Episode 6: David Tolliver Could Wreck Your Life

TONIGHT ON MURDER, SHE WROTE, Jessica faces one of her toughest antagonists: stairs. Oh, and a pretty boy secretary who may be trying to kill her. You know how it is.

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is tasked with a lecture at a prestigious Washington state university where she also happens to need a typist; she encounters this dreamy-eyed co-ed David Tolliver (Andrew Stevens), already a suspect in the death of a purported older woman lover.  The body's barely cold, and he seems to have set his sights on his new employer, and he has more on his mind than how many words a minute he can type.  Despite Jessica's reservations, she succumbs to his dictation, and soon enough there's another body... This time, of a student who may be sleeping with him (and two different professors!) Everyone's getting some, except for Peter Graves' long-suffering personal assistant, Lois Nettleton, who delivers a tour de force monologue late in the script.  

In what was an alternative pilot, this one veers in a Colombo direction and is the better for it with a gaggle of horny guest stars, including Peter Graves, Grant Goodeve, Greg Morris, and Lory Walsh, all seen against the backdrop of a rotten avocado green, wood-trimmed lecture hall. Who could possibly have time to study, let alone commit one or two different murders? The ex-husband? Professor #1? Professor #2? The neglected administrative professional? The sex-crazed psycho with a granny complex? Angela Lansbury does her own stunts and more for LOVERS... AND OTHER KILLERS!