Murder Live!

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Murder Live!
Murder Live.jpg
DVD cover
Written byChris Bertolet
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode
Starring
Music by Gary Chang
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers
  • Randy Sutter
  • Karen Moore
CinematographyJeffrey Jur
Editor Dominique Fortin
Running time96 minutes
Production companies
Original release
ReleaseMarch 9, 1997 (1997-03-09)

Murder Live! is a 1997 American television film written by Chris Bertolet and directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Marg Helgenberger stars as Pia Postman, a television presenter who hosts a self-titled tabloid talk show. David Morse stars as Frank McGrath, a man who holds Postman hostage after his daughter suffered embarrassment due to a prior guest appearance on the show.

Contents

Plot

Pia Postman (Helgenberger) hosts a self-titled tabloid talk show, a program grieving father Frank McGrath (Morse) takes offense to after his daughter commits suicide as a direct result of being humiliated on the show. He then disguises himself as a member of the audience during a live episode of the show, and takes Postman hostage wearing a bomb jacket, threatening to kill himself, Postman, and the audience if the police intervene. [1]

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by the murder of Scott Amedure, a guest who was killed three days after he appeared on an episode of The Jenny Jones Show . [2]

Critical reception

Ray Richmond of Variety believed the film was "a roundly entertaining, smartly constructed piece of filmmaking", although he also claimed it was "over-the-top for its own good". [3] Tom Shales of The Washington Post criticized the film as "preachy and ponderous". [4] Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times claimed the film was just as exploitative as the tabloid talk shows it intended to criticize. [5] John J. O'Connor of The New York Times believed the film had a strong message against the tabloid talk show genre, and he praised Marg Helgenberger's leading performance. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Scanner – A Weekly Guide to TV. page 4.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Hevrdejs, Judy; Conklin, Mike (October 24, 1996). "TV Newsroom Post Brings Chicago Native Home". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  3. ↑ Richmond, Ray (March 5, 1997). "Murder Live!". Variety . Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  4. ↑ Shales, Tom (March 8, 1997). "'Murder': Killing Time". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  5. ↑ Rosenberg, Howard (March 8, 1997). "'Murder Live!' Takes on Tabloid Television Vices". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  6. ↑ O'Connor, John J. (March 7, 1997). "This Talk Show Guest Is Murder". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2024.


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