McBride: Tune in for Murder

The Hallmark mystery series needs better mysteries. This one, "Tune in for Murder" in the McBride series is rotten. I mean, the evidence -hello. So obviously fake.

John Laroquette is delightful as McBride, and I think he does a bit of ad-libbing as well, but this sort of thing is beneath him. It's definitely for the Perry Mason crowd and might be entertaining if they could spiff up the script some.

In this episode, a shock jock hated by all is murdered, and his nice guy partner is accused. McBride is brought in as the defense attorney for what his some time girlfriend, a homicide investigator portrayed nicely by Marta Dubois, claims is a slam-dunk case. She's got some nerve. McBride, of course, discovers plenty that the police missed.

Other episodes in the McBride series have been better. There is a nice device where, while someone is relating a past situation pertaining to the murder, McBride actually appears in the reliving, asking questions.

Unlike "Mystery Woman," the pace of McBride is okay, but if I were Laroquette, I'd ask for tighter scripts. I don't care how desperate a D.A. is for a conviction - even they wouldn't have accepted this evidence as the real thing.

We are fans of the McBride show which is very entertaining indeed. We appreciate the quality of the actors and the scripts. However, we must confess that this tuneless "musical" background that goes on and on and on during the show and is usually louder than the characters' voices gets so annoying that we need to change channels after a while. Our attention keeps getting attracted to that sound whereas we should concentrate on the script. We have tried to get accustomed to it to no avail and we decided that we should inform you about this. We understand that music is a complement to a movie or a show but when it does become overwhelming to a point that the only thing you hear are those loud discordant sounds, we thought of sending this comment to the director of the show through you. If we recall correctly, it seems we did watch McBride some time ago with real pleasure when this background was not used. Thank you for your attention.

Laroquette is always worth watching, even in what I consider to be the worst McBride episode of all, but what is really aggravating is the monotonous "music" that is playing so loud during some of the scenes that I have to strain to hear the dialogue. Moreover, this two note theme is a direct steal from Thomas Newman's soundtrack to AMERICAN BEAUTY; if I were Newman, I would sue Ewan Johns, the "composer" for the McBride series. The only reason I gave it three stars was for LaRoquette.

Like the series... But the monotinous background music is extremely annoying. I've recorded each show during a marathon& am hoping the others didn't add in the obnoxious music. I finished watching Tune In For Murder but could only solve the mystery of why my ears felt tortured.