Lovers and Other Killers

Lovers and Other Killers
Episode #	#1.07
Airdate	November 18, 1984
Prod. #	59207
Murder
Location	Seattle, WA
Victim	Allison Brevard Lila Schroder
Method	Strangled with her pearl necklace Longshoreman’s Hook
Suspects	David Tolliver Jack Schroder
Killer	Unresolved Amelia Brown
Motive	Burglary Amelia was in love with her employer, Edmund Gerard who was having an affair with Lila
Production crew
Director	Allen Reisner
Writer	Peter S. Fischer
Chronology
Previous	It's a Dog's Life
Following	Hit, Run and Homicide

Lovers and Other Killers is the seventh episode of the first season of Murder, She Wrote.

Summary

Jessica searches for clues hidden in rainy Seattle when her personal secretary is accused of murdering his wealthy girlfriend.

Starring

• Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher

Guest Stars

Peter Graves as Dr. Edmund Gerard Greg Morris as Lt. Andrews Lois Nettleton as Amelia Grant Goodeve as Jack Kowalski	Lory Walsh as Lila Schroeder Kowalski Andrew Prine as Todd Lowery Andrew Stevens as David Tolliver

Trivia

• This was the first episode to be filmed (and may have been a second pilot to the series). This is the only episode to be produced by Douglas Benton; Robert F. O'Neill was the producer for every other episode until the fifth season, when he became supervising producer (a title he had in this episode). The typeface for the opening credits is noticeably larger and whiter than for any other episode; the episode itself contains two sequences for the opening credits not seen in the pilot or in the Jessica-typing sequence (Jessica firing a fake gun for a class and someone pushing Jessica, in silhouette, down a flight of stairs); and the closing credits are run slightly differently: there is a break between each credit card (the series virtually always jumped from one card to another with no breaks). There are also fewer guest stars (seven) on this show than on any other, with several bit players not credited at all (the old society lady killed at the beginning, two Chinese nuns and several classroom students have speaking parts but aren't listed).
• Filmed in Seattle locations, including Seattle Center and the University of Washington.
• When Jessica was bringing up who is a bigger celebrity other than herself, she mentions Elizabeth Taylor. Lansbury portrayed Taylor's older sister in the 1944 film National Velvet.
• Grant Goodeve also appeared in Season 3's "Dead Man's Gold" and Season 4's "A Very Good Year for Murder".
• Peter Graves and Greg Morris had previously worked together on Mission: Impossible.
• Andrew Stevens played another creepy gigolo/womanizer in the 1990 Columbo movie, "Murder in Malibu."

Goofs

• David Tolliver refers to Jack Kowalski as Jack Schroeder.
• When Dr. Gerard is paying the bill for his lunch with Jessica, the check is clearly not for the meal they just had, but for the meal Jessica had with David Tolliver. The total is over $50, and items include the Chateaubriand David had mentioned and other pricey dinner items, but NOT the coffee Jessica is drinking at lunch. The production obviously just re-used the other receipt.
• David was in a relationship with Allson Brevard. We see the perp in her place going through her possessions, then we see the perp strangling her with the necklace. But not once did they show David as being abusive, much less, resorting to violence. Given that Lila was fearful of her husband, but not once was she fearful of David, now was she?

External Links

• Lovers and Other Killers at the Internet Movie Database