McMillan & Wife (TV Series) Death Is a Seven Point Favorite (1971) User Reviews

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[edwagreen · 7/10 · 5 April 2016]

What happened to Nancy Walker's Mildred in this episode? She admitted she was betting and was never seen again. Why?

Since McMillan is always out in the field, how come he doesn't carry a gun? After all, he played the commissioner on the show.

This episode dealt with sports betting in the area of football. A quarterback is befriended by McMillan and his wife; even though, he might be a participant in the gambling ring.

A $75,000 bet was made and the bettor seems to be willing to resort to killing to win the bet. The bodies begin to pile up as Mac and his wife fully investigate.

Loved John Schuck's hairdo in the episode when he gets a haircut by a suspected member of the gambling ring.

A Seven Point Favorite Episode!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 1 January 2019]

San Francisco Police Commissioner MacMillan and wife, Sally, get involved in a football scheme with gambling, guns and murder. The episode is okay but not one of my favorite among the series. I'm not much of a football fan to begin with. I do enjoy seeing Peter Bonerz playing a barber. John Schuck was terrific as the commissioner's assistant. Instead of the 49ers, there are the Hawks.

The Football Betting Murder Case

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 9 January 2024]

Mac & Sally befriend football quarterback Billy Benton, who made a pass at her before learning she was married. But soon a young "gofer" at the stadium is mysteriously murdered, and the investigation suggests illegal football betting was involved, especially when it's learned someone placed a $75,000 bet against the team. Bodies start piling up before Mac figures out which of multiple suspects might be behind it all, and it climaxes when the killer tries to murder both Mac & Sally at the empty stadium!

I'll admit, I'm not big into sports, especially football, yet even I could follow what was going on during scenes when the teams were playing. This was John Astin's 2nd time directing a M&W story, and I've seen enough of his work to know he was every bit as good a director as he was an actor! The guest cast includes Jackie Coogan, who Astin worked with on THE ADDAMS FAMILY.

Don Stroud (COOGAN'S BLUFF, JOE KIDD, MIKE HAMMER, LICENSE TO KILL) is "Billy Benton", who is either the top suspect or someone the real killer is trying to frame. Sally's faith in him inspires Mac to believe in him as well, and the growing friendship between the three is rather heart-warming.

John Anderson (who had a long career, mostly in westerns) is "Sandy King", the sports commentator who seems to be around too often when bad things happen.

Andrew Duggan (51 episodes of LANCER) is team owner "Harlan Royce", who acts as a weird sort of comic relief when he keeps asking for a cigarette despite his insistence that he's trying to quit.

Peter Bonerz (THE BOB NEWHART SHOW) is a rather pushy hair-stylist (DON'T call him a "barber"!) who aggressively gives Sgt. Enright a "make-over" that winds up having him resemble a pudgy John Kennedy!

Once again, for a Police Commissioner, Stuart McMillan gets into more action, more scrapes, more running and fighting and shooting than it seems a normal Police Commissioner ever should (certainly, BATMAN's Jim Gordon would never do all this stuff). Meanwhile, it struck me that between her hairdo, and nearly every one of the outfits she wore in this story, that Sally DOESN'T look at all like she did in every previous episode to this point. It's not until the final scene when we see her wearing a football jersey (in bed, where else?) that I could be sure it was the same Sally. I have to keep saying it. I just think she's ADORABLE.

The point spread

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 23 October 2015]

Commissioner Stuart McMillan takes on an interesting case as a young kid who acted as a gofer for star quarterback Don Stroud of the fictional San Francisco Hawks winds up dead. Who would possibly want to kill this kid, but he's got a new motorcycle which is a nice ride for someone living on chump change.

Despite a few unsuccessful passes at Sally McMillan, Rock Hudson does take a personal interest in this murder actually hoping that the star quarterback Stroud is not guilty. He's not lacking any suspects either with this cast. It also turns out the kid was taking bets for a bookie who doubles as a hairdresser.

In the end an attempted poisoning that Susan St.James accidentally uncovers at the cost of the team's two real live hawk mascots is what tells the tale. Not a bad episode, but far from the best.

This Episode is only worth 3 points

[michaelgibsontv · 5/10 · 5 July 2015]

Many familiar faces from the character actor world of television. Andrew Duggan is in this episode as is Jackie Coogan. Don Stroud who was a TV and movie actor turns in a low key performance which is unusual for him. It was nice to see the old Kezar stadium as police try to figure out who is behind a large bet against the San Francisco Hawks. It may be the star quarterback, the team president or anyone else on the team. Peter Bonerz, who was the dentist on the Bob Newhart Show plays a hair dresser who is also a bookie. The whole show is slow right up until the middle. It should have been much better directed and acted. It might have been interesting to have Stroud hit on Sally a bit harder and more often. It's an average episode and if you have nothing else to do, then watch.