The Snoop Sisters

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The Snoop Sisters
The Snoop Sisters title card
Created byAlan Shayne
StarringHelen Hayes
Mildred Natwick
Lou Antonio
Art Carney (Pilot)
Bert Convy
Lawrence Pressman (Pilot)
Opening themeJerry Fielding
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4 (+ 1 TV movie)
Production
Executive producerLeonard B. Stern
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time90 min.
Production companiesTalent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc.
Universal Television
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 19, 1973 (1973-12-19) –
March 19, 1974 (1974-03-19)
Related
NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie

The Snoop Sisters is an American comedy-mystery television show that aired on NBC during the 1973–1974 season, airing on a monthly rotation (referred to as a "wheel") as part of the NBC Tuesday Mystery Movie, sharing the timeslot with Banacek, Tenafly, and Faraday and Company.

The show stars Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two elderly sisters, Ernesta Snoop and Gwendolyn Snoop Nicholson, who routinely stumbled across mysteries, which they solve. The series followed the 1971 ABC television movie Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate, which also starred Hayes and Natwick working together as amateur sleuths, along with Myrna Loy and Sylvia Sidney. A pilot for the series, also titled The Snoop Sisters, but later retitled "The Female Instinct", aired on December 16, 1972, on NBC.

Guest stars during the series' brief run include Joan Blondell, Jill Clayburgh, Alice Cooper, Bo Svenson, William Devane, Tammy Grimes, George Maharis, Roddy McDowall, Eve McVeagh, Geraldine Page, Walter Pidgeon, Vincent Price, Fritz Weaver and, in her final screen appearance, Paulette Goddard.

Synopsis[edit]

Predating Murder, She Wrote, Ernesta was a mystery novelist, while her widowed sister Gwendolyn (known as "G") wrote the stories from Ernesta's dictation. G was also a writer, but of poetry, having had one book of poetry published. Her late husband was named George, and G fancied he resembled Melvyn Douglas. The sisters lived in a townhouse on Gramercy Park in New York City and traveled in a 1920s Lincoln sedan.[1] They were assisted in their investigations by Barney, their chauffeur and caretaker, played by Art Carney in the pilot and Lou Antonio in the series, and somewhat reluctantly by their nephew, NYPD Lieutenant Ostrowski, played by Lawrence Pressman in the pilot and Bert Convy in the series.

Cast[edit]

Episode list[edit]

Title Directed by: Written by: Air date
0"The Female Instinct"Leonard B. SternAlan Sharp,
Leonard B. Stern,
Hugh Wheeler
December 18, 1972 (1972-12-18)
Series pilot: A spinster and her widowed sister, who are both mystery writers, try to track down the killer of a former movie star.
1"Corpse and Robbers"Leonard HornDon Ingalls,
Leonard B. Stern
December 19, 1973 (1973-12-19)
Ernesta receives a telephone call from an old gentleman friend — surprising, since he has been dead for months.
2"Fear Is a Free-Throw"Boris SagalDorothy HeraldJanuary 29, 1974 (1974-01-29)
Gwendolyn is the prime suspect after a basketball star is poisoned by an antacid tablet she gave him.
3"The Devil Made Me Do It!"Leonard HornTony Barrett
Robert Foster
March 5, 1974 (1974-03-05)
The Snoop sisters uncover a Satanic cult when they endeavor to unravel the murder of an airline passenger.
4"A Black Day for Bluebeard"David FriedkinTony Barrett
Jackson Gillis
March 19, 1974 (1974-03-19)
Vincent Price guest-stars as a washed-up horror movie star suspected of murdering his wealthy wife.

Reception[edit]

Both Natwick and Hayes were nominated for Emmy Awards for their work on the program. Natwick won.

DVD releases[edit]

Visual Entertainment released The Snoop Sisters: The Complete Series on DVD in Canada on March 15, 2011;[2] and in the U.S. on June 7, 2011.[3] Madman Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Australia (Region 4) on March 16, 2011.[4]

DVD name Release dates
Region 1 (U.S.) Region 1 (Can.) Region 4 (Aus.)
The Snoop Sisters: The Complete Series June 7, 2011 March 15, 2011 March 16, 2011

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The NBC Mystery Movies: The Cars of Columbo, Banacek…and The Snoop Sisters". The Daily Drive. 5 July 2016.
  2. ^ "The Snoop Sisters DVD news: Announcement for The Snoop Sisters – The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  3. ^ "The Snoop Sisters DVD news: Release Date for The Snoop Sisters – The Complete Series in the USA". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  4. ^ "Snoop Sisters, The – The Complete Series (3 Disc Set)". Ezydvd.com.au. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2011-09-21.

External links[edit]