Murder, She Wrote - General Discussion

[TeeVee329]

SO many people on "Murder, She Wrote", guys.

 

SO many.  A later season episode (post-Jessica moving to NYC) has Marcia Cross playing the bitchy stepdaughter of Kate Mulgrew! 

[MrWhyt]

My other had it on in the background one day when I was visiting her. From the TV came a very distinctive voice, turned around, it was Bill Maher playing some random victim's daughter's boyfriend (or similar).

[queenbee9b]

I've been watching a lot of Murder She Wrote and Love Boat on those weird channels - metv or antenna? It is amazing how many guest stars and how in the 80s you could be staring in a show on a different network and still be guesting on another channel. I just can't imagine that now.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

We may have to Loglined this bad boy.

[Certainly Ken]

PLEASE Logline this bad boy, again, for the titles alone. May I interest you in "Who Threw The Barbitals in Mrs. Fletcher's Chowder?"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0653701/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[dianajoy]

"Murder she wrote" is a perfect place for rising star/falling star pairings, since they had almost equal measures of classic Hollywood and not-yet-famous guests. I call this intersection the "Tower of Terror" axis, named after the 1997 made-for-tv movie starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst.

 

I feel like almost everyone who was either on their way up the fame ladder or on their way down in the '80s/'90s made at least one appearance on Murder, She Wrote.

 

Also, I can never get over how surprised Jessica is every time a dead body appears. You'd think by a certain point she'd be more shocked if everyone survived whatever event was going down that week.

[shapeshifter]

I was surprised to see Bryan Cranston give his usual Emmy-worthy performance on a 1996 episode of Diagnosis Murder the other day--he elevated the entire episode beyond the series' standard.

So I just checked IMDb and see he did 3 (!) MSW episodes. Must stream soon.

ETA: Although I did think Cranston broke character momentarily at the end when he hugged Dr. What'sHisName, like he was thinking, "OMG, I'm hugging Dick Van Dyke!"

I don't think the MSW guest stairs ever really get to hug JB Fletcher.

Edited April 20, 2016 by shapeshifter

[dmc]

LOVE murder, she wrote. I think I bought Netflix solely for this reason

[amensisterfriend]

I've come to really love the first season. I actually like Ethan (I know...this would go in an Unpopular Opinions thread if we had one!), and there was this humor, energy and even slightly more thought provoking aspect to a lot of the episodes that I really liked, e.g. the one where we're left to wonder whether the younger guy interested in Jessica really was an evil sociopath. There was a slightly more interesting motive behind a lot of the episodes. And Jessica was so cheery, down to earth, comparatively emotional etc then. I know it makes sense that she became more poised and polished, but Early Seasons Jessica is the version I love best.  I do miss Seth in S1, but not as much as I expected---and at least we have our beloved Amos :) 

 

Meanwhile, I think the Murder She Wrote books by Donald Bain are literally among the most poorly written disappointments I've ever come across...and yet keep buying them anyway because I'm addicted to all things MSW. Clearly I have a problem :)  

[amensisterfriend]

...so I'd had vague plans to rewatch the series in order, but I might not make it past S2 because I just keep watching these episodes over and over :) It's definitely the show's very most sublime season IMO---almost every single episode is cozy, charming, engaging, funny, subtly campy and surprisingly self-aware perfection! As I'm rewatching, I'm finding I love so many of the non-Cabot Cove episodes. The Cabot Cove episodes are still almost always among my favorites, but most of the other episodes have so much to offer as well. The one exception is when the show tries its hand at international espionage plots, which...*shudder* I actually really like when the hilariously hapless but sweet Grady pops up and especially when we get to see the incomparable Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw. 

I know there are 'better' shows out there, but I'm not sure any boost my mood half as much as this one! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

YES! I love the Cabot Cove episodes the BEST! I loved Ethan! I have always loved Claude Akins. I wonder where he disappeared to? And nothing against Mort, but he just didn't fit in with our crazy denizens! With the "ayah" and cadence that was just so Down East! I loved Amos! Great to see Howard Cunningham on my screen. He left to do Father Dowling Mysteries, I think.

