Cluedunnit

We're back in the States where lying and explosions are rampant! In true NBC fashion they want the viewer to know that this episode is in no way based on any real person, entity, or event. Which is fine by us, because our guesses are based on nothing more than anxiety dreams of college psychology and musical theatre lyrics! But maybe, just maybe, we can get it right? We watched The Irrational seas...

They're national treasures in a season-long mystery. We, like moths to a flame, are mesmerized by it -- but could never do it on the podcast because the season-long story would ruin our format... Until now! We finally get to watch the show thanks to these bite-sized episodes that are still full of laughs and guesses! Listen along as we guess about the murderers, cheese-mongers, and Off-Broadway sh...

In which Jessica recounts all of the horrible productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and reaffirms her vow that it need never be staged again. We tell two young actors they should stay away from the stage (for reasons unrelated to their skill) and Jacob laments the necessity of a "Will they, won't they" dynamic. And somewhere in there we guess on the series 1 season finale of Shakespeare &...

Are you ready for a clanging good time? Jessica applies to be on the Podcast Adjudication Board, we discover a savory (and sweet!) English breakfast pastry that will soon be adopted by Hot Pockets, and we get one of the world's best chase scenes ever! Plus rat poison, sexual harassment, and Sebastian in a chef's toque! We watched Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators series 1, episode...

We guarantee you've never truly seen "Hamlet" until you've seen Jacob perform Laertes in pink sweatpants. Unfortunately for you, this means you will never see Hamlet as pictures of this stunning endeavor no longer exist. Happily for us, we got to see what Frank's inner child needs to grow into an adult, Sebastian improvise a goth peanut allergy, and Luella go absolutely mental on mushrooms. But ca...

Welcome to our latest episode where we’ll greet you with a nod, hug, handshake, bow, or fist bump of your choice. And hugging, because we’re Americans and we can’t stop the hugging! We also debate whether British pants have pockets and offer a PSA on when it’s a good idea to shove bloody money down your pants. Spoiler: It’s never. You should never stuff bloody money down your pants. We watched Sha...

Wherein we recount the tale of how we were kind of actually pursued by a bear! We also rhapsodize about such things as sunny moors, praise the cozy, and discuss our favorite scenes from the past year. What’s your favorite scene from a TV show or movie over the past year? Tells us on social media and we’ll share it on the pod!  We watched Shakespear & Hathaway, series 1, episode 6, "Exit, Pursu...

Trigger warning for theatre nerds! We say “Macbeth” a LOT this episode. Trigger warning for anglophiles! Jacob makes a prat of himself and gets the word “tickety-boo” completely wrong! Trigger warning for pavement-ophiles! We make fun of cobblestones in this episode! We do a lot of wrong things in here. But do we get the guesses right? We watched Shakespeare and Hathaway, series 1, episode 5, “Toi...

The actor who plays Jaskier (Joey Batey) in The Witcher guest stars in this episode of Shakespeare & Hathaway, so we brainstorm ways to get more monsters (not just fairies) into Shakespeare's plays. Jacob disrespects the "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy, Jessica conjures up the most baroque guess we've ever had (seriously, it involves harpists out for revenge) and we debate if we'd rather party...

What makes Vera so compelling? Is it her motherly advice to get babies drunk to make them stop crying? Is it the unflappable manner in which she only ever asks her suspects one question? Is it the joy she takes in unraveling some truly baroque murder mysteries? That's a lot of questions to answer in an hour -- especially when we try to slow down how fast Jacob talks. If we talk slowly, do we guess...

We compare Lucy Lawless to Shania Twain, Sigourney Weaver, and Gal Gadot then wax philosophical about the role Ben Affleck's stubble plays in the DC Universe. We also guess on My Life Is Murder, a New Zealand cozy mystery while Jacob tries to make rival costumers a thing and we read some truly horrifying descriptions of the main character's coat. Could it be made of human skin? Listen and find out...

For our season finale, we interview Mark and Sarah from The Mystery Maniacs podcast! They introduce us to the fine art of corpse acting, dispel a Sister Boniface conspiracy theory, and share why they think Murdoch Mysteries is such an iconic show.  You can find Mystery Maniacs Podcast on all your podcatcher platforms, on the web at https://midsomermaniacs.transistor.fm , and also on Instagram , Fa...

