MovieChat Forums > Murder, She Wrote (1984) Discussion > Worst episodes?

Worst episodes?

posted 11 years ago by JamesT-Havinfun
35 replies | jump to latest

So, I posted a best episodes thread. And appreciated the responses. What are the worst episodes (are there any that I should avoid at all costs)? Are there any bad seasons I should avoid? Thanks in advance?

[–] Acceler8 10 years ago

I tend to dislike the ones where the murder is solved by the device of having the killer clumsily reveal his knowledge of a detail that only the killer would know.

[–] j_clabaugh 9 years ago

If I had to dislike any of them it would be season 8. I don't think David Moessinger did a very good job and the show just became a little to soap opera like. He was also fired from In the Heat of the Night (with Carroll O'Connor)for the same reason. Other than that I love them all.

[–] Bond00719 9 years ago

That's funny you say that because season 8 is actually one of my favorite seasons. Don't get me wrong, I love the earlier Cabot Cove episodes but by season 7 the show needed a new direction.
A lot of season 8 episodes are a lot of fun - The Witch's Curse is a great Cabot Cove episode, Incident in Lot 7 is an interesting homage to Alfred Hitchcock, Ever After is admittedly over the top but fun as Kate Mulgrew & Tony Roberts steal the show, and Angel of Death is a great "ghost" episode with Darren McGavin as the tortured playwright who is being stalked by his late wife's ghost. Almost every season 8 episode is really imaginative and I really wish David Moessinger had stayed with the show longer as seasons 9-12 just lack the magic the show had during the earlier seasons.

[–] buffystjohn 9 years ago

Skip the bookend episodes and the I personally don't like when she is playing her sister. The best are the cabot cove episodes. IMHO would have loved the whole series to take place there with occasional trips Jess takes. I understand she pushed for the move to NY and the bookends unfortunately. Theres still some decent NY eps though

[–] snsurone 9 years ago

As I said on another thread, IMO the worst episode was "Something Foul in Flappeville", which had a convoluted plot line and also "introduced" Angela's no-talent grandson Ian Shaw.

[–] mojo2004 9 years ago

1.S9, Ep #17:"To the Last Will I Grapple with Thee". It was one of the worst endings ever on the show. From seeing one black smudge on drywall and a tiny bit of threads on a nail Jessica figures out the victim killed himself by attaching a threaded rope to a weight that was hung in-between 2 pieces of drywall at the part where an opening for a window was. After the victim shot himself and let's go of the gun the weight would fall pulling rope with the gun on the other end up and over the opening to drop out of site between the 2 pieces of drywall.

2. All the episodes with Grady, his girlfriend, then wife along with all the episodes with Jessica's niece Victoria and her husband.

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[–] amystarr76 9 years ago

I got used to the bookend episodes. I'm not sure if they were giving Angela Lansbury a break or what, but seeing other people in Murder She Wrote was "interesting".

Yes one of the comments above said the episodes revealing "only the killer would know" is in all murder mysteries like Law and Order ones too' "How did you know it was a pink scarf, nobody knew but the killer" stuff like that. Or how did you know the bulb was in the closet, only the killer would know..." or "How did you know her name was Mitchell nobody else knew but the killer" It's not clever but good for TV show. If you watch one too many you will figure out how the writers "find out who the murderer is"

I also don't like Jessica's niece episodes where she totally makes out with her husband played by two diff people in front of Jessica. She has a niece or nephew accused of murder a lot of the times.

I also didn't like that rich guy pretending to die then later his granddaughter's "fiancé" is killed. Jessica takes the million dollar charity, insults him, and walks with her hand lovingly on the granddaughter's shoulder who killed a guy. WTH is wrong with the writers lol

[–] whoanelly (1592) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Stratego (31081) 3 years ago

The show took a turn for the worse after she moved to New York, but the last 2 seasons are absolutely awful. The bookend episodes suck as well, although the Dennis Stanton episodes are the most bearable of the bunch.