MCMILLAN AND WIFE: GUILT BY ASSOCIATION (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramas about San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan, his wife Sally, and the crimes they investigate.

A man sneaks into Mildred’s room at night and attempts to smother her to death with a pillow. She manages to fight him off and runs out in a panic, alerting a nearby policeman. Stewart is informed of the incident the next morning; she is serving jury duty and it is suspected that the attempt on her life was made to prevent her from altering the outcome of the trial. The jurors are moved to a more secure location; the trial concerns a murder supposedly carried out by Luke Johnson, a famous professional football player. The trial continues as the jurors hear arguments from the district attorney attesting to the large amount of evidence against Johnson. Stewart views the police report on the attack on Mildred. Mildred’s absence from the house makes it difficult for Stewart and Sally to maintain their house, particularly in light of Sally’s pregnancy.

The jury finishes hearing arguments from the attorneys and is left alone to deliberate the case. They elect one of their number as their foreman, and they take stock of their opinions on the case. Everyone is in favor of acquitting Johnson except for two jurors, Mildred and a man named Tom Rhine. This incites argument amongst the jury until Mildred proposes that they return to their hotel for the night and resume discussion in the morning. That night, Tom’s stepmother Virginia calls asking to speak to him, explaining that his father has suddenly fallen ill and has been hospitalized. However, the police on duty discover Tom dead in his room, and they believe he has been murdered. Stewart is informed of this and leaves to investigate the matter; Sally accompanies him in order to calm Mildred. Reports indicate that Tom was shot in the back, causing his kidneys to fail. The police are not able to find any signs of forced entry or the murder weapon. Stewart hears a recording of the call Virginia made just before Tom’s body was found. He questions the two officers on duty at the time. Mildred fears for her life and asks to come home, but Stewart cannot release her, as she and the other jurors are empaneled. When Stewart learns that Rhine was one of the only jurors who voted for a guilty verdict, he concludes that either the jury room was bugged or that one of the other jurors is the killer.

Due to the murdered juror, the judge is forced to declare a mistrial, setting a new trial date contingent upon the discovery of the identity of Tom’s murderer. Stewart meets with Johnson and his lawyer, Leon Silver, after the trial lets out. He begs Stewart to solve the case of the murdered juror with all due haste, as he fears that if he is suspended from football any longer it could jeopardize his entire career. Leon claims that he could discern that Tom was going to vote for a guilty verdict by reading his expressions in the courtroom. Johnson believes that the person who murdered Tom and the one who murdered the victim in his own murder case are one and the same. Stewart, however, is not certain of this. At Tom’s funeral, Stewart and Sally meet Virginia and Tom’s father, Tom Rhine Sr., who is semi-catatonic following a series of strokes. Both of them plead with Stewart to solve the murder so as to give them both a measure of solace.

Mildred returns to the house and is eagerly welcomed by Stewart and Sally as she sets about repairing and straightening out the place. Sally reviews the trial transcript and comments on the mention of Andrew Brill, president of Johnson’s football team; he may have had motive to end Johnson’s career, given that Johnson intended to finish his option with his current team before signing with another one. Stewart and Sally speak to Brill during a team practice; he does not disguise his distaste for football players, but admits that he enjoys the wealth and prestige afforded by his position. Stewart interviews Carter Lewis, one of Johnson’s fellow players who was second-string until Johnson’s suspension. Stewart believes that this provides him with sufficient motive to keep Johnson from returning to play; Lewis claims that he did not perpetrate any murders and freely admits that he wishes to have the chance to prove himself, calling Johnson “overrated.”

Sally finds Johnson’s wife, Lena Johnson, at work at a clothing store, and she asks her some questions. She believes that Brill is responsible for everything, as he refused to re-negotiate Johnson’s contract and threatened to “ruin” him. She also says that the incident has been financially devastating, and that she has not spoken to Johnson since the trial began. He is operating under the assumption that she was having an affair with the man he supposedly murdered. She reports this to Stewart, and they decide that the need to speak to Leon in order to determine how his services are being paid for. Leon tells them that most of his legal fees have been paid for by Buddy Stone, the team’s general manager, who has a distaste for Brill but is concerned about his players. Leon is completely confident that he will be able to win the case. Stewart is struck by inspiration and decides to inspect the windows of the hotel the jurors were staying at, believing that they may have been removed in order to allow entry into their rooms without leaving any trace. The detective on the case, Nino Mordanti, posits his own theory about how Tom’s murder was carried out, although Stewart and Sergeant Enright dismiss it.

