The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

McBride Mystery Television Shows Marathon Airing This Sunday, November 17, 2013 (& Monday the 18th) on the Hallmark Movie Channel

Here is an addendum to the entry I just wrote yesterday. Colleen just commented that the Hallmark Movie channel will be showing the McBride mystery shows this coming Sunday, November 17 (and continuing on early Monday, November 18).

Here is the Hallmark Movie channel schedule in Central time zone.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

8:00 AM     McBride: It’s Murder, Madam

10:00 AM     McBride: Dogged

12:00 PM     McBride: Fallen Idol

2:00 PM     McBride: Anybody Here Murder Marty?

4:00 PM     McBride: Murder Past Midnight

6:00 PM     McBride: Requiem

8:00 PM     McBride: Semper Fi

10:00 PM     McBride: Tune In For Murder

Monday, November 18, 2013

1:00 AM     McBride: The Chameleon Murder

3:00 AM     McBride: The Doctor is Out… Really Out

Thanks, again, Colleen!

(As I mentioned in the previous entry, we DVR-ed all of the McBride mystery shows and then watched them later. I’m not sure if I’m totally correct on the following chronological list of the McBride movies, but this is the list my husband and I used – since we wanted to watch the shows in an orderly fashion)

The Chameleon Murder   ’05

Murder Past Midnight   ’05

It’s Murder, Madam   ’05

The Doctor Is Out… Really Out   ’05

Tune in for Murder   ’05

Anybody Here Murder Marty?   ’05

Fallen Idol   ’06

Semper Fi   ’07

Dogged   ’07

Requiem   ’08

McBride Television Series

In 2005, the Hallmark channel started showing a rotation of mystery television shows. McBride was one of those mystery shows. (The other two were Mystery Woman and Jane Doe.)

John Larroquette is the star of these ninety minute television movies, and it’s almost as if the part was written for him. He is so perfect in the “”Mac” McBride role.

Each television movies starts out with a scene that takes place in a courtroom. This is where we are generally introduced to some rather slick “lawyery” action. McBride either catches the accuser in a lie, or he shows a wrongfully accused person in an innocent light. We sometimes see an exacerbated prosecuting attorney in an unprepared state. Oh, did I mention McBride is a defense lawyer?

Mac does a lot of pro bono work. He tries to make sure that innocent people get competent representation in the courts.

The two supporting roles are very capably portrayed by Marta DuBois and Matt Lutz. Marta plays the homicide detective (Roberta) who prefers to lose a collar than jail an innocent man/woman. She and Mac worked together (and were romantically involved) when he was a police detective working his way through law school. They’re an on-again, off-again couple >>> more off than on. Roberta knows Mac enough to not take him too seriously, unless it’s when he insists his client is innocent.

Matt Lutz plays Mac’s young assistant, Phil. He’s sort of the opposite of Mac. If it were up to Mac, their office would have a stove-top on which to make coffee rather than a coffee machine and they would be using legal pads instead of a computer. Phil is also responsible for tracking down witnesses, uncovering helpful information, and working his magic with the pretty young women.

Oh, I don’t know how I forgot the fourth of the main characters >>> Jesse, an irresistible dog that Mac inherited. My one disappointment in the show is that Jesse stopped joining Mac on his trips out of the office in the later episodes.

McBride was created by Dean Hargrove, who, incidentally also created the much-loved Columbo series. One of the producers of McBride is Larry Levinson, who also produced Columbo, the Ellery Queen Mysteries television shows, and Murder, She Wrote. A pretty impressive pedigree!

While both my husband and I enjoy McBride a lot, my husband has told me (many times) that the continuous background music always reminds him of our many visits to the Baltimore Aquarium… sort of a “floating in water” type of music. As for me, it doesn’t.

PS >>> This series is not available on Amazon or Netflix. I put it on my DVR queue of titles I wanted to get, and that’s how we were able to get all of the shows. Hallmark shows them every once in a while. (But, you’ll have to check, since we got a lot of Martina McBride appearances, also.)

For more Cozy viewing ideas, click on my Cozy Mystery TV & Movies page.

Veteran’s Day Wishes…

I hope that this Veteran’s Day finds you all well. Although my father has been gone for more than several years, it’s on our patriotic days that I seem to remember him the most. Not one of the “red, white, and blue” days passes that I don’t have him in the back of my mind >>> all day. 

I was not aware of the changes this day underwent before it became known as Veteran’s Day (previously being known as Armistice Day, in honor of those who died during  World War I). I’m particularly glad that we have these days to honor those of our men and women who have given so much of themselves to ensure the rest of us can live the free lives that we do.  

B.B. Cantwell, Jessie Crockett, Constance & Gwenyth Little, and Tyora Moody: Five New Authors on the Cozy Mystery Site

As I mentioned in my previous entry, here are the newest addition of  Cozy Mystery authors who I have added to the site. These are authors who have been recommended by some of you who think they belong on the Cozy Mystery site.

B.B. Cantwell: Portland Bookmobile Mystery Series
The sleuth is named Hester McGarrigle and she is the librarian in Portland, Oregon who takes books to people in the library’s book mobile. (B.B. Cantwell is a husband and wife writing team made up of Brian and Barbara Cantwell. Brian is a newspaper journalist while Barbara was once a bookmobile librarian in Portland.)

Jessie Crockett: Sugar Grove Mystery Series AND Granite State Mystery Series
Dani Greene is the name of the main sleuth in Crockett’s Sugar Grove Mystery Series. Dani returns home to work on her family’s sugar maple farm in New Hampshire.

Constance & Gwenyth Little: Stand Alone Mysteries
There is some speculation that if these two sisters had written their mystery books in a series format, they would be much more well-known today. The two Australian-born sisters lived in New Jersey and collaborated on all of their mystery books. (All of the titles of their mysteries include the word “black” except for the first one, which has the color “grey” in it.)

Tyora Moody: Eugeena Patterson Mystery Series
Moody is a Christian author who writes this series which has, as its sleuth, Eugeena Patterson. Eugeena is a recently widowed grandmother who lives in South Carolina. she was previously a social studies teacher, but now she spends her time sleuthing. Unfortunately, Eugeena has been diagnosed with Diabetes, which has a part in the books.

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