Barnaby Jones (TV Series) Uninvited Peril (1978) User Reviews

Not so bad

[andricodrayford · 9/10 · 19 January 2024]

The smartest decisions were not made in this episode, but still not as bad as the reviews make it. I've learned while watching this series it's best to give it a try for yourself because you may miss out on a good episode. What's bad to others may be good for you.

I was baffled when these people showed up to Betty's house and when she allowed them to stay. I almost had a heart attack when she woke up that morning and they were having breakfast as if it was their home. Like I said before, not the best decisions made but the show does get better.

The mother in the show does some great acting and in my opinion deserved an Emmy nod for her crazy performance.

BETTY MEETS THE HOMICIDAL FOLKS?

[tcchelsey · 9/10 · 22 March 2024]

Series producer Robert Sherman directed and wrote this episode (perhaps a cost cutting move), which reminded me, to a degree, of stories from the first two seasons. At that time of the series, Barnaby dealt with some exceptionally strange individuals, but who were extremely crafty.

Such is the case here; Jacqueline Scott and Michael Strong play the parents of a young man who is a deranged killer. The catch is both Scott (as Verna) and Strong (as Stuart) are as desperate as their son, and will go to extremes to protect him. Enter Betty who assists them in finding their son, winding up in a tight spot. Wait and see.

This is a wild episode, and exceptionally acted, particularly on the part of Jacqueline Scott, who was in many Quinn Martin productions. Likewise Michael Strong, though his part is smaller. I agree with the last reviewer, there's an interesting scene where Betty wakes up one morning to find Verna and Stuart very much at home in her kitchen cooking breakfast, playing it all cool. Clearly Verna is the brains of the outfit.

This also brings to mind an earlier and similar episode (a few seasons back) co-starring David Wayne and Eileen Heckert as a bizarre couple, Heckert the leader of the pack, only they murdered members of their own family to gain an inheritence. Director and writer Robert Sherman keeps up the suspense, and Scott should have earned an Emmy, at least for her decades of fine work.

From SEASON 6 EPISODE 20 remastered color/CBS.

Betty tries her hand at being a detective...and it really makes no sense at all.

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 2 August 2021]

"Uninvited Peril" is a badly written episode of "Barnaby Jones"....so much so that I was really shocked.

It begins with a man calling his mother...crying that 'he's done it again'. This means he killed some woman. But instead of phoning the police, the mother tells him to dispose of the body.

The next day, the mother and her husband arrive at Barnaby's office. Only Betty is there and instead of having them wait or come back later, she listens to their case and agrees to find her missing son! Now remember...Betty is NOT a private detective...but she takes the case.

Later that night, the mother and her husband arrive at Betty's apartment and instead of questioning them about their lack of personal boundaries, she invites them to stay the night!!! Can Betty be that stupid?!

Now, so far, does ANY of this make any sense? No? Well, it gets better. Betty is able to locate the man...and she arrives just as he and his old boss get into a fight. Apparently, the boss learned the man is wanted by the police...and the young man attacks him. He is shot in the process but overpowers the man and takes Betty hostage. When the mother and her husband arrive a bit later, instead of freeing Betty they pull a gun and take her prisoner!! Again, does ANY of this make any sense?! What were the writers thinking?!

I would rank this among the worst written episodes of "Barnaby Jones" I've seen...and I've seen all of them up to this one. You wonder how the producers even allowed such a ridiculous thing to be made in the first place. It just never seems to make any sense...none. And the ending...well it completely sucked.

Overall, a completely terrible episode...and unlike a few other klunkers, you can't blame the Jedediah character for this. And, as I type this, I can't really think about anything I liked about this episode. Yes, it's that bad...REALLY bad.

By the way, in the story the man who was shot has type B blood and, incidentally, so does Betty. The odds of this are pretty slim as only 8.5% of the population has B...and BOTH being B...well that's hard to imagine. But why should that matter with an episode as bad as this one?!

The W-o-r-s-t!

[plmo320 · 3/10 · 6 August 2021]

Anytime Betty is in danger, the writers make her out to be like a victim in a horror movie that makes every wrong decision. The actress who played the mom did a decent job of acting, but the plot is filled with infuriatingly bad decisions.

It's bad...real bad

[csofie · 3/10 · 10 October 2023]

Still not as bad as Gang War due primarily to the strength of Jacqueline Scott's performance. She made a ridiculous part interesting. My least favorite episodes are the ones that focus on Betty. The writers always make her out to be an idiot. I really like Lee Meriwether but BJ did her no favors regarding the part of Betty. I hope it paid well. Hope she's still getting checks. The actor who played the psychopath also played Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady on Murder She Wrote but I did not recognize him. He is much more likable as Grady than as a budding serial killer. The writers gave Michael Strong very little to do which is a shame because he's a very good actor.