McMillan & Wife
Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend
TV Flash files “Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend” as a desk essential hour — McMillan & Wife (1971–1977) on NBC, season 3, episode 1, aired 1973-09-30, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E01: listed hour 16 of 40 in the McMillan & Wife guide, first listed hour of season 3. It aired 1973-09-30 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Two Dollars on Trouble to Win” (S02E07). Next is “The Devil, You Say” (S03E02).
Essential hour: “Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend”. Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend is a title that sounds like a franchise memo. Mystery Movie craft: chemistry first, corpse as party guest, Sally still the sharper instrument.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend sit in the McMillan & Wife guide?
S03E01 is listed hour 16 of 40 — first listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 1.
When did McMillan & Wife S03E01 air?
Death of a Monster...Birth of a Legend aired 1973-09-30 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Do I need Columbo or McCloud first?
No. They share the NBC Mystery Movie wheel, not a plot. McMillan is husband-wife San Francisco mystery on its own cocktail hour.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Rock Hudson's police commissioner solves murders with martini banter while Susan Saint James's Sally does the smarter half of the sleuthing. NBC Mystery Movie jewel: husband-wife crime as comfort fashion. San Francisco gloss, cocktail chemistry, and a leading-man image the tabloids later rewrote in full.
Open on martini banter that is load-bearing. NBC's McMillan & Wife (1971–1977), from Leonard Stern, rolls on the Mystery Movie wheel beside Columbo and McCloud: San Francisco police commissioner Mac McMillan solves crimes with help from clever wife Sally and a deadpan housekeeper. Rock Hudson brings movie-star scale; Susan Saint James's Sally does the smarter half of the sleuthing; John Schuck's Sgt. Enright and Nancy Walker's Mildred complete the household. Husband-wife comfort crime. San Francisco gloss.…
Filed against
- Rock Hudson as Commissioner Stewart 'Mac' McMillan
Rock Hudson's Commissioner Stewart 'Mac' McMillan solved murders with martini banter on McMillan & Wife — Susan Saint James's Sally doing the smarter half of the sleuthing, NBC Mystery Movie jewel, San Francisco gloss. Cocktail chemistry…
- Susan Saint James as Sally McMillan
Susan Saint James’s Sally McMillan did the smarter half of the sleuthing beside Rock Hudson’s martini commissioner — NBC Mystery Movie jewel, San Francisco gloss — then sunned Kate & Allie’s Greenwich Village brownstone opposite Jane…
- John Schuck as Sgt. Charles Enright
John Schuck’s Sgt. Charles Enright backed McMillan & Wife as the cop in the cocktail — Rock Hudson’s police commissioner solving murders with martini banter, Susan Saint James’s Sally doing the smarter half of the sleuthing. NBC Mystery…
- Nancy Walker as Mildred
Nancy Walker’s Ida Morgenstern nagged Rhoda home to New York — wedding America watched, then a marriage that fell apart on network air — and kept McMillan & Wife’s San Francisco gloss in martini motion as Mildred. MTM neurotic edges; NBC…