Tough Guys Don't Die

Season 1, Episode 16, Aired
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Episode Summary

Archie Miles, a private investigator Jessica had hired to research an old murder case, is shot to death in his office. His partner, a hard-boiled detective named Harry McGraw, is determined to find the killer and exact his own justice. Harry teams up with Jessica to see if her case got the man killed. Along the way, a strong partnership and friendship develops between the two sleuths.moreless
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  • Jessica Fletcher and Harry McGraw meet for the first time.

    8.9
    "Great"
    By MissGreenPlum, Jan 27, 2008 Report Abuse
    Archie Miles is shot to death late at night in his office while working on a case of Jessica's. His partner Harry McGraw later tells Jessica of the murder after she catches him searching around her house, saying he was "blown apart" by an unknown assailant. And so their first case begins, launching them into a sea of secrets and interesting people, including a magazine editor (Barbara Babcock) and her ex-husband-now-good-friend (John McMartin). Episode highlights include Harry adopting a Texan accent posing as the president of a swimwear company and Harry getting cornered and beaten by Alex Rocco's men for following them. As you can see, Harry McGraw is a standout supporting character. Harry would make a few more appearances and even get his own short-lived spinoff. The next episode he's in "One Good Bid Deserves a Murder", he slips Jessica a mickey to make copies of a dead sex symbol's diary to offer to the suspects to further the case, and according to the start of his second appearance, he was found in an alley beaten up and unconscious prior to his arrival at the police station. This is a great episode to start off the run of Jerry Orbach before he was Lennie Briscoe. My favorite Harry line is from one of his later appearances. It's not the exact line, but very close: "This guy from Queens, pays more for coffee than he does his rent."moreless

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  • Trivia

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    • When Jessica Fletcher goes to Harry McGraw office for the first time, she leaves behind her files on the desk. When leaving, she only takes the detectives notes with her, not her files. Edit

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    • Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury would go on to provide the voices on the 1991 Walt Disney animated movie Beauty And The Beast as Mrs. Potts and Lumiere.

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    • Much of this episode seems to be based on the film and novel The Maltese Falcon, in which a private eye tries to solve the murder of his partner. In the movie, the murdered detective is named Miles Archer. In this episode, Harry McGraw's partner is named "Archie Miles." Harry's speech about a man having to do something when his partner is killed echoes a speech Sam Spade gives in The Maltese Falcon. Edit

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