SECRETS OF TELEVISIOLOGY - EPISODE DATING*

'MURDER, SHE WROTE'

"DEADPAN"

This episode was broadcast at the beginning of May of 1988.  Since it dealt with the opening of a revised production of Jessica Fletcher's play "Mainely Murder", it probably occurred in April of that year (hoping to make the eligibility cut-off for the Tony Awards.)

In the above picture we see Lt. Aloiysius Jarvis of the NYPD who was in charge of the murder investigation.  (More than likely he was working from Midtown North, which covers the Theater District.)  And Lt. Jarvis is framed by the portraits of NYC Mayor Ed Koch and NY Governor Mario Cuomo.

ED KOCH
105th Mayor of New York City
In office:
January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1989

MARIO CUOMO

52nd Governor of New York
In office:
January 1, 1983 – December 31, 1994

(Somewhere in the office might be a picture of the current POTUS of that time as well, which would have been Ronald Reagan.)

These kinds of pictures are almost cliches by this point when seen in police departments, the offices in government buildings, and military facilities.  And they are a great way to date when a particular TV show episode was supposed to have taken place.

I've written about this before, in that case an NYPD office during the mayoral term served by John Lindsay.

And it works with offices found in the United Kingdom as well - the Queen, the many prime ministers.....

BCnU!

* (At least buy it a drink.....)