Post by owlcroft on Jun 30, 2014 14:36:27 GMT -5
Mark, tired of being the chief cook and bottle washer at Gull's Way, is determined to hire a housekeeper. Millie Denton, the widow of his former cellmate, seems like the perfect fit for the job. What he doesn't know is that the very useful Mrs. D. is suffering from some disturbing flash-forwards: she's seeing scenes of Mark being shot and Milt attending a funeral.
The funeral part is quickly explained. Charlie Clarkson, an old lawyer acquaintance of Milt's, has been killed, along with his secretary. He wasn't generally well-liked, but Milt owes him for helping him and Nancy through a rough patch years ago. Frank Harper is at the graveside service as well. His concern is strictly professional. He believes the deaths were murders. Another lawyer, Wendell Price, is also there to see Charlie off. He's a high-priced divorce attorney with a rocky reputation.
Millie shows up at Gull's Way, suffering badly from precognition, but able to put it to good use locating the judge's lost car keys. Mark hires her.
It's a good thing, too, because pretty soon he's putting in overtime helping Hardcastle delve into Charlie's recent activities. Loni Summers, a buxom starlet who hired Charlie to handle her divorce, says he called her shortly before he was killed. Clarkson told her he had information that would improve her settlement with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Dex Falcon. While Frank arranges for warrants and other such dull details, Hardcastle takes over as Loni's lawyer.
Millie, meanwhile, is seeing a series of apparently foreboding visions, all of which are coming to pass as Milt and Mark pursue the truth about Clarkson's demise. That evening, after a delicious home-cooked meal, Mark lends her a hand cleaning up.
In the kitchen, Millie confesses all to him. She's convinced his life is in danger. He jokingly tells her that's not news. She tried to convince him, revealing her lifelong history of knowing just how badly things are going to turn out. A plate accidentally drops and shatters. It's a good excuse to change the subject, but Millie saw that coming, too.
Mark might have been glib, but Millie has gotten to him. The next morning he mentions it to the judge, who naturally scoffs. They go off to interview Loni Summers, who shows them a scrap of paper with a series of digits written on it. She found it on her husband's nightstand and doesn't know what it refers to. Oh, and the divorce is off. He's given her a diamond bracelet.
Price and his client Dex are having lunch at a swank restaurant. Dex whines about still being stuck with Loni. Price tells him to man up, at least until Hardcastle stops being suspicious about Clarkson's death.
It doesn't look like that'll be anytime soon. Milt and Mark show up at the eatery. Milt makes pointed comments about off-shore bank accounts. Dex says that's all just scandal sheet fodder. He's so poor he'll probably have to use paper plates and Styrofoam cups at the big blow-out reconciliation party the following night. And, by the way, did you two get your evite yet?
That evening, Millie goes all prognosticating on the judge, answering his questions almost before he can spit them out. Then she gives Mark one of those "I'd be careful if I were you" looks but says nothing is wrong as he heads off to the gatehouse to finish cleaning a gun. Naturally a gun goes off, taking out a lamp and putting a hole through the wall.
The next morning, Mark and Milt discuss their uncanny live-in maid. Mark thinks she's got the second sight. The judge thinks Mark needs to follow basic handgun cleaning safety procedures.
That afternoon they finally ID the numbers Loni found: it's Dex's double-secret million dollar bank account in the Caymans. Milt decides to attend Dex's party. Who needs a warrant when they've got an invitation?
That evening Millie makes one last attempt to dissuade Mark from courting danger. She tells him bluntly, in front of the judge, that if he goes to the party he'll be killed. Mark looks unsettled but Hardcastle isn't buying any of this nonsense. He says he's going anyway and Mark can join him or not. He heads out the door and, over Millie's objections, Mark follows.
The party is wall-to-wall Hollywood types. Mark and Milt split up, intending to canvass the joint while waiting for Frank to arrive with the search warrant. Price finds Dex cavorting in a back room with a starlet. He interrupts the liaison and informs Dex that they have to deal with the judge and his sidekick. They make plans to meet in the pool house.
Mark receives a message via a waiter. He's supposed to join Milt in the pool house. It's a trap. He goes, is jumped by Dex and Price, and is shot in the struggle. Milt gets a similar message a short time later but is delayed by an irate Loni, who also got a glimpse of the earlier starlet-nuzzling.
The pool house is empty by the time Milt arrives, but there is a suspicious pool of blood. Frank, suffering from a strange attack of complacency, thinks Mark walked home or something like that.
Alas, he's been chucked into the Ravine of Doom, and seems to be doing his best to keep Millie's batting average up. Millie, meanwhile, has decamped from Gull's Way. She's tired of being Cassandra.
Milt, who isn't buying any of the thoughtful alternative suggestions regarding Mark's whereabouts, hunts down Millie and insists that she put her strange talents to work. The two of them drive around, with Millie trying to channel some vibes from one of Mark's "Tears for Fears" tapes.
Wendell Price, whose behavior is becoming increasingly erratic, drops in at Gull's Way, presumably to do in Hardcastle. He finds Millie's note and somehow from that deduces that he must return to the scene of the crime. He encounters Hardcastle's GMC, and (further proof that California is not nearly as big as you think it is) Harper and the cops who've set up a roadblock.
Price is snagged. Milt and Millie don't even pause to press charges. Millie's hot now, and moments later they arrive at the spot where Mark was left for dead. He's awakealthough understandably peeved, having spent the entire fourth act in the R. of D.
