"Footnote to Murder" is a very good episode of "Murder, She Wrote"...not just because of the general plot but because it brings up the notion of acquaintance rape...something rarely talked about on TV.
The episode is set at some sort of convention and awards ceremony for authors. As Jessica enters the hotel, she does something that is VERY tough to believe...she accepts an unsolicited manuscript from a would-be writer. I say this because I saw the show with a best-selling author...and she indicated to me that professional writers NEVER do this for a variety of reasons...particularly legal reasons. If an author accepts something and agrees to read it (which is unlikely, as their time is valuable), they could easily be accused to plagiarism later if in any way any of their stories remotely resembles the manuscript. I was also told that additionally publishers and agents warn authors never to read such things. Now most people watching the show will not realize this, so it's not like it's a serious problem in the script.
During the convention, there are a lot of egos and jerks and, not surprisingly, the biggest jerk of all is soon found dead. One of Jessica's friends is accused of the murder, and so, of course, she springs into action to solve the case.
The story is interesting...particularly the true story of what really happened. Additionally, the characters (minus Paul Sand, who plays pretty much the same guy he always played on TV shows) were good...particularly Robert Reed who played a wonderfully condescending and crabby guy (he was a real hoot to watch). Overall, a very solid episode..well worth seeing.
The episode is set at some sort of convention and awards ceremony for authors. As Jessica enters the hotel, she does something that is VERY tough to believe...she accepts an unsolicited manuscript from a would-be writer. I say this because I saw the show with a best-selling author...and she indicated to me that professional writers NEVER do this for a variety of reasons...particularly legal reasons. If an author accepts something and agrees to read it (which is unlikely, as their time is valuable), they could easily be accused to plagiarism later if in any way any of their stories remotely resembles the manuscript. I was also told that additionally publishers and agents warn authors never to read such things. Now most people watching the show will not realize this, so it's not like it's a serious problem in the script.
During the convention, there are a lot of egos and jerks and, not surprisingly, the biggest jerk of all is soon found dead. One of Jessica's friends is accused of the murder, and so, of course, she springs into action to solve the case.
The story is interesting...particularly the true story of what really happened. Additionally, the characters (minus Paul Sand, who plays pretty much the same guy he always played on TV shows) were good...particularly Robert Reed who played a wonderfully condescending and crabby guy (he was a real hoot to watch). Overall, a very solid episode..well worth seeing.