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McMILLAN & WIFE:  Night Train To L.A.
A Train Full Of Suspects  (7 of 10)

Mac and Enright attend a conference, and on the way there, the author of a book revealing police corruption is murdered, leaving an entire train full of suspects—all of whom are cops!

Michael Callan (YOU MUST BE JOKING!) is “Tommy Brown”, the obnoxious author, hated by virtually everyone on the train.  In any typical Agatha Christie murder mystery, he’s the one who gets murdered a half-hour in.  Which is exactly what happens here!

Linda Evans (McCLOUD: Butch Cassidy Rides Again) is “Nicole Avery”, Brown’s secretary and current girlfriend, whose behavior is dodgy to say the least.

Paul Burke (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR) is “Police Chief Wes Walker”.  He joins the train after the murder occurs, and becomes Mac’s 2nd assistant seeking the identity of the killer.

James McEachin (TENAFLY) is “Sgt. Sam Dugan”, a cop who was extremely angry about the tell-all book, and Mac has to tell him to calm down so he won’t keep being the number one suspect.

Murray Matheson (BANACEK) is “Aaron Hildreth”, who owns the train they’re riding on, and is along for the ride in his own private office.

This is yet another NBC Mystery Movie that was painfully padded out much longer than it should have been.  But that’s not the main problem I had with this one.

We’re repeatedly told the train will take “12 hours” to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  HOW is this possible, when it takes less than 6 hours to DRIVE there BY CAR?  (I looked it up!)

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McMILLAN & WIFE:  Love, Honor And Swindle
The Double-Dealing Brother-In-Law  (7 of 10)

Mac’s totally-irresponsible, bossy, globe-hopping mother turns up, because his sister is getting married. But it looks like her fiance is not being honest about who he really is, and much of the story involves two different sets of con men trying to con each other!

David Birney (BRIDGET LOVES BIRNEY) is “Randy Murphy”, who turns out to not be what he pretends.  Mac has him investigated, but even then, it seems something is still not on the up-and-up.

Gretchen Corbett (BANACEK: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t) is “Megan McMillan”, Mac’s younger sister, who early on he refers to as “a child” despite her being 27.

Norman Fell (THREE’S COMPANY) and Vincent Beck (SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS) are “Allan Kovacs” and “Dan Hagstrom”, a pair of high-rolling big business con men, out to con Mac’s future brother-in-law, unaware that he’s simultaneously in the process of conning THEM.

Midred Natwick (THE SNOOP SISTERS) is “Beatrice McMillan”, Mac’s mother, who never listens to anyone but herself, drives Mildred crazy by turning her kitchen into total chaos, still bosses her son around as though he were a little kid, but asks for his help as Police Commissioner when her horrible driving habits net her a well-deserved traffic ticket.

Also in the guest cast are Richard Deacon (THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW), David Spielberg, Liam Dunn (BLAZING SADDLES), and Byron Morrow (CYBORG 2087) and Eric Christmas (THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN).

“Sally” (Susan St. James) is home with her new baby, but is so completely pushed to the side in this story, when someone gets kidnapped, it’s Mac’s sister, rather than his wife.  (And we NEVER see the baby!)