Murphy's Law (American TV series)

Murphy's Law is an American crime drama that starred George Segal and Maggie Han, loosely based on the Trace and Digger novels by Warren Murphy. The opening theme song, which replaced an instrumental by Mike Post, was an edited version of "Murphy's Law," a song featured on the album "High Crime" by Al Jarreau. The series premiered November 2, 1988 on ABC. On March 9, 1989, ABC announced that it had canceled the series and that the final episode would air on March 18, 1989.^[1] The actual final, unaired episode, entitled "All's Wrong That Ends Wrong," resolved a key storyline in the series (recovering alcoholic Murphy was awarded custody of his daughter from his estranged ex-wife) and also served an unsold pilot for a spin-off starring Joan Severance.

Murphy's Law
Genre	Comedy drama
Created by	Lee David Zlotoff, based on characters from the "Trace" and "Digger" novels by Warren Murphy
Written by	Lee David Zlotoff Michael Gleason Lee Goldberg William Rabkin Ernie Wallengren
Starring	George Segal Maggie Han Josh Mostel
Theme music composer	Steve Kipner Paul Bliss Al Jarreau
Opening theme	"Murphy's Law" performed by Al Jarreau
Composer	Jeanette Acosta
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	Zev Braun Leonard Stern Michael Gleason
Producers	Ernie Wallengren Gareth Davies
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Zev Braun Productions Michael Gleason Productions New World Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	November 2, 1988 (1988-11-02) – March 18, 1989 (1989-03-18)

Synopsis

Daedelus Patrick Murphy (Segal) was a recovering alcoholic who worked as an insurance-fraud investigator for First Fidelity Insurance. His unusual methods sometimes led him to clash with office executive Victor Beaudine, though supervisor Wesley Harden often ran interference for Murphy since his methods got results. He lived with girlfriend and fashion model Kimiko Fannuchi (Han), while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter. In the actual final, unaired episode, entitled "All's Wrong That Ends Wrong," Murphy was awarded custody of his daughter from his estranged ex-wife. The episode also served as an unsold pilot for a proposed spin-off starring Joan Severance as an insurance investigator.

Cast

Main

• George Segal as Daedalus Patrick Murphy
• Maggie Han as Kimiko Fannuchi
• Josh Mostel as Wesley Harden
• Sarah Sawatsky as Kathleen Danforth
• Charles Rocket as Victor Beaudine
• Kim Lankford as Marissa Danforth
• Serge Houde as Ed

Guest Stars

• Gerard Christopher
• Will Estes
• Norman Fell
• Clyde Kusatsu
• Patrick Macnee
• Reni Santoni
• Joan Severance
• John Standing
• Julia Sweeney

Episodes

Twelve episodes are registered with the United States Copyright Office.

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"The Room Above the Indian Grocery"	Lee David Zlotoff	Lee David Zlotoff	November 2, 1988 (1988-11-02)	13.4[2]
2	"Where are My Socks and Other Mysteries of Love"	Bill Bixby	Michael Gleason	December 3, 1988 (1988-12-03)	11.4[3]
3	"If You Can't Win, Shoot for a Tie"	Don Weis	Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	December 10, 1988 (1988-12-10)	10.4[4]
4	"Do Someone a Favor and It Becomes Your Job"	Bill Bixby	E.F. Wallengren	December 17, 1988 (1988-12-17)	9.9[5]
5	"Never Play Leapfrog with a Unicorn"	Bruce Seth Green	Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	January 14, 1989 (1989-01-14)	8.7[6]
6	"Never Try to Teach a Pig to Sing"	Charles Correll	Ken Goldstein	January 21, 1989 (1989-01-21)	11.4[7]
7	"Two Wrongs Are Only the Beginning"	Don Weis	Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	January 28, 1989 (1989-01-28)	10.3[8]
8	"Never Wear Earmuffs in a Bed of Rattlesnakes"	Seymour Robbie	Michael Gleason	February 4, 1989 (1989-02-04)	9.1[9]
9	"Where There's a Will, There's a Won't"	Don Weis	Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	February 11, 1989 (1989-02-11)	8.3[10]
10	"When You're Over the Hill, You Pick Up Speed"	Seymour Robbie	E.F. Wallengren	February 18, 1989 (1989-02-18)	9.7[11]
11	"Experience Is Something You Don't Get Until Just After You Need It"	Burt Brinckerhoff	Bill Schmidt	March 11, 1989 (1989-03-11)	7.5[12]
12	"Doing It the Hard Way Is Always Easier"	Bruce Seth Green	Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin	March 18, 1989 (1989-03-18)	8.3[13]
13	"All's Wrong That Ends Wrong"	Burt Brinckerhoff	Michael Gleason & E.F. Wallengren	Unaired	N/A
Unsold pilot for a spin-off starring Joan Severance