Everything's okay in the epilogue, though. There are cookies even, though we find that Millie is, natch, going to live with her sister. She does, however, spill one more can of beans, telling Mark that his purportedly vicious boss was a nervous wreck waiting for the outcome of the surgery.
Written by Carol Mendelsohn
Premiered January 4, 1986
The funeral part is quickly explained. Charlie Clarkson, an old lawyer acquaintance of Milt's, has been killed, along with his secretary. He wasn't generally well-liked, but Milt owes him for helping him and Nancy through a rough patch years ago. Frank Harper is at the graveside service as well. His concern is strictly professional. He believes the deaths were murders. Another lawyer, Wendell Price, is also there to see Charlie off. He's a high-priced divorce attorney with a rocky reputation.
Millie shows up at Gull's Way, suffering badly from precognition, but able to put it to good use locating the judge's lost car keys. Mark hires her.
It's a good thing, too, because pretty soon he's putting in overtime helping Hardcastle delve into Charlie's recent activities. Loni Summers, a buxom starlet who hired Charlie to handle her divorce, says he called her shortly before he was killed. Clarkson told her he had information that would improve her settlement with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Dex Falcon. While Frank arranges for warrants and other such dull details, Hardcastle takes over as Loni's lawyer.
Millie, meanwhile, is seeing a series of apparently foreboding visions, all of which are coming to pass as Milt and Mark pursue the truth about Clarkson's demise. That evening, after a delicious home-cooked meal, Mark lends her a hand cleaning up.
In the kitchen, Millie confesses all to him. She's convinced his life is in danger. He jokingly tells her that's not news. She tried to convince him, revealing her lifelong history of knowing just how badly things are going to turn out. A plate accidentally drops and shatters. It's a good excuse to change the subject, but Millie saw that coming, too.
Mark might have been glib, but Millie has gotten to him. The next morning he mentions it to the judge, who naturally scoffs. They go off to interview Loni Summers, who shows them a scrap of paper with a series of digits written on it. She found it on her husband's nightstand and doesn't know what it refers to. Oh, and the divorce is off. He's given her a diamond bracelet.
Price and his client Dex are having lunch at a swank restaurant. Dex whines about still being stuck with Loni. Price tells him to man up, at least until Hardcastle stops being suspicious about Clarkson's death.
It doesn't look like that'll be anytime soon. Milt and Mark show up at the eatery. Milt makes pointed comments about off-shore bank accounts. Dex says that's all just scandal sheet fodder. He's so poor he'll probably have to use paper plates and Styrofoam cups at the big blow-out reconciliation party the following night. And, by the way, did you two get your evite yet?
That evening, Millie goes all prognosticating on the judge, answering his questions almost before he can spit them out. Then she gives Mark one of those "I'd be careful if I were you" looks but says nothing is wrong as he heads off to the gatehouse to finish cleaning a gun. Naturally a gun goes off, taking out a lamp and putting a hole through the wall.
The next morning, Mark and Milt discuss their uncanny live-in maid. Mark thinks she's got the second sight. The judge thinks Mark needs to follow basic handgun cleaning safety procedures.
That afternoon they finally ID the numbers Loni found: it's Dex's double-secret million dollar bank account in the Caymans. Milt decides to attend Dex's party. Who needs a warrant when they've got an invitation?
That evening Millie makes one last attempt to dissuade Mark from courting danger. She tells him bluntly, in front of the judge, that if he goes to the party he'll be killed. Mark looks unsettled but Hardcastle isn't buying any of this nonsense. He says he's going anyway and Mark can join him or not. He heads out the door and, over Millie's objections, Mark follows.
The party is wall-to-wall Hollywood types. Mark and Milt split up, intending to canvass the joint while waiting for Frank to arrive with the search warrant. Price finds Dex cavorting in a back room with a starlet. He interrupts the liaison and informs Dex that they have to deal with the judge and his sidekick. They make plans to meet in the pool house.
Mark receives a message via a waiter. He's supposed to join Milt in the pool house. It's a trap. He goes, is jumped by Dex and Price, and is shot in the struggle. Milt gets a similar message a short time later but is delayed by an irate Loni, who also got a glimpse of the earlier starlet-nuzzling.
The pool house is empty by the time Milt arrives, but there is a suspicious pool of blood. Frank, suffering from a strange attack of complacency, thinks Mark walked home or something like that.
Alas, he's been chucked into the Ravine of Doom, and seems to be doing his best to keep Millie's batting average up. Millie, meanwhile, has decamped from Gull's Way. She's tired of being Cassandra.
Milt, who isn't buying any of the thoughtful alternative suggestions regarding Mark's whereabouts, hunts down Millie and insists that she put her strange talents to work. The two of them drive around, with Millie trying to channel some vibes from one of Mark's "Tears for Fears" tapes.
Wendell Price, whose behavior is becoming increasingly erratic, drops in at Gull's Way, presumably to do in Hardcastle. He finds Millie's note and somehow from that deduces that he must return to the scene of the crime. He encounters Hardcastle's GMC, and (further proof that California is not nearly as big as you think it is) Harper and the cops who've set up a roadblock.
Price is snagged. Milt and Millie don't even pause to press charges. Millie's hot now, and moments later they arrive at the spot where Mark was left for dead. He's awakealthough understandably peeved, having spent the entire fourth act in the R. of D.
Everything's okay in the epilogue, though. There are cookies even, though we find that Millie is, natch, going to live with her sister. She does, however, spill one more can of beans, telling Mark that his purportedly vicious boss was a nervous wreck waiting for the outcome of the surgery.
Written by Carol Mendelsohn
Premiered January 4, 1986
