‘Magnum P.I.’ Sneak Peek: Did Someone Kill Rita Rudner’s Dog? (VIDEO)
Who would want to kill a French bulldog? It’s up to Higgins (Perdita Weeks) to solve the case in the March 12 episode of Magnum P.I.
Rita Rudner guest stars as Patty Talbot, the dog’s owner who is the one to suspect there’s more to his death than meets the eye. “It was fun,” Rudner tells TV Insider. “When I got the call, I couldn’t believe it because I just released my autobiography, which is called My Life in Dog Years, about how much I love dogs. And sure enough, I got a call to play a woman who loves dogs.”
When we first meet Patty, she’s holding a funeral for her beloved pet, as you can see in our exclusive sneak peek above. “Hank was my heart and soul, but even as we mourn this loss, I take comfort in knowing that his sense of humor, his zest for life, and his love for used socks and all things stinky will live on in our memories. Hank was an inspiration and a loyal friend and without him, life will be quieter and the sun won’t shine as brightly and the moon will not be so moon-y,” Patty says, as Higgins, in attendance, watches.
“I’ve been through that,” Rudner says of her character holding a service for her dog. “I remember one of my dogs passed away and my daughter was about eight years old, and she looked at me and said, ‘Hey mom, are you ever going to stop crying?’ So she was very sympathetic.”
Her character is someone “who takes everything to the nth degree. She loves her dog more than anything in this world. And I think after going through a very, very bitter divorce, the dog becomes even more important to her,” the comedian continues, and we can see that in the clip. “Patty is somebody who feels things very deeply, she wears very big earrings, a lot of lipstick, eye makeup, and bright clothing. So I think that’s an indication of her personality.”
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“Higgins is very sensible,” Rudner says of her character’s interactions with Weeks’. The rest of the sneak peek shows her explaining to Higgins that her dog was her rock (“turns out [he] would outlive our marriage”) and she’s certain he was murdered. Watch the video above to see why.
There are some twists to the case. “Higgins does some very, very skilled detective work, and I can also tell you that it involves me being a bad cook,” Rudner teases.
The actress was thrilled when she got the call for the guest spot, given that Magnum P.I. is her family’s favorite show, one they watch together. “I thought maybe when I do this part on the show that we all love, my daughter will love me a little bit more, so I had an ulterior motive,” she shares with a laugh.
“Everybody on the set was so welcoming,” she says. She filmed her scenes in one day, with Weeks and Amy Hill (who plays Kumu). “We really got to know each other. I got a lot of face time with both Amy and Perdita and Amy and I talked about our daughters together and Perdita is English and my husband is also English. So we had a lot of common bond there.”
While it’s just a one-off appearance for now, Rudner would love to return. “I want to see Patty again, and I call it Magnum Pie,” she says.
Magnum P.I., Sundays, 9/8c, NBC
