Unfinished Business 

A retired policeman decides to re-examine an old case and returns to the lakeside cabins where the murder occurred, gathering all the old suspects together.

Director:

Walter Grauman

Writers:

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

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Lloyd Bochner, Tom Bosley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Angela Lansbury	...	Jessica Fletcher
Lloyd Bochner	...	Dr. Terence Mayhew
Tom Bosley	...	Sheriff Amos Tupper
J.D. Cannon	...	Sheriff McCoy (as J. D. Cannon)
Don DeFore	...	Jake Sanford
Pat Hingle	...	Ret. Lt. Det. Barney Kale
Hayley Mills	...	Cynthia Tate
Erin Moran	...	Maggie Roberts
William Windom	...	Dr. Seth Hazlitt
Erich Anderson	...	Gary Roberts (as E. Erich Anderson)
Phillip Clark	...	Deputy
William Mims	...	Mayor
James Bartz	...	Deputy #2
Connie Sawyer	...	Ethel
Armand Cerami	...	Searcher

Storyline

When Lieutenant Detective Barney Kale is offered a trip around the world at his third and final retirement, he announces he will delay it till Spring to finish full-time what he considers his only unsolved murder case, his friend Lowell Dixon's drowning ten years ago at Juniper Lake in the midst of a property development. Barney Kale informs everyone who was into it, including Seth Hazlitt. Worrying doc may get in trouble, Jessica and Amos go looking, and find ex-con Gary Roberts shot in Kale's cabin. They stay to help Sheriff McCoy and Kale investigate the new and old murders, if linked to each other and of course the other guests, including Gary's young widow, Maggie Roberts, whom he promised a fortune after this trip, Seth's period friend Cynthia Tate and her present friend Dr. Terence Mayhew.

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Plot Keywords:

lake | doctor | sheriff | retired cop | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tom Bosley (Sheriff Amos Tupper) and Erin Moran (Maggie Roberts) previously played father and daughter Howard and Joanie Cunningham in Happy Days (1974).

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Goofs

When the shotgun is found in the woods, the deputy character picks it up with one hand in a handkerchief, to protect fingerprint clues, but then puts his other bare hand right on the barrel.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mayor: Supercop. I'm sure you all know how this man got that name. No, not because he served longer than anyone else on the force. No, no. And not because in all his years as Chief of Detectives, not one single major murder went unsolved.
[applause]
Mayor: No, no, no, please. Ladies and gentlemen, the real reason we pay homage to this man, and pay, and pay, is simply because he is the only police officer in the history of this city who has swindled us out of, not one, not two, but three solid gold...

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Soundtracks

Murder She Wrote Theme
Written by John Addison

User Reviews

An unfinished script?

Wonderful to see a mini-Happy Days reunion with Erin Moran guest starring, alongside semi-regular Tom Bosley. Also British acting royalty Hayley Mills appears in an intriguing episode which kept us guessing until the end. The ending was a bit hasty and ludicrous sadly. It's as though the scriptwriter had no idea how to wrap up the final moment of the episode. It was all gripping up to the denouement, but then I felt let down.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 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