Bloodlines

Murder, She Wrote: Season One
Murder, She Wrote: Season Two
Murder, She Wrote: Season Three
Murder, She Wrote: Season Four
Murder, She Wrote: Season Five
Murder, She Wrote: Season Six
Murder, She Wrote: Season Seven
Murder, She Wrote: Season Eight
Murder, She Wrote: Season Nine
Murder, She Wrote: Season Ten
Episodes: "A Death in Hong Kong" "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "The Legacy of Borbey House" "The Phantom Killer" "A Virtual Murder" "Bloodlines" "A Killing in Cork" "Love and Hate in Cabot Cove" "Murder at a Discount" "Murder in White" "Northern Explosion" "Proof in the Pudding" "Portrait of Death" "Deadly Assets" "Murder on the Thirtieth Floor" "Time to Die" "The Dying Game" "The Trouble with Seth" "Roadkill" "A Murderous Muse" "Wheel of Death"
Murder, She Wrote: Season Eleven
Murder, She Wrote: Season Twelve
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Production Information

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Summary

A racehorse trainer is murdered as he is on his way to expose a racing fraud.

Trivia

Angela Lansbury and Mickey Rooney appeared in the horse racing themed film, National Velvet (1944).

Angela Lansbury hired Don Mischer for his first attempt at directing a network dramatic film hour series scenario program. Don Mischer had only directed video taped variety and award program specials. Murder, She Wrote: Bloodlines (1993) was his only Murder, She Wrote (1984) directing credit.

Mickey Rooney's character "Matt Cleveland" is murdered and the body is discovered in an adjacent trench on the horse-racing stable main entrance road. The night scenes were extensively filmed on a Southern California Hidden Hills race-horse stable and exterior grounds exterior location sight. Although a stand-in double scheduled to lay in the ditch-trench stood by, Mickey Rooney (born: 23 Sept 1920, age 73) insisted on performing, on camera, dead or alive! For every angle and shot of Matt Cleveland, during the Friday night's freezing six hour filming stint, Mickey would strike the same prone pose in the trench while the actors performed their road side trench scenes for the director and camera crew.

There was no need for Lansbury's Jessica to bring up there was a witness at the shoulder, when they could have easily proven that Tracy used the flashlight to kill, her prints would trace the weapon at hand to her, now wouldn't it ?

Starring

Regular Cast

Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher

Guest Stars

Ami Dolenz as Tracey Noble
Blake Gibbons as Sheriff Clyde Benson
Tippi Hedren as Catherine Noble
Stephen Macht as Lloyd Mentone
Don Murray as Wally Hampton
Sean O'Bryan as Paul Hampton
Mickey Rooney as Matt Cleveland
Shawnee Smith as Jill Cleveland
Don Swayze as Gus Tardio
Scott N. Stevens as Deputy Vernon Kelly (as Scott Stevens)
Frank Farmer as Dr. Garney
David Powledge as Delivery Driver (as Dave Powledge)
Anne Lower as Pretty Girl at Restaurant (uncredited)
Craig Shoemaker as Scott (uncredited)