View source for Murder, She Wrote/Trivia

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* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Recurring guest Harry McGraw is a lot more recognizable as ''[[Law and Order]]'''s Lennie Briscoe. Other well-known guest stars who had later roles:
** Kate Mulgrew of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' as a [[Rich Bitch]] who killed her husband/lover. [[You Look Familiar|Twice]].
** Rene Auberjonois of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' played a murderer. [[You Look Familiar|And a professor character in one of Jessica's novels]]. [[You Look Familiar|And also a Southern doctor]].
** [[George Takei]] of ''[[Star Trek]]'' played a janitor whose collection of celebrity trash helps Jessica.
** [[Leslie Nielsen]] appeared twice in two consecutive seasons, first as a captain of a cruise ship on which Jessica was a passenger, and then as a treasure-hunting old friend of Jessica.
** John Astin from '' [[The Addams Family]]'' appeared at least twice as the same character.
** Kevin Sorbo from ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'' as a VR game designer.
** [[Neil Patrick Harris]] from ''[[Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]'' as a young fantasy writer who delivers Jessica's groceries.
** [[George Clooney]] and Julianna Marguiles each appeared on the show, separately, years before their success on ''[[ER]]''.
** Courteney Cox of ''[[Friends]]'' as Jessica's great-niece by marriage, the granddaughter of her late husband Frank's brother.
** William Christopher from ''[[MASH]]'' was a birdwatching enthusiast who turned out to be a cold-blooded murderer.
*** Speaking of ''[[MASH]]'', Larry Linville appeared in two different episodes, the latter as a cop who thought Jessica was a government agent.
*** Wayne Rogers played the recurring role of beleaguered P.I. Charlie Garrett after Jerry Orbach left to join ''[[Law and Order]]''.
** Vicki Lawrence appeared twice, the first being notable as her character was named Phoebe ''[[The Carol Burnett Show|Carroll]]''.
** Claude Akins, best known as Sheriff Lobo ([[Name's the Same|no, not]] [[Lobo|that Lobo]]), played recurring character Ethan Cragg in the first season.
** Eileen Brennan guest stars in "Old Habits Die Hard". [[Clue (film)|As a politician's wife]].  {{spoiler|[[Dark Secret|With a secret]]. [[He Knows Too Much|And who's willing to kill to protect it]].}}
** "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes": One of the thugs who tries to mug Jessica in the alley is none other than a young [[Ocean's Eleven|Andy Garcia]]!
* [[Name's the Same]]: "Old Habits Die Hard" has a seemingly-[[Jerkass]] boyfriend character named Michael Phelps.
** In "Murder at a Discount", George Segal's character is named [[Jane's Addiction|Dave Navarro]].
* [[Technology Marches On]]: During the run of the show Jessica goes from typing manuscripts on a typewriter to using a computer as reflected in updated opening credits.
** "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes" becomes an [[Unintentional Period Piece]] thanks to this trope. When Jessica encounters the two young thugs in the alley, she threatens to call the police, but one of the thugs points out that it would be impossible for her to do so because ''[[Hilarious in Hindsight|she couldn't possibly have a phone in her purse]]''.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: Jean Stapleton, [[I Am Not Spock|better known as]] [[All in The Family|Edith Bunker]], was first offered the role of Jessica Fletcher. Stapleton passed - ironically, given that she's on record as being unhappy with her [[Typecasting]] as Edith, and this show likely would have rescued her from that fate. In any event, the producers then offered the role to their second choice, Angela Lansbury, who gratefully accepted.

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[[Category:Murder, She Wrote]]
[[Category:Trivia]]