Saturday 16 February 2008
Dangerous Woman
Helena and I have started watching "Murder She Wrote".
Jessica Fletcher is a mystery writer who lives in the sleepy New England town of "Cabot Cove", where everyone knows everyone else. However, there is somethng supernatural going on, because everywhere she goes there is always a murder. And the police always suspect the wrong person, if they have any idea at all. Of course, Jessica always manages to solve the murder, usually risking her life to get the culprit to confess all, with the police intervening in the nick of time to ensure that she'll be back next week.
Unlike Columbo, these are only 45 minute episodes, and it's amazing how complicated some of the plots are, with red-herrings and subtle clues all over the place. Over all the years and 260-odd episodes the population of Cabot Cove must have gone down tremendously, though not all of the murders happen there.
Also unlike many detective stories the writers have to cope each week with the problem of getting Jessica involved in the sleuthing - after all, she's not a PI or a police officer. The police always assume that they can do better. "Are you all right, Mrs Fletcher?" Asked a New York Cop in one episode after she discovered a body. Not realising that she'd probably seen more bodies than he had.
Angela Lansbury was originally British. I haven't seen here in that many films, but she's amazing. She made her film debut at the age of 18 in "Gaslight" (an Ingrid Bergman film), and her performance is a real eye-opener. It's not surprising that she went on to become famous, and she's still working well into her 80s.
Helena would have spent all weekend watching them back to back if I'd let her - as it is, I'm going to have to stock up on some more of them before long...
ELECTION NEWS: President Papadopoulos is out of the race, with Christofias and Kasoulidis going through to the second round. So there's still hope for the guy with the rug...
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23 comments:
I am a big fan of 'Murder she Wrote' and Angela Lansbury.
Pretty soon you and Helena will be well trained for the day the police come knocking on your door to find out who murdered the canned hedgehog vendor on the street outside your window.
;-)
Chris:
I never watched them when they were on TV, for some reason, though my sister loved them.
Outside my window is a car park, and the back of the police station, so it'll likely be the murder of one of the policemen whilst they were out the back having a cigarette ;-)
Years ago there was a book review on the radio, and they had a real life police detective there. They asked him if he was any good at guessing whodunnit in crime stories, and he said no, because in real life it's almost always the obvious suspect (spouse, person who's got a clear motive, etc), whereas in fiction they always make it the least likely one.
If I could be some kind of detective, I think I'd like to be a forensic person - apart from the fact that my knowledge of science is quite sketchy, I think I'd be quite good at that ;-)
"likely be" - how American is that? ;-)
Columbo rocks. rocks, I'm sayin.
My favorite Angela role was Mrs. Potts in beauty and the beast. she sings that song during their dance around the ballroom. the rest is cinematic history.
Americans rock!
mostly
Brian are you actually saying you don't like Shrek but watch Murder she Wrote??
Is that what you are saying here?
I've never watched MSW. There's something about Angela Lansbury I've never liked. Maybe it was her bulbous eyes... don't know.
Sorry, I'm in a crappy mood. ;o)
I'm still in a crappy mood... and it's past my bedtime.
Jean Knee:
Yes, I think that's what I'm saying. MSW isn't very Shrek-like...
Bee:
Shrek has bulbous eyes too, doesn't he?
Ahh, yes Murder She Wrote..My mom used to make me watch that with her when I was little. I'd like to credit Angela Lansbury for my want to be English. I loved her.
I haven't seen any of her earlier work. Was she like a bombshell or the "smart one"?
And not to be too nosy, but I'm a fairly new reader of your blog and I'm just curious who Helena is?
Oh, another show I used to watch was In The Heat of The Night. It was like a southern cop mystery. It had the guy, oh I can't remember his name, he was Archie Bunker from All In The Family.
why does the police still doubt her, they should give her a job. Everytime I watch 24 I always wonder "why don't they just do what Jack says"
okay
Tracy:
Helena is my nine-year old daughter.
Dan:
I suspect that she's a bit old, but also since murders seem to follow her, if I were the police I'd lock her up. Actually, that's maybe not a good idea, in one episode she's visiting a prison when there's a murder and a riot...
you can't stop someone like her. Murder follows her everywhere like ghost/monster/zombies follow the scooby doo kids around.
and they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids
You know what follows me around? Bats. Maybe I should shower more often.
Bee:
Bat Repellant:
You should ask Dan for something to rub on your head.
I have a cute Donkey that'll lick your head....for free
no bats or baldness guaranteed or your money back
What've you been up to Brian? My MIL was here so I'm resting up
Your MIL came back to the best city in the world??
uh, yeah she's not there yet though- she's flying the friendly skies
BAD BRIAN! BAD!
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