Murder, She Wrote
Coal Miner's Slaughter
TV Flash files “Coal Miner's Slaughter” as hour 93 of 264 in the TV Flash guide — Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996) on CBS, season 5, episode 5, aired 1988-11-20, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E05: listed hour 93 of 264 in the Murder, She Wrote guide, hour 5 of 22 in season 5. It aired 1988-11-20 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Snow White, Blood Red” (S05E04). Next is “Wearing Of The Green” (S05E06).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When a West Virginia mine owner is murdered, a former student of Jessica's is the prime suspect. When she arrives in the town to help Molly prove her innocence, Jessica runs into numerous roadblocks when the residents refuse to help and the fact that several people wanted him dead. They just have to wade through the evidence to find out who the killer is.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Coal Miner's Slaughter sit in the Murder, She Wrote guide?
S05E05 is listed hour 93 of 264 — hour 5 of 22 in season 5, season 5 episode 5.
When did Murder, She Wrote S05E05 air?
Coal Miner's Slaughter aired 1988-11-20 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
The 1984 premiere, then a Hollywood hour and a locked-box hour so you see Jessica outside the village. After that, dip by guest star or by mood. The form is weekly on purpose.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it as Sunday-night civic ritual: Angela Lansbury’s manners as method, guest-star mythology, and a cozy mystery empire CBS later tried to age off the schedule. The last title card is the memo. The twelve seasons before it are the cathedral.
Sunday night used to mean something. CBS, 1984, a typewriter, a bicycle, a woman of a certain age who kept finding bodies the way other people find parking. Murder, She Wrote did not arrive as a prestige dare. It arrived as a network night: family in the living room, affiliate promo, a mystery that resolved before bedtime. Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link knew the form from Columbo country. What they built with Angela Lansbury was friendlier and, in its way, more radical. An older woman as the…
Filed against
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- Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger
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