I've always tried to figure out how many siblings Jessica and Frank had, because she had soooo many nieces and nephews!!

Edited June 22, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[Willowsmom]

The rumor at the time was that Claude Akins felt that his part should be bigger and more involved in the mystery. But the plan was for Jessica to be the brains. He was unhappy and was written out. I like his character but he wouldn't have fit well as Jessica grew more cosmopolitan.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 6/25/2016 at 0:58 AM, Willowsmom said:

The rumor at the time was that Claude Akins felt that his part should be bigger and more involved in the mystery. But the plan was for Jessica to be the brains. He was unhappy and was written out. I like his character but he wouldn't have fit well as Jessica grew more cosmopolitan.

That doesn't even make sense, since this show was Angela's vehicle. I mean, hers was the only name in the opening credits; everyone else, were guest stars, even the Cabot Cove residents. And the title alone, Murder, SHE Wrote, explains itself. That has always been the premise. I didn't see him being downgraded or removed from the credits, you know?  Seth fit alright during her cosmopolitan years, so I don't doubt he would, either. It's too bad; I liked the sniping he did with the sheriff. Oh, and I can't remember his name, but I also missed the carrot topped, deputy who spoke with the Down East cadence in the later years.

[OnceSane]

Deputy Andy?  He was great.

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 minutes ago, OnceSane said:

Deputy Andy?  He was great.

Yes! I loved how his "Oh Sherriff?" sounded. So very Down East!

[biakbiak]

On 6/26/2016 at 4:22 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Yes! I loved how his "Oh Sherriff?" sounded. So very Down East!

The red headed deputy with the accent was Floyd. Andy had brown hair and didn't have a down east accent.

[OnceSane]

That's right…Floyd!  I liked both of them (Andy & Floyd).

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The red headed deputy with the accent was Floyd. Andy had brown hair and didn't have a down east accent.

D'OH! Right! Floyd!???

[BloggerAloud]

One of my favorite episodes of the entire season has to be "Murder by Appointment" where Jessica has to solve a mystery among a Mary Kay-esque company and the whole plot hinges on the fact that the murderer used a shade of lipstick that never made it out to the public, Tangerine Twist. From the moment I saw the episode, it made me laugh and now when we get to the point whenever Jessica figures out the murderer, my friend and I refer to it as "Tangerine Plot Twist."

[biakbiak]

I always wondered why anyone would name a lipstick Tangerine Twist because it makes you think it's orange and who wears orange lipstick!

[shapeshifter]

My very hip, fashionista daughter from NYC was wearing orange lipstick this spring. And I seem to recall wearing a somewhat orange color in the 60s.

[ljenkins782]

On July 3, 2016 at 8:21 PM, biakbiak said:

I always wondered why anyone would name a lipstick Tangerine Twist because it makes you think it's orange and who wears orange lipstick!

Orange lipstick was definitely a thing in the 80s, I remember playing dress up and wearing hideous orange lipstick that we got from somewhere. I also had this supremely cheesy 80s "makeup guide" book that featured an orange-y palette for one of the "types", I forget whether it was for round, oval, or heart-shaped faces (because face shape should totally dictate color choice, lol. )

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The red headed deputy with the accent was Floyd. Andy had brown hair and didn't have a down east accent.

Andy was rather dull compared to Floyd.

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The rumor at the time was that Claude Akins felt that his part should be bigger and more involved in the mystery. But the plan was for Jessica to be the brains. He was unhappy and was written out. I like his character but he wouldn't have fit well as Jessica grew more cosmopolitan.

I think they touch on this in one of the DVD commentaries and yes, he wanted to be the star, and I believe left to do his own short-lived show where he was the lead. 

I'm not a fan of the Ethan character and think Seth was a major upgrade in character and in chemistry with Angela and Tom Bosley. Ethan always seemed to be looking down on Jessica in a way and his character just didn't add anything for me. Seth's good-natured disdain for Amos and their semi-competitiveness over Jessica's time and attention was cute. 

