Murder -- According to Maggie

Angela Lansbury provides introduction to this episode where she describes the success of former pupil Diane Canova who has taken up writing but she writes for television.

Her successful cop show is about to be cancelled and before that happens a network vice president.is gunned down. Canova proves to be as resourceful as JB Fletcher in solving real crimes.

Acting honors go to Dwayne Hickman as a sneaky TV executive and Tim Thomerson as an outrageous overacting star of Canova's show who is the one first suspected.

This episode has always been one of my favorite non Cabot Cove outings, along with the Ireland episodes, which were also great. The mood of this episode is so light hearted but engaging. Diana Canova did a great job in her role, creating a very likable character. The scenes with her boyfriend to be and the inspiration for beat copy, Denis Arndt as Lt. Vincent Palermo, were great. Ann Morgan Guilbert also stands out in her brief appearances, perfectly capturing a smart, powerful woman who knows how to handle snot nosed puppy dogs like Keith Carmody, played very well by Gary Sandy, not to mention Dwayne Hickman as the likable studio head and Maggie's agent, whose actions are not always in Maggie's best interest. And Tim Thomerson was just perfect as egotistical Hollywood type who looses it when he becomes a suspect, only to revert back to his old ways, having learned nothing in the process. In the end, I felt a little sorry for Bruce Kirby's character.

The only true weak point is the continuity error with the pencil and the writers treated us the audience as idiots, having to repeatedly show us the "here it is, but gone here" bit.

Still one of the best MSW shows set out of Cabot Cove.

One of Jessica's former pupils Maggie gets caught up in a murder at the studio she works at.

I can see this has been generally well received by other reviewers, for me however, it was a fairly average episode.

When I watch an episode, and see Jessica holding an empty cup and saucer, and address the camera, I know it spells trouble, and her absence. This could have been any show, it sadly doesn't have the Murder she wrote DNA running through it.

A clunky, if watchable mystery, one where the victim was glaringly obvious, and the killer's identity didn't come as much of a surprise. I wasn't crazy about the character of Maggie.

Dwayne Hickman was the standout for me as Brian, a typical early nineties yuppy, with braces and patterned shirt, one imagined a red Porsche 911 in the car park.

I have preferred most of the other non Jessica mysteries.

We meet quite of few of Jessica Fletcher's (Angela Lansbury) promising veteran ninth-grade English pupils throughout the series, but here Mrs. Fletcher decides that Mary Margaret "Maggie" McCauley (Diana Canova) is the brightest of them all even though she refers to Maggie as both "Mary Margaret" and "Margaret Mary" when she introduces this "Book-end" episode set in Hollywood, California, on a television production set of Monolith Studio, as well in the offices of the FBS Network.

(Perhaps Jessica alludes a subtle reference here to the supporting Nun trio in "Old Habits Die Hard (#4.04).")

Anyway, the first reviewer is correct to comment that this Peter S. Fischer-penned episode has a wealth of wise-crack-enhanced Comedy elements, effectively executed by Tim Thomerson, Leann Hunley, Diana Canova, Dwayne Hickman, Paul Kreppel and, of course, Ann Morgan Guilbert. I agree that its weakness lies in the repetitive references to that pencil, that pencil, that pencil, that pencil, that pencil.

Maggie McCauley serves as head writer for the television series "Beat Cop," starring Bert Rodgers (Tim Thomerson) as Ben Hollister, and Dana Darren (Leann Hunley), with Andy Butler (Bruce Kirby) in a regular role.

Brian Thursdan (Dwayne Hickman) serves as President of Monolith Studio, which also employs Vi (Miriam Flynn) as Maggie's secretary, and "Beat Cop" Director (Tom Troupe), Stage-hand Burnsie (Ben Slack), and Prop Manager Phil Dooley (Greg Norberg).

Keith Carmody (Gary Sandy) serves as FBS Network Executive, with Julie Pritzer (Talia Balsam) as second in command. While Julie admonishes Carmody not to scratch "Beat Cop" from its Network schedule, Keith Carmody says that he never watched the program and plans to axe it anyway, in order to present Dana Darren with her own starring vehicle.

