| Genre: | Comedy |
| Director: | Roger Duchowny |
| Starring: | Tony Danza Burt Young Jamie Farr John Byner Gavin MacLeod Victor Buono Jimmie Walker Buck Owens Connie Stevens |
| Music: | Artie Kane |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Executive Producer: | Douglas S. Cramer Aaron Spelling |
| Producer: | Shelley Hull Robert L. Jacks E. Duke Vincent |
| Editor: | John F. Schreyer |
| Cinematography: | Archie R. Dalzell |
| Runtime: | 100 min. |
| Company: | Aaron Spelling Productions |
| Network: | ABC |
Murder Can Hurt You (stylized onscreen as Murder Can Hurt You!) is a 1980 American made-for-television comedy film that parodies detective and police TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s, much as Murder by Death spoofed literary detectives.[1] The film was directed by Roger Duchowny.[2]
A mysterious "Man in White" is out to kill famous detectives in bizarre ways, and the heroes are obvious parodies of Kojak, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, Ironside, Police Woman, Columbo, Mrs. Columbo, and McCloud.[1]
The movie starts with the Man In White killing Lambretta, after which Lt. Nojack calls a meeting of all the best detectives in the city. During this meeting the man in white threatens to kill them all, locks them in their meeting room, and sets a bomb to kill them all while he makes his escape.
The Aaron Spelling Productions logo at the end pays homage to Mark VII Limited, using a hammer and stamp.
| Actor | Character | Sends up: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Adams (voice only) | Narrator | -- | |
| Detective Starkos | Detective Stavros | ||
| Mel Blanc (voice only)[3] | Chickie Baby | -- | |
| Ironbottom | former Chief of Detectives Robert Ironside | ||
| Hatch | Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson | ||
| Pony Lambretta | Tony Baretta | ||
| Studsky | David Starsky | ||
| Mitchell Kreindel | The Man in White | -- | |
| Nojack | Lieutenant Theo Kojak | ||
| MacSkye | Marshal Samuel McCloud | ||
| Salty Sanderson | Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson | ||
| Mrs. Palumbo | Mrs. Columbo | ||
| Parks the Pusher | Mark Sanger | ||
| Lieutenant Palumbo | Lieutenant Columbo |