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Meanwhile, I think the Murder She Wrote books by Donald Bain are literally among the most poorly written disappointments I've ever come across...and yet keep buying them anyway because I'm addicted to all things MSW. Clearly I have a problem :)  

They are truly terrible. I occasionally see new ones pop up in the new books section at the library but I've kind of given up on them at this point and there are so many really good books that I want to read. MSW books are basically now desperation books, like if I'm heading on a long car trip and don't have anything else in my must-read queue, I might grab a few of these and suffer through the embarrassingly bad writing and the unrecognizable characterization of familiar figures.

[Padma]

On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 10:09 AM, ljenkins782 said:

I think they touch on this in one of the DVD commentaries and yes, he wanted to be the star, and I believe left to do his own short-lived show where he was the lead. 

I'm not a fan of the Ethan character and think Seth was a major upgrade in character and in chemistry with Angela and Tom Bosley. Ethan always seemed to be looking down on Jessica in a way and his character just didn't add anything for me. Seth's good-natured disdain for Amos and their semi-competitiveness over Jessica's time and attention was cute. 

Couldn't agree more about bringing in Seth. And the three of them had even better chemistry once Mort was on board.

I'm interested that Claude Akins had that kind of "vision" of his role. Because the way he reads his lines has always had that feeling to me (and when he calls her "Jessie" like they're friends when she really seems to treat him, politely, as the hired plumber/handyman.  To me, he was a bit character to flesh out the town, someone like Loretta or the real estate lady. I was really glad that they didn't continue with him. He may have been a great plumber, but he wasn't a great character. (Even John Astin was more interesting the few times he was on--including getting to actually be a killer).                              

[amensisterfriend]

Quote

Meanwhile, I think the Murder She Wrote books by Donald Bain are literally among the most poorly written disappointments I've ever come across...and yet keep buying them anyway because I'm addicted to all things MSW. Clearly I have a problem :)  

They are truly terrible. I occasionally see new ones pop up in the new books section at the library but I've kind of given up on them at this point and there are so many really good books that I want to read. MSW books are basically now desperation books, like if I'm heading on a long car trip and don't have anything else in my must-read queue, I might grab a few of these and suffer through the embarrassingly bad writing and the unrecognizable characterization of familiar figures.

My new solution to this problem is to locate and possibly attempt to actually write Murder She Wrote fanfic. Some of what I discover or produce may be terrible, but it can't be TOO much more ghastly than those dreadfully written books, right? RIGHT?! ;)

I'm watching S5 on and off these past couple of weeks, and while this one features more clunkers than the previous few seasons, it also has some of the series' very best episodes IMO. Sins of Castle Cove, Mr. Penroy's Vacation and Snow White Blood Red  are all among the MSW episodes I could watch on constant loop. And the two-part finale, Murder, Murder on the Wall, may be one of the top two or three episodes of the show's entire zillion-episode run :) 

Edited July 26, 2016 by amensisterfriend

[ljenkins782]

On July 26, 2016 at 3:41 PM, amensisterfriend said:

I'm watching S5 on and off these past couple of weeks, and while this one features more clunkers than the previous few seasons, it also has some of the series' very best episodes IMO. Sins of Castle Cove, Mr. Penroy's Vacation and Snow White Blood Red  are all among the MSW episodes I could watch on constant loop. And the two-part finale, Murder, Murder on the Wall, may be one of the top two or three episodes of the show's entire zillion-episode run :) 

I also like Something Borrowed, Someone Blue, Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble, Weave a Tangled Web, The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel and Prediction Murder. 

I had to look the season up and in reading over the list, there aren't as many clunkers as I remember. 

[ljenkins782]

Just had a MSW revelation while watching To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time ever. The actor who plays Tom Robinson was in (fittingly) the Trial By Error episode in season 2. It was bugging the hell out of me why his voice was so familiar and then it clicked.

Shortly after that, I realized that William Windom (aka Seth) was the prosecutor! He looks SO different with dark hair and fewer pounds!