While inspecting the window, Stewart and Sergeant Enright suffer from a malfunction in their window-washer platform, forcing Stewart to break the window in order to enter the room and avoid plummeting to the ground. They believe that they were deliberately sabotaged, although they are uncertain as to who is responsible. At home, Stewart finds a phone message from Virginia asking to speak with him. He calls her back, and she informs him that her husband has just suffered from another stroke. Stewart asks her to clarify something, and tells Sally that he has noticed a discrepancy in the report of the police guard who answered Virginia’s call on the night Tom was murdered. He and Sergeant Enright question the guard, Jerry, on how he was able to identify Virginia as Tom’s stepmother on the telephone without her explicitly saying so. He explains that he had become friendly with Tom over the course of the trial and learned a great deal about him. Stewart finishes questioning him but is still suspicious, ordering that he be placed under surveillance and that Tom’s body be exhumed for a second autopsy.

That Sunday, Stewart and Sally attend a football game with Brill in his private box, and watch as the team is thoroughly beaten. After the game they question Stone, who is confident that Johnson will be acquitted and will return to the team. He also claims that Johnson has signed a long-term contract with the team, surprising Stewart and Sally. Before they can learn anything more, someone shoots into the box in an attempt to kill one of them. Stewart runs out to find the perpetrator and finds Lewis, although he claims that he did not shoot at them. Stewart inspects his bag and does not find any firearms. Stewart believes that Johnson singing back with the team provides further motivation for Lewis to keep him suspended, but Lewis claims that he was unaware that Johnson had re-negotiated his contract. Jerry disappears from surveillance, and Stewart believes he may have fired into the box, going about in search of him. The revised autopsy reveals that Tom was actually killed via ingestion of a toxic mushroom, suggesting that his dinner was poisoned. Immediately thereafter, Stewart learns that Jerry has been hospitalized, suffering from several bullet wounds, and he is unlikely to live.

Stewart speaks with one of the football team’s board of directors members, confirming Brill’s assertion that the board has been unable to get rid of him due to infighting amongst them. He reveals that the contract Johnson signed with the team was contingent upon Brill’s removal as president of the team. Stewart and Sergeant Enright search Stone’s house and find a hidden wall safe containing what appears to be the gun used to kill the man Johnson is accused of murdering. They go down to the football field in order to arrest Stone. Stewart posits that Stone’s plan was for him to frame Johnson in order to get the board of directors to oust Brill in exchange for him ensuring Johnson’s return on a long-term basis. He then offered to pay Johnson’s legal fees in exchange for re-signing with the team. Stone argues against this, but soon admits to killing the man in the murder case. However, he denies responsibility for Tom’s death and accuses Brill of being responsible, claiming that he did so in order to cause a mistrial and maintain his job. Stewart has Stone arrested, but leaves Brill be for the time being.

A comment by Mildred about her indecision in the verdict concerning Johnson provides Stewart with a much-needed piece of evidence, which he believes allows him to determine the identity of Tom’s killer. He visits Virginia and tells her that Jerry is the one who killed Tom via poison. He accuses her of being the one who ordered Jerry to carry out the murder; he believes that she wanted both her husband and stepson dead so that she would be the only remaining heir to Tom Sr.’s vast fortune. Furthermore, she decided to do so during the trial in order to make it seem as though figures connected with the murder case were responsible. He also believes that she seduced Jerry into assisting her and attempted to kill him when he was of no more use to her. She pulls a gun on Stewart and threatens him, but he points out that the police are on their way and that it be useless to kill him. Later, Stewart details how the murder was committed to Sally: Jerry secretly added the poison mushrooms to Tom’s dinner, “found” his dead body several hours later, and then shot him in the back with a silenced pistol while alone with him in order to fool the police. Jerry dies in the hospital before he can regain consciousness. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: May 6, 1982 8:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:36:06
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:33917
• GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
• SUBJECT HEADING: TV - Drama, police/private detective
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1971-1977
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Leonard B. Stern … Executive Producer, Created by
• Jon Epstein … Producer
• Harry Falk … Director
• Steven Bochco … Writer
• Jerry Fielding … Music by
• Henry Mancini … Theme Music by
• Rock Hudson … Cast, Commissioner Stewart McMillan
• Susan Saint James … Cast, Sally McMillan
• John Schuck … Cast, Sergeant Charles Enright
• Nancy Walker … Cast, Mildred
• Susan Strasberg … Cast, Virginia Rhine
• David Soul … Cast, Jerry
• Pat Harrington … Cast, Nino Mordanti
• John Randolph … Cast, Andrew Brill
• Paul Stevens … Cast, Buddy Stone
• Felton Perry … Cast, Carter Lewis
• Dennis Patrick … Cast, Leon Silver
• Bernie Kopell … Cast, Bernini Mussolino
• Gene A. Washington … Cast, Luke Johnson
• Dick Butkus … Cast, Coach
• Logan Ramsey … Cast, Coroner
• Walter Brooke … Cast, D.A. Chapman
• Phil Leeds … Cast, Mr. Perl
• George Gaynes … Cast, Burton Rhoner
• Tracy Reed … Cast, Lena Johnson
• Bill Quinn … Cast, Judge Freeman
• Peter Brocco … Cast, Tom Rhine, Sr.
• Burt Douglas … Cast, Tom Rhine, Jr.
• Gordon DeVol … Cast, Mike