It's a Dog's Life

It's a Dog's Life

Murder, She Wrote, Episode 1x5 Production number: 59208 First aired: 4 November 1984 5th Murder, She Wrote episode to be aired
Production Credits
Created By: Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson & William Link Written By: Mark Giles & Linda Shank Directed By: Seymour Robbie Executive Producer: Peter S. Fischer Producer: Robert F. O'Neill Associate Producer: Mike Stevens
Episode Chronology
Chronological Order
Preceded by: Hooray for Homicide
Followed by: Lovers and Other Killers
Broadcast Order
Preceded by: Hooray for Homicide
Followed by: Lovers and Other Killers

Summary[edit | edit source]

Man's best friend gets a bad rap when a fox hunter dies in a riding accident and the authorities try to blame the heir to his estate - his beloved pooch.

This section is a stub. You can help The Murder, She Wrote Wiki by expanding it.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

Angela Lansbury, Dan O'Herlihy and Robert Cornthwaite all appeared in The Purple Mask.

Victim(s): Denton Langley, Trish Langley

Killer: Marcus Boswell

Cause of death: Possibly broken neck, due to being thrown from a drugged horse; head crushed by mansion gates, after being made drunk and having the dog push the button to close them.

Motive: Since he was Denton's lawyer, with the dog imprisoned, he'd get the money instead.

Goofs[edit | edit source]

In the first party scene, spike marks can be seen on the floor as Jessica and Denton walk across the room.

After Jessica and a deputy look for a bicycle clip on the side of the road, the scene switches to where Jessica is on a horse and Echo rides up on her horse in front of the barn, you clearly see the complete head and upper torso of a man in a red shirt lying on the ground directly in front of Jessica Fletcher's horse.

After Teddy was drugged and bit someone the lawyer tells them that they are positive that Teddy wasn't rabid. The only two ways to proof something like that is a ten day quarantine or by a post-mortem (after death) examination of brain tissue. Neither of these two things happened.

After Denton's fall, Jessica jumps off her horse and turns towards the camera; it is clearly a stand-in and not Angela Lansbury.

Lynn Redgrave plays Abigail Benton Freestone, Jessica's cousin, so wouldn't she have the name MacGill, Jessica's maiden name in order for Abigail to come from her mother's side of the family ?

Usually though not all the time, a child uses the same surname as their father. Based on the fact that Murder She Wrote was filmed in the 1980's/1990's it's likely that MacGill was Jessica Fletcher's fathers name. It could be that Abigail Benton Freestone is the daughter of Jessica's Mother's brother ,Jessica's Mother's sister, or Jessica's Father's sister to have a different last name than her cousin.

Starring[edit | edit source]

Regular Cast[edit | edit source]

Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher

Guest Stars[edit | edit source]


Roger Miller as Sheriff Lynn Redgrave as Abby Benton Freestone Dan O'Herlihy as Denton Langley Forrest Tucker as Tom Cassidy Jared Martin as Spencer Langley	Lenore Kasdorf as Trish Langley Cathryn Damon as Morgana Cramer Dean Jones as Marcus Boswell Gregory Walcott as Isaiah Potts Cherie Currie as Echo Cramer Byron Cherry as Deputy Will Roxie

Co-Starring[edit | edit source]

James Hampton as Vet
Sandy Ward as Barnes
Robert Cornthwaite as Coroner
Donna Anderson Marshall as Miss Sampson
Greg Norberg as Gary
Bernard McDonald as Master of the Hunt
Brian Mozur as Anthony

DVD Release[edit | edit source]

This episode was released with the other 21 episodes of the first season of Murder, She Wrote in a variety of formats, the DVD's didnt contain any special features.

Title	Region	# of Discs	Release Date
Murder, She Wrote: The Complete First Season	Region 1 (US & Canada)	3	March 29, 2005
Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

Murder, She Wrote: Season 1	Region 2 (Europe)	6	August 29, 2005
Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

Murder, She Wrote: The Complete 1st Season	Region 4 (Australasia)	6	May 2, 2007
Substitute English Teacher Jessica Fletcher, has fame thrust upon her when her nephew Grady shows her manuscript to a publisher. It’s not long before Jessica is solving murders with the inquisitive mind that makes her a bestselling mystery writer. Jessica often finds herself in the middle of investigations; some more notable ones include investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw.

Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 3	Region 2 (Europe)	18	November 20, 2006
Here are the first three years of Jessicas carrer as a novelist. Notable cases include;investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw. The investigation into the death of a John Doe who may very well have been the Cabbot Cove hero Joshua Peabody, Jessica solving a murder while acting as foreperson on a jury and Another run in with PI Harry McGraw when the two are bidding against each other to get their hands on the diary of a sex symbol, however when the friend whom hired Jessica winds up dead, Harry must come to her rescue and the two pair up to solve the case. Another run in with MI6 Agent Michael Haggarty who drags Jessica into the middle of an international incident involving the defection of two East German Citizens and the murder of a fellow MI6 agent while on British Embassy grounds. Another run in with Harry McGraw, when he is arrested for the murder of a prominent Boxing Manager and investigating the death of a popular city mayor and his father which sheds some light on the shady individuals whom hold public office in the city.

Murder, She Wrote: Seasons 1 - 5	Region 2 (Europe)	36	October 22, 2007
Follow Jessica very eventful first Five years as a Mystery writer. Notable cases include;investigating the death of a PI dressed as Sherlock Holmes at a private party and the subsequent murder of seafood mogul Caleb McCallum. The Death of Maine’s sole Congressman, whose seat Jessica must fill while investigating the death, and Jessica’s first meeting with Private Investigator Harry McGraw. The investigation into the death of a John Doe who may very well have been the Cabbot Cove hero Joshua Peabody, Jessica solving a murder while acting as foreperson on a jury and Another run in with PI Harry McGraw when the two are bidding against each other to get their hands on the diary of a sex symbol, however when the friend whom hired Jessica winds up dead, Harry must come to her rescue and the two pair up to solve the case. Another run in with MI6 Agent Michael Haggarty who drags Jessica into the middle of an international incident involving the defection of two East German Citizens and the murder of a fellow MI6 agent while on British Embassy grounds. Another run in with Harry McGraw, when he is arrested for the murder of a prominent Boxing Manager and investigating the death of a popular city mayor and his father which sheds some light on the shady individuals whom hold public office in the city. Jessica's cousing Emma McGill must investigate when her close friend, The Viscount Blackraven, is poisoned and she is the only suspect, Jessica is forced to investigate who poisoned her meal when she hosts a dinner party for Amos' family and Jessica must Investigate the death of a campaign manager while simultaneously serving as the campaign's speech writer. Politics can be a deadly business! Jessica investigating a series of murders when she is snowed in at a ski lodge, Jessica going head to head with the KGB when she is accused of espionage and a man is killed attempting to escape from a state dinner and A Former top selling Mystery Novelist is consumed with jealousy of the prominent rise of JB Fletcher so hatches a plan to kill her.