To Live and Die on TV - Recap

Bob Kenny, the host of The Million Dollar Question, meets with returning contestant Mel Jordan, who has won thirteen questions in a row. Hammer is watching at home as Kenny gives Mel the question, and successfully answers it for a new car. The next day Mel will be going for the million dollar prize on live TV. At the station, everyone is discussing the show and the fact no one has ever got to the million dollar question. Hammer is less than enthused about the idle chatter. Doreau points out that game shows are a popular form of entertainment but Hammer isn't impressed. Trunk sends them to investigate an automobile accident where the car went off a pier with a corpse inside. Doreau refuses to go until Hammer stops complaining about game shows and he reluctantly agrees.



The partners arrive at the pier where Mayjoy informs them that the man was drinking when he died, and had a wife. They bring the car out of the river: it has a yellow ribbon on it and Hammer recognizes it from the game show. They identify him as Mel Jordan from the game show and Hammer notes that Jordan didn't seem particularly pressured by his win. They go to see Jordan's widow and after Hammer breaks the news, After they realize they're at the wrong house, they finally get to Mrs. Jordan who is surrounded by her husband's prizes and assures them he wasn't a drinker. He had called to tell her he was coming directly home to study. After accepting one of the prizes from the widow, Hammer leaves with Doreau and they decide to go talk to Kenny at the studio.



On the game show, Kenny calls for a moment of silence and then brings in a new contestant. The stage manager, Pinski, tries to hold them off but Kenny is glad to talk to them and tells Pinski to get lost. Kenny claims Jordan said he was going to drink after the show. He goes to meet the president of the station, a teenager, and Doreau wonders if Jordan really did drink and drive. Hammer doesn't buy it and calls the coroner, who confirms Jordan died of a blow to the head and had no alcohol in his blood. Doreau checks the newspaper clippings and finds an article on Kenny saying he had gambling debts and filed for bankruptcy. They were paid off six months ago and Hammer figures Kenny embezzled the prize money and stops anyone from winning to cover his crime. Hammer goes to talk to Kenny who denies anything. The inspector asks to be on the show and Kenny is initially skeptical, but takes an interest when Hammer seems stupid. Kenny admits to Pinski afterward that he plans to discredit Hammer on the game show. Pinski admits he's scared and he killed Jordan for Kenny, but Kenny orders him to fall into line.



Hammer tells Doreau his plan, and wants her to supply him with answers via a hidden radio. Doreau goes to the library to provide Hammer's answers while watching the game show on TV. Hammer goes on the air and works his way up on the show, much to Kenny's astonishment. Sledge earns the right to go for the million dollar question and they go to commercial break. Pinski panics but Kenny informs him there'll be another accident during the show. He orders Pinski to drop a spotlight on Hammer and then slaps Hammer on the shoulder, unwittingly knocking the hidden transmitter out and then stepping on it. Doreau heads for the studio while Trunk sees Hammer on the TV. She arrives just in time to spot Pinski loosening the spotlight. Hammer gets out of the way and then goes for Kenny while Doreau arrests Pinski, who confesses. Kelly grabs a security guard's gun and runs through the building. They go through a cooking set, a romance on an ocean liner, and a puppet theater. Finally Kenny runs out of bullets on a news broadcast and Hammer breaks the news on live television.



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