Jessica is scandalized when she realizes that the upcoming movie The Corpse Danced at Midnight is a sex-saturated, gory horror film entirely separate from her novel. She flies to Hollywood to protest the picture, but the situation quickly takes a turn for the worse when the producer, Jerry Lydecker, turns up dead on the set.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Decay: Jessica's mystery novel got turned into a sexy slasher film when Lydecker muscled his way onto the project, to the dismay of not only Jessica, but also the screenwriter, who protested the changes and got fired. As it turns out, Lydecker only bought the rights because he wanted to use the name.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Jerry was killed by being struck on the head with a large metal urn.
- Casting Couch: In-Universe; Lydecker was forcing Eve Crystal, the female lead, into a relationship with him for career benefits and lost his temper when it became clear she was falling for her costar. He intended to cut the young man from the production and Eve killed him during a fight they had.
- Gender Flip: One of the characters in Jessica's novel was changed from a pre-adolescent boy to a teenage girl to give the movie some sexy moments.
- He Really Can Act: In-Universe; Jessica was temporarily thrown by Eve's drunk act upon their first meeting and tells her later that she gets less credit than she deserves as an actress.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Neither of Eve Crystal's boyfriends are willing to do much for her. She lampshades it at the end of the episode, lamenting that she knows how to pick them.
- Improvised Weapon: The murder weapon was a metal urn.
- In Name Only: The Corpse Danced at Midnight doesn't resemble Jessica's novel much at all. In fact, the producer explicitly admits that he chose the story only for its name.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Eve didn't want to be a movie star, but she was so in love with Jerry Lydecker that she'd do anything he asked. It didn't work out well for her.
- Less Disturbing in Context: In-Universe. The first line of the episode has Jessica deciding she's going to use a bayonet after all instead of another weapon she had briefly considered...in her story, of course.
- Mistaken for Murderer:
- Lydecker's secretary was present when Jessica told Lydecker she'd do whatever it took to stop him from making the movie, and heard her say later that what she had to do (that is, apologize) needed to be done in person. She later accuses Jessica of murder.
- After Ross Hayley is proven to have taken the gold button from the scene of Lydecker's death, he's arrested for murder, but Jessica realizes the button actually comes from a costume Eve borrowed.
- Must Make Amends: After losing her temper at Lydecker only to discover later that she was wrong, Jessica decides she needs to find him and apologize in person—which is how she finds his body.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: Jessica reveals that the "B" stands for "Beatrice."
- Not What It Looks Like: Jessica understandably hates what Lydecker has done to her work, and promises to fight him. However, after learning she legally did sign away the rights to prevent the film, she goes to apologize, telling the secretary that she must settle her business with the producer in person. Unfortunately, that happens to be the day Lydecker turns up dead, temporarily making Jessica a suspect.
- Read the Fine Print: Jessica did not do this with her initial publishing contract, which means she unknowingly signed away any right she had to interfere with an adaptation of her work. Naturally, she kicks herself for this when she finds out.
- Shout-Out: The title refers to the song "Hooray for Hollywood."
- The Show Must Go On: Ross Hayley, the director and (after Lydecker's death) producer of The Corpse Danced at Midnight, needed to finish the movie and make its debut a success no matter what because he had heavy debts to pay. That's why he stole the gold button from the scene of Lydecker's death and wiped the fingerprints off the murder weapon—because it pointed to Eve as the murderer and he needed her to finish the movie.
- Take That!: The episode does not have very nice things to say about 80's slasher movies or book-to-film adaptations.
