starring Ingrid Bergman, Robert Montgomery and George Sanders.

Deja Vu...

[angelachristie13 · 26 February 2023]

I was watching a re-run of an old Rockford Files episode that aired in November of 1977, ten years earlier than this episode of Murder, She Wrote. I was struck by the basic theme's similarity to this episode. Two rival has-been stand-up comedians with murder mayhem plotted between them. "Which of us was more famous? Which of us depended on the other for celebrity? Who stole whose material?" I guess it's true about television and movie writers copying the earlier work of others.

The Rockford Files episode was called "Requiem for a Funny Box," and it's a bit more involved with actual murder, mobsters, etc. Rather than just ego murdering shenanigans.

More than one stabbing in the back.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 November 2022]

Murry and Mack (Buddy Backett and Steve Lawrence) were a successful comedy team long ago. However, they had a falling out and now hate each other...which is a problem since their children have fallen in love and are going to be married. To celebrate the pending nuptials, the family and a few guests are staying at some far away lodge...where a murder occurs!! Fortunately, Jessica Fletcher just happens (surprise, surprise) to be a guest.

This is a generally well made episode. Sure, the identity of the murderer is easy to guess and the whole knifing portion more a distraction than anything else, but it still is enjoyable and worth seeing.

Great Episode!

[angelicacamaron · 8/10 · 14 January 2021]

Buddy Hackett overdoes a bit but that's what he's known for. Top notch guest stars in any case-- enjoyed George Clooney and Wiley's character adds a nice touch of levity.

As an aside-- one reviewer pointed out a continuity error that isn't a continuity error. Farley puts his snifter down and moves to put his eyeglasses in the case. Camera cuts to Jess. When camera switches to Farley again he's already stowed his eyeglasses case away and picked the snifter up, obviously while off camera (rim of glass is just showing at the bottom edge of the screen). Then Farley starts in surprise and jerks the glass up, spilling the contents.

No laughing murder

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 27 August 2023]

Jessica becomes involved in a long-standing feud between former comic duo Mack and Murray when the two are forced together by the engagement of their children, Kip and Corrie. Initially, the pair seem to restrain their hostility to tongue-lashing, but soon Murray staggers out of the bathroom with a back injury, claiming he was attacked by an assailant wearing red, the color of Mack's bathrobe. Soon, Jessica has an actual murder in addition to a case of injury on her hands when agent Phil Rinker turns up hung from a rafter in the storeroom, in a suspiciously set up case of apparent suicide. Can Jessica solve the case and settle the hostility between the families?

Shades of Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in regards to the feud between the comedy pair as played by Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence. The fact their children are marrying each other is neat touch. It's a top notch episode with plenty of heart and mystery. George Clooney guest stars.

Continuity mistake

[kboult-86379 · 17 January 2020]

There is a continuity mistake when Jessica is talking to Farley in the den he is talking to her but when they hear Murray call out for help he is seen about to have a drink and spills it in reaction to Murray