Y'know, TV has become such a wasteland that amazingly, I find myself actually trying these various Hallmark MFTV things, whether it's Aurora Teagarden (RIP) or one of the others. Anythign that won't lecture me, tell me "how" to think, what's rightthink, what's socially "wrongthink" and all that dreck and drivel.
I tried a few of these the other night (it's now like 13-15 years since these were made) and geeze, they are kinda AWFUL. They are rivalling my older fave cozies for vapidity, sadly.
The premise here is that this itty-bitty girl of 20-something, maybe early 30-something, inherits this roomy, NEVER has customers bookstore, that obviously earns the earth, and has working for her this former CIA/Intelligence Analyst (played by Clarence Williams III of Mod Squad fame). It's laughable off the cuff, but the writing is just...excruciatingly bad. EAch time, somebody gets murdered (of course!) and this wee Jessica Fletcher is off to solve the case and naturally, DOES. Like, through osmosis, because she seems to have no training, no education, no actual KNOWLEDGE about anything at all, to her own devices.
Invariably, I can point at the screen and say "he dun it," within, no kidding, 10 minutes of the open. The deductions that yon lady amateur detective leaps to are...it's hard to do them justice in this review. Just...bad. The woefully underpaid/volunteer Intelligence guy that always "knows a guy" that can get them stuff that the local fuzz can't get is bad. It's just ALL BAD.
Worse, something hilarious actually happened on this episode--the thing opens, I hear music that I recognize but can't place. I didn't finish it that night--I'm not that masochistic--and when I wrap it up two-three nights later, they play it again. I'm like "d*mmit, what is that?" and the following morning (on the throne, the appropriate spot for thinking about THIS show, mind you) I realize--it's from The Untouchables. YES, the one with Connery, Costner, et al. It's hard to imagine two more opposite efforts, both dealing with crime and murder, than those two. The sheer PRESUMPTION of anyone mooching that amazing music, for this dreck? Shame on you, music dude.
So...I get why desperation might drive you to try this, but be warned. It's just...like watching the old Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, "hey, kids, let's put on a show" things. It's THAT BAD.
