The Snoop Sisters
November 20, 2021 12:10 PM Subscribe
Ernesta and Gwendolyn Snoop, two famous mystery writers, one a widow, the other a spinster, turn detective to solve mysterious mysteries. A pilot and four 90 minute episodes were produced for NBC's Wednesday Mystery Movie rotation series between 1972 and 1974, featuring silver screen stars Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick.
Three of the five produced episodes have shown up online:
The pilot, Female Instinct, aired on 12/18/72. Featuring Art Carney, Jill Clayburgh, Paulette Goddard, Craig Stevens, Fritz Weaver, Ed Platt , Charlie Callas, Ed Flanders and Bill Dana.
Corpse and Robbers , which aired on 12/19/73. Featuring Geraldine Page, Sam Jaffe, Victor Buono , Lou Antonio, Bert Convy, and Neva Patterson.
Black Day For Bluebeard, which aired on March 19, 1974. Featuring Vincent Price, Tammy Grimes, Roddy McDowall, Mort Sahl , Katherine Helmond , William Devane , Lou Antonio , Bert Convy and David Huddleston.
Bonus clip, Alice Cooper from the 3rd episode, The Devil Made Me Do It! (broadcast March 5th 1974)
Hayes and Natwick had previously appeared together along with Sylvia Sidney and Myrna Loy in 1971 on the ABC network TV movie Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, in which four elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands get the idea to create a fictional "girl" for a computer dating service. However, things take a turn for the worse when their description of the "girl" attracts a psychopath.
Three of the five produced episodes have shown up online:
The pilot, Female Instinct, aired on 12/18/72. Featuring Art Carney, Jill Clayburgh, Paulette Goddard, Craig Stevens, Fritz Weaver, Ed Platt , Charlie Callas, Ed Flanders and Bill Dana.
Corpse and Robbers , which aired on 12/19/73. Featuring Geraldine Page, Sam Jaffe, Victor Buono , Lou Antonio, Bert Convy, and Neva Patterson.
Black Day For Bluebeard, which aired on March 19, 1974. Featuring Vincent Price, Tammy Grimes, Roddy McDowall, Mort Sahl , Katherine Helmond , William Devane , Lou Antonio , Bert Convy and David Huddleston.
Bonus clip, Alice Cooper from the 3rd episode, The Devil Made Me Do It! (broadcast March 5th 1974)
Hayes and Natwick had previously appeared together along with Sylvia Sidney and Myrna Loy in 1971 on the ABC network TV movie Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, in which four elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands get the idea to create a fictional "girl" for a computer dating service. However, things take a turn for the worse when their description of the "girl" attracts a psychopath.
The Alice Cooper episode was broadcast. I remember watching it.
posted by evilDoug at 12:57 PM on November 20, 2021
posted by evilDoug at 12:57 PM on November 20, 2021
Whew...
Guess I didn't see the full post. Was worried I was losing my mind...
posted by Windopaene at 1:40 PM on November 20, 2021
Guess I didn't see the full post. Was worried I was losing my mind...
posted by Windopaene at 1:40 PM on November 20, 2021
They are out on dvd, I believe. (5 episodes total.)
I really want to see the fake movie they are watching in the Vincent Price episode.
posted by Catblack at 1:50 PM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I really want to see the fake movie they are watching in the Vincent Price episode.
posted by Catblack at 1:50 PM on November 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
In a medium which has had a extremely long history of "Well, I've never heard of the guy, but the kids seem to like him, so let's have him on, and see if it ups the ratings", Alice Cooper on The Snoop Sisters may be the ultimate example.
posted by dannyboybell at 3:02 PM on November 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by dannyboybell at 3:02 PM on November 20, 2021 [3 favorites]
This explains a whole bunch of references in MST3K that I never understood before! The Snoop Sisters get namechecked in “Eegah!”, and Mildred Natwick is repeatedly used in riffs.
posted by amk at 6:07 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by amk at 6:07 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Catblack, this is delightful! Thank you!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:02 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:02 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh my god, I loved this show and waited for years and years for it to show up somewhere so I could see it again, but it never did, so eventually it disappeared into the closet in my brain where every once in a while I’d think about it but never look. Mildred Natwick has always been a fave of mine, I think because of this show.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 9:49 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by kitten kaboodle at 9:49 PM on November 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Natwick was queer, and some of this is strongly queerly coded, they could almost be lovers instead of sisters.
posted by PinkMoose at 9:56 PM on November 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by PinkMoose at 9:56 PM on November 20, 2021 [4 favorites]
Natwick was queer, and some of this is strongly queerly coded, they could almost be lovers instead of sisters.
If only! I watched the Vincent Price episode, and it is mid-70s TV cheese, but lots of arch performances and the show really needed a queer text to pull it all together. I especially liked the bare chested sextet with the silver masks who got the coffin out of the hearse. They could have been so much more! Plus our heroines dressing as the Monster and the Bride….
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:28 PM on November 21, 2021
If only! I watched the Vincent Price episode, and it is mid-70s TV cheese, but lots of arch performances and the show really needed a queer text to pull it all together. I especially liked the bare chested sextet with the silver masks who got the coffin out of the hearse. They could have been so much more! Plus our heroines dressing as the Monster and the Bride….
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:28 PM on November 21, 2021
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posted by Windopaene at 12:41 PM on November 20, 2021