Murder, She Wrote Season 3, Episode 13
“Crossed Up”
Original Airdate: February 1, 1987
Writer: Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle
Director: David Hemmings
Cast: Angela Lansbury, William Windom, Tom Bosley, Michael Horton, Colleen Camp, Tony Dow, Stephanie Dunnam, James Carroll Jordan, Gisele Mackenzie, Sandy McPeak, Henry Brandon, James McIntire
An unabashed sendup of Hitchcock’s Rear Window, this season three classic has long been a favorite of mine, even with Grady Fletcher underfoot. Fortunately the writing team of Mitchell and Van Sickle understand Jessica’s nephew represents all of Peter Parker’s worst qualities with none of the charm. The kid is hardly Grace Kelly, so he essentially plays the Thelma Ritter role here, serving as his aunt’s overbearing nursemaid while she convalesces from a back injury. Of course, Jessica’s stark white Victorian doesn’t overlook an urban apartment block, so she won’t be observing any murders through binoculars or a telephoto lens. That’s where the episode’s title comes in. She actually overhears the planning of the murder over the phone when some wires get crossed during a storm. A clever contrivance for a small town in the late '80s with a ramshackle infrastructure and a telephone operator everyone knows by name.