[Kitty Redstone]

It's around season 8 that the tone changes.  I think the writers were standardized and there was much less organic humor.  There are still some wonderful episodes after that, but the charm and wit of the earlier seasons is definitely gone. 

The 1989 episode Smooth Operators is instructive here.  Its guest stars are Dirk Benedict and Barney Martin (Hanratty).  The plot involves Jessica helping in the investigation of a supposedly homeless man and going undercover in an upscale medical clinic to uncover the culprits.  There's lots of funny scenes in this one, including one where Jessica pretends to be a snooty, high society hypochondriac.  But another one in particular stands out.  It's where Jessica and Hanratty have a brief meeting with the coroner, who is wearing a bloody apron the whole time.  He's nonchalantly walking around the morgue (complete with sheet-covered, toe-tagged bodies) offering the two of them coffee and snacks while they stand there gobsmacked.  It sound macabre but it's absolutely hilarious because of the way Angela plays Jessica and Peter Van Norden plays the coroner. 

By 1995, which is the next time Dirk Benedict appears as a guest star, the character of Jessica is very different.  Soothingly familiar, but not the same Jessica as in If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly, Joshua Peabody Died Here ... Possibly, Keep the Home Fries Burning, and (my absolute favorite) If A Body Meet a Body.  While shows and characters have to evolve, the turn away from cozy mystery to something more serious was sad.  Perhaps it was a sign of the times. 

Anyway, ITA that Andy was a poor substitute for Floyd.  Ditto for Charlie Garrett.  He was OK but didn't come close to the awesomeness of Harry McGraw!

 

On 6/18/2016 at 9:46 AM, amensisterfriend said:

Meanwhile, I think the Murder She Wrote books by Donald Bain are literally among the most poorly written disappointments I've ever come across...and yet keep buying them anyway because I'm addicted to all things MSW. Clearly I have a problem :)  

Oh, those books are terrible!  I'm a mystery junkie - and usually a completist - and couldn't make it through more than two.  The way he wrote Jessica, Mort and Seth was nothing like the characters in the show and I couldn't get past it.  He even got Adele's name wrong in one of them.  Now, I made myself read nearly the entire Hannah Swensen series* - even though it was beyond horrid and by the end I hated every one of the human characters - so that should give you an idea of how intolerable I found Bain's writing.

*I got to book 16, which at the time was the last published title, and decided enough was enough.

 

ETA:  Thinking about the mistake in the Bain books reminded me that in at least one of the later episodes (Sound of Murder?), they got the name of Jessica's first book wrong.  It should have been The Corpse Danced at Midnight but was instead called something else.  I always wondered if that was a purposeful change or writer/producer laziness or what.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Kitty Redstone

[ljenkins782]

8 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

It's around season 8 that the tone changes.  I think the writers were standardized and there was much less organic humor.  There are still some wonderful episodes after that, but the charm and wit of the earlier seasons is definitely gone. 

The 1989 episode Smooth Operators is instructive here.  Its guest stars are Dirk Benedict and Barney Martin (Hanratty).  The plot involves Jessica helping in the investigation of a supposedly homeless man and going undercover in an upscale medical clinic to uncover the culprits.  There's lots of funny scenes in this one, including one where Jessica pretends to be a snooty, high society hypochondriac.  But another one in particular stands out.  It's where Jessica and Hanratty have a brief meeting with the coroner, who is wearing a bloody apron the whole time.  He's nonchalantly walking around the morgue (complete with sheet-covered, toe-tagged bodies) offering the two of them coffee and snacks while they stand there gobsmacked.  It sound macabre but it's absolutely hilarious because of the way Angela plays Jessica and Peter Van Norden plays the coroner. 

By 1995, which is the next time Dirk Benedict appears as a guest star, the character of Jessica is very different.  Soothingly familiar, but not the same Jessica as in If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly, Joshua Peabody Died Here ... Possibly, Keep the Home Fries Burning, and (my absolute favorite) If A Body Meet a Body.  While shows and characters have to evolve, the turn away from cozy mystery to something more serious was sad.  Perhaps it was a sign of the times. 

