Corned Beef and Carnage 

Jessica gets involved when her niece Victoria is believed to be connected to the murder of her lecherous boss.

Director:

John Llewellyn Moxey

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer (created by), Richard Levinson (created by)

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Susan Anton, Warren Berlinger

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Angela Lansbury	...	Jessica Fletcher
Susan Anton	...	Christine Clifford
Warren Berlinger	...	Jim Ingram
Jeff Conaway	...	Howard Griffin
Genie Francis	...	Victoria Brandon Griffin
Peter Haskell	...	Leland Biddle
Richard Kline	...	Larry Kinkaid
Bill Macy	...	Myron Kinkaid
James Sloyan	...	Lt. Spoletti
David Ogden Stiers	...	Aubrey Thornton
Ken Swofford	...	Grover Barth
Marcia Wallace	...	Polly Barth
Phil Rubenstein	...	Deli Clerk
Russ Fega	...	Delivery Man
David Starwalt	...	Officer

Storyline

Visiting her niece Victoria Brandon Griffin, Jessica finds her crumbled by her job in advertising to give husband Howard financial comfort to pursue his acting career, while he feels guilty for being a kept man. However Vicky gets arrested after finding her mean boss, Larry Kinkaid, skull smashed with an award her fingerprints are on, just after she resigned refusing to court a married client. Jessica forces NYPD lieutenant Spoletti to look further, notably the security guard's list of building visitors, including an obvious alias she traces to Christine Clifford, the man-eater from an agency which competed with Kinkaid for the Corned Beef Castle account, and the delivery of a sandwich. Furthermore she looks into the agency's office politics, notably Larry's older brother and heir Myron Kinkaid and senior account manager Aubrey Thornton, whose position was most precarious...

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Plot Keywords:

food in episode title | niece | unemployed actor | ad agency | new york city | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1986 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 29, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title refers to the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage which is consumed on St. Patrick's Day that is more common in America than in the Irish homeland.

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Goofs

The bill for Kincaid's sandwich was $5.50, but Kincaid tossed a $5 bill on the desk to pay for it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Larry Kinkaid: We're goosing up the 18 to 34 demographics by, uh...
Victoria Brandon Griffin: 17 million impressions.
Larry Kinkaid: If we can squeeze the franchise holders another two percent of gross for advertising, we're gonna have Grover Barth's Corned Beef Sandwich over the billion served this year.

User Reviews

Murder at Corned Beef Castle

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.

"Corned Beef and Carnage" is a fun enough episode and does give an interesting (if not exactly innovative or telling us different to what we know) look at advertising and conflicts behind the scenes. But is a long way from being one of the best episodes of Season 3 let alone a 'Murder She Wrote' high-point. It is wrapped up a tad too tidily and it is agreed too that the title is terribly pure corn (not sure what the writers were thinking coming up with that).

Its weakest asset is that the acting, outside of Genie Francis and the ever dependable prolific voice actors Marcia Wallace and David Ogden Stiers (though this episode was before either of them took on the roles they're most famous for, 'The Simpsons' for Wallace and numerous Disney characters for Stiers), is not great from a mostly B-list cast. In the case of Jeff Conaway, it is catastrophically bad actually, some of the most amateurish acting from any of the earlier seasons and there is a reason why a character that is very nearly as bland and annoying as Michael Horton's Grady Fletcher struggles to get into acting. He and Francis have little chemistry either.

Production values are high in quality as to be expected, with slick photography and a great use of setting. 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 tight, thought-provoking and typically amiable and the characters and chemistry are good fun. The story engages and has entertainment value.

Can't say enough good about Angela Lansbury, she is always dependable and there is a reason as to why Jessica Fletcher is one of her best-remembered roles. She was deserving of a better supporting cast however.

To conclude, a decent episode let down by a cast that just don't cut it. 7/10 Bethany Cox