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
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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"
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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.

Victim: Matt Cleveland

Killer: Tracy Noble

Cause of Death: Bludgeoned with a flashlight.

Motive: Didn't want Matt to cause the track to be shut down by exposing fraud, which would ruin her only chance to obtain the money she and her mother needed to save their farm.

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.

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

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)