The time ‘Murder, She Wrote’ went to a drag club for the straightest “gay episode” ever
Murder, She Wrote premiered on CBS.Starring the late, great Dame Angela Lansbury as author-turned-sleuth Jessica Fletcher, the mystery procedural series has been a favorite for generations of LGBTQ+ audiencesFrom its quirky amateur detective, to its frequently campy case-of-the-week format, it’s not hard to see why Murder, She Wrote is such comfort television for queer viewers, who still regularly revisit classic episodes to watch Jessica figure out whodunit and why-dunit in now decades-old cases.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.But the funny thing is: The show was never really all that gay!
At least, not textually speaking.Over the course of 12 seasons and 264 episodes from 1984 to 1996, there weren’t any characters who were openly identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community (though you could certainly argue a handful were hinted as such)—Murder, She Wrote was actually pretty darn heteronormative.That’s especially surprising when you consider that, in the third episode ever, Jessica solves a murder mystery set in a San Francisco drag bar.
But, somehow, even that was straight!The episode in question was called “Birds Of A Feather” (original air date: October 14, 1984), inspired by the popularity of the play-turned-film-turned-musical La Cage Aux Folles, which occasionally also went by the name Birds Of A Feather—and would later be adapted into the hit American film The Birdcage.From closeted stars to a very sly Madonna reference, here’s some trivia you might not know about timeless classic ‘The Birdcage.’The story follows Jessica on a trip to San Francisco, where she makes a local television appearance, but is mainly in town for the wedding of her niece Victoria (General Hospital‘s Genie Francis) and working actor Howard (Jeff Conaway, perhaps best known as the hunky Kenickie from Grease).After Howard mysteriously skips out on dinner plans, Victoria tells her dear Aunt Jessica she.