That's an interesting point about the "standardizing" of the writing, I never really thought of it that way, but it's true. I just knew the later episodes had a slicker feeling and are far, far less memorable as individual episodes compared to the earlier shows. Season 8 is the season where she officially moves NYC, so I always blamed that for the shift, but even the episodes set in Cabot Cove post-season 8 are much blander than the earlier CC episodes. 

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Oh, those books are terrible!  I'm a mystery junkie - and usually a completist - and couldn't make it through more than two.  The way he wrote Jessica, Mort and Seth was nothing like the characters in the show and I couldn't get past it.  He even got Adele's name wrong in one of them.  Now, I made myself read nearly the entire Hannah Swensen series* - even though it was beyond horrid and by the end I hated every one of the human characters - so that should give you an idea of how intolerable I found Bain's writing.

In the books, Mort and Adele are divorced and he's now married to the notoriously bad cook Maureen. They are so, so bad. 

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ETA:  Thinking about the mistake in the Bain books reminded me that in at least one of the later episodes (Sound of Murder?), they got the name of Jessica's first book wrong.  It should have been The Corpse Danced at Midnight but was instead called something else.  I always wondered if that was a purposeful change or writer/producer laziness or what.

I never noticed that, I'll have to look for that next time I see that episode. 

The DVDs of the seasons have a lot of mistakes on the covers, some of them so glaring that I assume no one even bothered to proofread them. One of them has a completely wrong episode listed, another talks about a show entitled "Murder in Milan" as taking place in Spain, and there are others I can't remember off the top of my head. But for a professional DVD release, it's rather inexcusable to be so sloppy. 

[Kitty Redstone]

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That's an interesting point about the "standardizing" of the writing, I never really thought of it that way, but it's true. I just knew the later episodes had a slicker feeling and are far, far less memorable as individual episodes compared to the earlier shows. Season 8 is the season where she officially moves NYC, so I always blamed that for the shift, but even the episodes set in Cabot Cove post-season 8 are much blander than the earlier CC episodes. 

Totally agree.  A Christmas Secret and Final Curtain were especially cold and dark.

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In the books, Mort and Adele are divorced and he's now married to the notoriously bad cook Maureen. They are so, so bad. 

Well that may explain why she wasn't called Adele!  What a strange change to make.  I always thought it was sweet that while we never saw Adele, he always referred to her in a loving way, they always talked on the phone, etc.  Huh.  Now I'm even more glad to have not invested time in these books.

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I never noticed that, I'll have to look for that next time I see that episode. 

It may not be that one - my memory is not great - but it definitely happens in one of the later episodes, perhaps even more than one (the Russian egg episode?).  I watch MSW just about every night on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries and will keep a look out.

[ljenkins782]

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I always thought it was sweet that while we never saw Adele, he always referred to her in a loving way, they always talked on the phone, etc.

Especially since from the way others talked about her, it sounds like Adele was a touch on the annoying side and a motormouth. 

My favorite Mort/Adele moment is when Mort's very pretty ex-girlfriend came to town married to the guy she left him for and it's clear she's regretted her choice. She asks him if he ever thinks about their time together and he goes "to be honest, not a whole lot." A lot of people would have jumped at the chance to revel in the role of the one that got away, but he very quickly shut that line of thinking down.  

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It may not be that one - my memory is not great - but it definitely happens in one of the later episodes, perhaps even more than one (the Russian egg episode?).

Ha, that would explain why I never noticed it, any MSW episode involving Russians is typically a 'watch once and never revisit' kind of thing. Those episodes are deadly boring to me. 

[starri]

With the show leaving Netflix soon, I'm trying speed through some old favorites.  I sat and watched "Jessica Behind Bars" (that's neck and neck with "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" as my absolute favorite), and "Funeral at Fifty Mile," "Keep the Home Fries Burning," "The Sins of Castle Cove," "Who Killed JB Fletcher," and "Murder Among Friends" are on the docket as well.  But I'm open to suggestions.

