As Murder, She Wrote saunters through its sixth (of an eventual 12) season, star Angela Lansbury maintains her eternally buoyant and inquisitive air as Jessica Fletcher, professional writer and amateur sleuth. Though Jessica continued to investigate murders in her home town of Cabot Cove and elsewhere (in the worlds of high finance, opera, and voodoo, among other settings), this season began the practice of guest detective episodes, introduced by Jessica as either a story she wrote or a tale told by a friend, but starring a variety of quirky investigators: An ex-football player (Ken Howard, The White Shadow) paired with a clever poodle; a television crime-show producer who solved crime in real life (Diana Canova, Soap); a stout Irish detective (longtime character actor Pat Hingle); an abrasive homicide cop (Barry Newman, Vanishing Point); as well as recurring Murder, She Wrote characters like former jewel thief Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell) and British secret agent Michael Haggerty (Len Cariou). The producers were obviously hoping to use Murder, She Wrote's popularity to spin-off new series, but nothing from this season took off and viewer resistance soon brought the practice to an end. Executives must have been surprised to discover that, though murder mysteries are plot-driven, this show's success depends heavily on the undeniable charm of star Lansbury. Still, these one-off episodes are of a consistent quality with Lansbury's, and viewers open to variety will enjoy them just as much. The rest of the season features the usual astonishing array of guests, including movie stars old (Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain) and recent (Elliott Gould, The Long Goodbye), television stalwarts (Shirley Jones, The Partridge Family; Jerry Stiller, The King of Queens; Doris Roberts, Everyone Loves Raymond; Kevin Tighe, Battlestar Galactica; and Gavin McLeod, The Love Boat), and D-list celebrities to die for (Dack Rambo, Morgan Brittany, Susan Anton, and more).
弗兰克（伯努瓦·马吉梅尔饰）和他的老朋友们喜欢一起在周末打猎，但某个星期天，他们遇到另一群猎人，这群人毫无理由地开始攻击他们。当他们一行中的一人中枪时，弗兰克的朋友们反击，将一名袭击者击倒。他们勉强逃脱后，四人决定将这件事隐瞒下来。弗兰克试图回归正常生活，与妻子克里斯特尔（梅拉尼·罗兰饰）一起生活，但接下来的几天，他开始感到自己和朋友们似乎被人监视，甚至更糟——那些猎人似乎正在追踪他们，决心复仇。
生逢乱世的古平原（陈晓饰）因蒙受冤屈而遭流放宁古塔，他在夹缝中生存却又逆风翻盘，从文弱书生到茶叶发家、以盐立业，再到团结各地商帮力量联手救国救民，完成了从流犯到商界巨擘的逆袭。在成为“商王”的热血奋斗过程中，古平原与常玉儿（孙千饰）、李钦（罗一舟饰）、常四（成泰燊饰）、李万堂（黄志忠饰）、苏紫轩（李纯饰）、李成（朱亚文饰）、白依梅（向涵之饰）、王天贵（吴樾饰）等人相识，共同塑造出了一群复杂立体、有血有肉的晚清传奇群像。
