Over My Dead Body is an American crime drama that aired on CBS.
Maxwell Beckett (Edward Woodward) is a former Scotland Yard researcher who became a mystery novelist, but by the start of the series his three successful early novels were starting to be overshadowed by his two most recent works having bombed. He is approached by Nikki Page (Jessica Lundy), a young, struggling reporter who writes for the San Francisco Union, and who came to him for help after witnessing a murder through her window and because he was her favorite author. After they solve this mystery, they became fast friends and begin to work together as amateur sleuths to solve crimes.
Over My Dead Body was produced by William Link, the man responsible for Murder, She Wrote, as noticeable by its premise of an aging mystery writer as an amateur sleuth in real life. It premiered on October 26, 1990, but was cancelled after having aired its final regular episode on December 21 of the same year after having aired only nine episodes. However, two leftover episodes were aired in June 1991.
This series features examples of:
- Compressed Hair: In the opening credits of the show, Nikki pulls off a motorcycle helmet to reveal very long and lush hair (seen here
). - Intrepid Reporter: Nikki, the young, struggling reporter for the San Francisco Union who went to Maxwell for help after witnessing a murder through her window and because he was her favorite author.
- Mystery Writer Detective: Maxwell is a mystery novelist who, after being approached by Nikki, becomes friends with her and they begin to work together as amateur sleuths to solve crimes.
- Police Are Useless: The reason why Nikki went to Maxwell with her murder case the first time was because the police ignored her when she reported the murder.
- This Is Reality: When a hotshot detective joins the force, everyone is impressed by his amazing skills cracking crimes. At one point, he takes a look at a photo of a suspect and does a Sherlock Scan on various details about him. Nikki gushes on this to Maxwell...who instantly informs her that the only people who can do that sort of trick exist in fiction, no real detective can tell all that just on a look and the only way the cop can know all this is if he's a Detective Mole.