I also really like "Murder, According to Maggie" (which is the only Jessica Lite episode that's any good) and while I'm not sure "The Days Dwindle Down" is actually a good episode, the use of the film and quite a few of the cast of the 50s noir Strange Bargain as a framing device is interesting.

[lefawn]

I grew up watching MSW. I was 6 when the show debuted and it was a "safe" family show we all watched together. My dad used to ask me, when Jessica had her "ah-ha"moment, who the murderer was and I had a pretty good solve rate. Which either means I'm a genius...or this show is pretty predictable. ;)

I kept meaning to rewatch this show on Netflix since it has so many happy memories for me. However, I kept putting it off until about two months ago, when I had a realky bad head cold and needed the equivalent of "comfort food" tv. 

Now that i know it's disappearing on 1/1, I'm really sorry I delayed in watching. 

Anyway, some things...

1) I knew this show was on for.ev.er! and I thought I watched it for 9 or 10 seasons but I realize now I only watched the first 3 seasons in total and maybe a few episodes per season after that. Never saw Jess in NYC.

2) I thought the show was predominately set in Cabot Cove and the epis set in other locations were the outliers.  Surprised to find it's the opposite.   

3) I'm focusing on Cabot Cove episodes (as I think they're the best ones) cause the whole Jessica Fletcher/Dr. Seth Haslitt thing may be my original OTP. Plus, I really like the small town and local vibe in those episodes.

4) I really prefer Sheriff Tupper to Sheriff Metzger. But Metzger has grown on me. 

5) Has anyone tallied up how many nieces and nephews Jessica has? I'm curious. 

Thank you @starri for letting me know of some other classic episodes.   

Edited December 30, 2016 by lefawn

[Maverick]

 I think the earlier episodes had a higher ratio of Cabot Cove episodes, but Jessica did travel an inordinate amount.  And sometimes to the oddest places.   Like one time she was in Idaho.  How's that go in the writing room?  "We have an ex-substitute teacher who's become a world famous mystery who trots around the globe solving murders.  Where should we send her this week?  I know.  Idaho!"   Then next week they send her to Paris.   M'kay.

 With you on preferring Tupper.

 As for nieces and nephews, that was bad enough.  But what about all the former students, former Cabot Cove residents and old friends she was consistently bumping into?  I swear she must have been stalking everyone she ever taught.  And how did she make all thee "old friends" she bumped into in places like Martinique when she lived is a small New England town?  Then again, Cabot Cove seemed to be quite the high traffic area because at least 50% of the episodes set there involved someone new to town.

[Willowsmom]

There was an article years ago that said Cabot Cove had the highest murder rate per capita of any town on Earth.

As time went by I'm astounded anyone invited her anywhere. Every time she shows up someone dies and her family/friends are blamed.

I've always subscribed to the notion that Jessica Fletcher was the most successful serial murderer in history .

[Maverick]

 I'd buy that....she was (almost) never a suspect.  No one asked if she had an alibi, suspected she planted or otherwise manipulated evidence since she found things the police couldn't or questioned how she managed to be involved in so many murders.  Nope.  It was just "Mrs. Fletcher is here.  She has experience in murder so let's let her do her thing.

 The title of this thread should realty be  "Death Takes a Holiday...and Has The Same Travel Agent as Jessica"

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, lefawn said:

...

5) Has anyone tallied up how many nieces and nephews Jessica has? I'm curious.... 

Great question. According to this article: http://www.vulture.com/2014/10/murder-she-wrote-30th-anniversary-netflix.html, there were 18.

[starri]

...I liked Mort.  I definitely liked Amos better, but Ron Masak, William Windom, and Angela all seemed to really like working together, and it helped.

In fairness to the enormous number of nieces and nephews Jessica had, it wasn't that the MacGills' bred like rabbits, some of them were from Frank's side.

I understand why people prefer the Cabot Cove episodes, but I do think the New York seasons opened Jessica up a lot.

[biakbiak]

Quote

..

5) Has anyone tallied up how many nieces and nephews Jessica has? I'm curious

Grady and Victoria were the only two that mattered! Actually while I can remember numerous nieces, I don't think I can remember a nephew other than Grady.