(Note: While there are various characters throughout the series who share the name "Carmody" and pronounce it "CAR-mo-dy," Gary Sandy pronounces it "Car-MO-dy."

Harriet De Vol (Ann Morgan Guilbert) intercedes on behalf of Brian Thursday to warn Keith Carmody not to cancel "Beat Cop," as Harriet not only serves as Chairperson of the Board at Monolith, but she also owns a controlling majority of stocks at FBS Network.

Leo Kaplan (Paul Kreppel), however, plays both ends against the middle, as he serves as wise-cracking Talent Agent for Maggie McCauley, Dana Darren, Bert Rodgers and, for some reason, Keith Carmody, so, while Maggie and Bert wish to retain series production, Dana expresses an interest to be free to leave the series, as is usually the case in these "MSW Shows-within-a show," but in this case, any way the chips land would serve Leo's interests.

Lieutenant Vincent Palermo (Denis Arndt), a divorcée or, perhaps a widower, has two (unseen) children, for whom Maggie expresses fondness should Vincent ever feel ready to see Maggie socially. But all of that would have to wait for a while because Maggie is very busy with her re-writes, and Vincent has his hands full once a body pops up in the projection room, the victim of a gunshot wound, during a screening of "Beat Cop."

Bert Rodgers' fingerprints are immediately identified upon the murder weapon, and when he is arrested, Maggie faces additional rewrites. But whose fingerprints will be found upon the missing pencil, and can they be identified in time to rescue Maggie from a perpetrator who chases her through a secret corridor and into the projection room? After all, even though she claims that she's not a detective, she still calls this "Murder -- According to Maggie."

This episode represents the most recent acting credit to date by Greg Norberg, as well as the first of two "MSW" appearances each for Bruce Kirby and Ben Slack, the second of two each for Talia Balsam, Paul Ganus, Gary Sandy and Tim Thomerson, the second of three each for Diana Canova and Leann Hunley, the fourth of four for Greg Norberg, and the third of five "MSW's" for Vince Howard.

Ben Slack, acting in film and on television since 1973, has unfortunately since passed.

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.

Of the 'Murder She Wrote' bookend episodes, "Murder According to Maggie" is one of the best by quite some way and to me it is definitely the best of the bookends up to this point of 'Murder She Wrote'. It's not one of the best episodes overall, but for an episode both without Jessica investigating and not set in Cabot Cove "Murder According to Maggie" is pretty darn good. Maybe the mystery aspects could have kicked in slightly earlier but the only real fault agreed is the sloppy and needlessly repetitive business with the pencil.

The cast elevate "Murder According to Maggie" to a greater level. Diane Canova is a charming lead and ensures that attention never wanes, Maggie by quite some way is one of the more compelling lead characters of the bookends that isn't a recurring character (perhaps overall too). Leann Hunley and Talia Balsam are strong value and Tim Thomerson enjoys himself. "Murder According to Maggie" doesn't suffer, like some bookends do, from having too many characters or ones that are uninteresting, these characters add a lot to the light-hearted tone, fit the series-within-a-series well and make it interesting and drive the mystery along well.

Mystery-wise, "Murder According to Maggie" is mostly well-paced (though the beginning could have had a little more kick) and is clever and engaging with a suitably surprising ending. Perhaps though a little more standard than one would expect for something revolving around a former pupil of Jessica's considered by Jessica to be her brightest. It does tread familiar territory with the series-within-a-series/conflicts behind the scenes of a TV show but this didn't matter due to it still being interesting and worth investing your time in. Unlike some of the other bookends, especially from this season, "Murder According to Maggie" works very well as a standalone, has the light-hearted and amiable 'Murder She Wrote' spirit (so even without Jessica it feels like 'Murder She Wrote') and doesn't feel too much like a failed pilot episode.

Production values as ever are slick and stylish. 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. The writing is suitably light-hearted, amiable and intriguing.

All in all, for a bookend episode this is very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox