Mild-mannered mystery writer D. H. Mercer has become so immersed in his material that his creation, hard-boiled private eye Biff Deegan, constantly appears to him as a hallucination. Intent on getting rid of Biff, and replacing him with a more civilized detective, Mercer soon finds himself in a genuine mystery involving art fraud, murder, and a beautiful lady in peril.
Acting
Robert Hays doing two characters, one with disastrous trenchcoat energy.
Costume
Biff Deegan's fedora deserves its own credit and possibly therapy.
Director
Mel Damski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This aired on CBS as part of their late-80s push for quirky TV movies that barely anyone remembers, including the network itself.
The 'writer vs. creation' trope peaked here before Adaptation and The Singing Detective made it respectable; this is the scrappy VHS ancestor.
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