Edited January 4, 2017 by biakbiak

[Seelouis]

14 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Grady and Victoria were the only two that mattered! Actually while I can remember numerous nieces, I don't think I can remember a nephew other than Grady.

From Wikipedia (someone had a lot of time on their hands!):

Siblings Marshall MacGill (brother), Martin MacGill (brother), Neil Fletcher (brother-in-law), Constance Fletcher (sister-in-law), Louise Morton (sister or sister-in-law)

Nieces

Victoria Brandon (married to Howard Griffin, played by Jeff Conaway), Carol Donovan, Pamela MacGill-Crane (via her brother Marshall), Nita Cochran (Nita's grandmother is Agnes), Tracy MacGill (via her brother Martin), Jill Morton, Audrey Fletcher-Bannister, Carol Bannister (great-niece), Carrie Palmer

Nephews

Grady Fletcher, Johnny Eaton, Frankie Fletcher (great-nephew, Grady's son)

Cousins

Abigail (Abby) Benton Freestone (Lynn Redgrave), Emma MacGill (Angela Lansbury), Ann Owens Lawton (Shirley Jones), Helen Owens (Doris Roberts), George Owens (Robert Walker Jr.), Calhoun "Cal" Fletcher (second cousin once removed through marriage)

Other relatives

Mildred (aunt by marriage), Amanda (great-aunt through marriage), Walter (uncle; deceased), Sarah (great-aunt; deceased), Henry (great-uncle; deceased), Cyrus (uncle; deceased)

Edited January 4, 2017 by Seelouis

[shapeshifter]

And then there are the daughters and sons of old friends.

[OnceSane]

And her former students. 

[Willowsmom]

The only problem with the siblings is that Jessica says she's an only child.

[biakbiak]

4 hours ago, Seelouis said:

Johnny Eaton

Oh right the baseball player! Thanks.

[BloggerAloud]

One of my favorite episodes of all times is the one where a former student of Jessica gets murdered by Robert Culp who is playing the brother of a Mary Kay-esque lady and the whole thing boils down to him using a shade of lipstick that had never come to market while destroying a portrait of the woman. And it's called Tangerine Twist so ever since that, whenever my friends and I watch an episode and Jessica figures it out, we scream out "TANGERINE PLOT TWIST."

[biakbiak]

I just realized the paragraph from the article about her 18 nieces and nephews it also had this so it can't be trusted:

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In “Birds of a Feather,” the fourth episode of the series, Jessica proves the innocence of her niece's fiancé, whom they discover to be a drag queen at a New York City cabaret. The fourth episode.

It was SF, not NYC, which is easy to discern because of the gazillion cuts to the Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars. Victoria and Howard eventually move to NYC but by then he is played by Almanzo Wilder not Kenicke. 

[shapeshifter]

15 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I just realized the paragraph from the article about her 18 nieces and nephews it also had this so it can't be trusted:

It was SF, not NYC, which is easy to discern because of the gazillion cuts to the Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars. Victoria and Howard eventually move to NYC but by then he is played by Almanzo Wilder not Kenicke. 

"Almanzo Wilder"???  As in the husband of Laura Ingles Wilder?

[biakbiak]

Just now, shapeshifter said:

"Almanzo Wilder"???  As in the husband of Laura Ingles Wilder?

Well Dean Butler the person who portrayed Almanzo on Little House on the Prairie. 

[shapeshifter]

Oooooh! I read the books aloud three times to my three daughters during the years when I didn't have a TV (and so didn't watch the show).

ETA: Michael Landon?

Edited January 12, 2017 by shapeshifter

[biakbiak]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Oooooh! I read the books aloud three times to my three daughters during the years when I didn't have a TV (and so didn't watch the show).

ETA: Michael Landon?

No, Dean Butler. Michael played Charles Ingels. 

[lizzbert]

Nerdist just posted a SUPERB Gilmore Girls-Murder, She Wrote crossover comic! Like the best episodes, it's set in Cabot Cove!