It’s an all-star season finale! We watch an episode featuring the winner of our TV Detective championship, the artful detective William Murdoch himself, and chat with two TV murder experts, Mark and Sarah from the Mystery Maniacs podcast! Does Murdoch invent the banana hammock? Or the male gaze? Can Mark and Sarah explain to us what the deal with ferrets is? Listen and find out!  We watched Murdoc...

You thought you had a side hustle? In addition to making wine and waking up early for prayers, Sister Boniface runs a full 1960s crime lab — in a town called GREAT SLAUGHTER. So yeah, she’s busy. This episode brings a deadly beauty pageant to her abbey, and we bring the wild guesses!  We watched Sister Boniface Mysteries season 1 episode 10, "Crimes and Miss Demeanours."  Hey! Check out www.cluedu...

The Hallmark Channel loves Christmas so much, they put Santa Claus to work in their murder mystery shows! Santa has an attack of angina during a jewel heist and only Ponch from CHiPs can solve the mystery! There’s a lot that’s wrong about that sentence, but can we guess whodunit correctly?  We watched Picture Perfect Mysteries, Episode 2, “Dead Over Diamonds.” 

We fell hard for Poker Face. HARD. So many people we love are involved in it; the stories are messy and fun and human; the production values are off the charts — AND THEY TELL YOU WHODUNIT IMMEDIATELY! We can always win when we watch! Wait — the Podcast Adjudication board is telling me we still have to guess? Listen to find out how we do it and whether we still win!    We watched Poker Face season...

Nic Sampson played Detective Constable Sam Breen on The Brokenwood Mysteries for many years — and he also wrote the episode we guessed on! In this interview we ask him how he made the shift from acting to writing, New Zealand to London, and from Power Rangers to improv. He also shares how he came up with the idea for an exploding port-a-potty in one of his mysteries.  You can find Nic on Twitter a...

At one time or another we’ve all asked “Who let the dogs out?” But also: How long will they stay out? Can they be put back in? And most importantly: Why did they think a plant was the best weapon to use while robbing a bank? It’s a light-hearted robbery gone sideways this week as we guess for The Brokenwood Mysteries and talk to series regular (and writer for this episode!) Nic Sampson!  We watche...

This episode starts with a dead body in a bathtub full of coffee — so you know we loved it! Join us as we visit turn-of-the-(last)-century Vienna and answer the burning questions: Did Freud do cocaine? Is Jessica’s accent German or just Californian? Which of the extras best represent Jacob’s distant relatives? Join us in a swanky cafe as we guess Vienna Blood! We watched Vienna Blood, season 2 epi...

Tracy Friedman is a writer, director, dancer, choreographer -- and a freelancer for Murder, She Wrote! She penned the episode we guessed on, "The Witch's Curse." We talked to her about snagging the job, convincing Randy Newman to let her make a jukebox musical of his hits, surviving a writers' strike while trying to break in, and more! Check it out!  Hey! Check out www.cluedunnitpodcast.com  for y...

Put on your best Maine accent (or your best Received Pronunciation) and return with us to Cabot Cove! We pay homage to a titan of stage and screen, Angela Lansbury, with another Murder, She Wrote classic. MSW always had amazing guest stars, and this episode is no different! Which one of these tidbits is a lie: One guest star has more than 280 IMDB credits; One guest star has more than 320 IMDB cre...

Sometimes the algorithm gets it right! Netflix showed us a preview for this show and we just had to watch it! This historical dramatization of Italy’s first female lawyer is set in 1883 but it out-Americans modern-day crime shows! Sex, murder, a chase — all in the first minute? Way to go Lidia! The computer got it right — does that mean we have a chance, too?  We watched The Law According to Lidia...

In this sidebar episode of Cluedunnit we sit down with writer Sara Saedi. She was in the writers room for iZombie, is currently working on Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, and has a bunch of other interesting credits and stories she shares with us, including the weirdest thing she ever had to look up for a mystery and how the pandemic inspired her latest novel. Enjoy!  Check out www.cluedunnitpo...

BIG NEWS! We’ve always wanted to learn more about the creators behind the shows we watch — and this week we start asking them!  We interviewed iZombie writer Sara Saedi about how she started writing and how the team approached writing cases and love stories in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. We have a little teaser for that interview in this episode ahead of the full interview next week.  Of co...

Trigger warning for midwesterners: In this episode we complain about being cold in California winters. And since it is the middle of winter, it’s time for our annual idyll in southern France! This year we visit sunny Aix-en-Provence — or is it in the middle of Oxfordshire, England? This show has a lot of English folks playing very, very French folks in stories created by a Canadian — and the cogni...