TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, Viktor and Petra explore the political animals behind the scenes of small-town Idaho!

It's more vicious than it sounds. Not only is someone already dead under mysterious circumstances, but the sheriff and his boy wonder seem in on it, and the investigating family still has a target on them.

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) meets a new sparring partner with a badge (Ed Laurier), who is involved in a gambling enterprise full of conspiracy, manslaughter, and patio furniture. Mama Boss is Kate Gunnerson (Marie Windsor), a pit bull in a denim skirt, who runs the syndicate with a manicured hand.

Jessica must decide who she can trust: the widowed wife (Ellen Bry), the charismatic upstart in office (Bruce Davison), the campaign manager who just buried his client (Joseph Campanella), the secretary with her ear to the door (Charlene Tilton), and the Police Captain (Mitchell Ryan), who could also be on the take.

When another body ends up on the side of the road, and Jessica herself is driven off the road by the scariest truck since Jeepers Creepers, she has to live long enough to find justice in a rural community, manipulated by THE CEMETERY VOTE.

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, there's NO ACCOUNTING FOR MURDER... and we hope you're doing okay after tax day last week.

Alas, our protagonist Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton) is not. Hapless and lovelorn, Grady is visited by his famous aunt Jessica (Angela Lansbury) in the midst of him being inundated with paperwork, suspicion of embezzlement, persistent horniness for the fabulous secretary (Kate Vernon), potential ghosts in the walls, and now a dead body!

Naturally, when one of his bosses (James Noble, Michael Tolan) turns up skewered, we must debate whether this is manmade madness or a piece of the supernatural, as things have been disappearing and sightings of a phantom have been reported in the halls. Jessica is less convinced of the otherworldly explanation, so she takes it upon herself to explore the dark catacombs on her own, despite the blood-red warnings on the wall.

Aided by an amiable Irish--very Irish--policeman (Barney Martin), this fairly simple urban murder mystery is further amplified by ambititous camera choices, a fantastic feminine ensemble including screen legend Dorothy L'Amour and suspicious widow Patty McCormack, and spooky moments offset by banter, including Jessica contending with IRS agent Geoffrey Lewis and corrupt appliance salesman Ron Masak (future Sheriff Metzger!).

TONIGHT ON MURDER SHE WROTE, we find ourselves in a closed-off location surrounded by vaudeville comedians! Ahhhh!

Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence are bitter adversaries after breaking off their Martin-and-Lewis-esque comedy partnership decades ago, so it's a shock when their kids inexplicably fall in love and want to get married. Everyone meets at a rustic lodge to have it out with each other, and when an attempted murder and an actual murder spice up the weekend, well, it sort of puts that old rivalry into perspective. Oh, and Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is there for some reason.

Suspicions are further raised with agent (George Furth) versus accountant (Arte Johnson) when the comedy duo's video cassette sales seem to be making someone money... but who!?

This is one of the quintessential episodes of Season 3, and Petra Fried and Viktor Devonne sink their teeth promptly into it. From the bottle episode energy, the illustrious guest stars (George Clooney! Sheree North! Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure!), and the vicious quips back and forth between Hollywood legends, it may be NO LAUGHING MURDER, but it's a classic.