Murder, She Wrote
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Debuting September 30, 1984, Murder, She Wrote, TV's longest-running mystery series, might never have come about had producers Richard Levinson and William Link enjoyed a success with their 1975 TV weekly Ellery Queen. That particular series folded after a single episode, but Levinson and Link were still committed to the concept of a best-selling murder-mystery novelist who solved real murders when not at the typewriter. By changing the gender of their protagonist from male to female, and transforming the character from a good-looking, absentminded young pedant to a middle-aged, down-to-earth widow, the producers were able to parlay their "mystery writer/amateur detective" premise into a 12-year hit for CBS. Angela Lansbury starred as Jessica Fletcher, who after being widowed in her early fifties achieved success as a mystery writer. Despite fame and fortune, Jessica remained a resident of Cabot Cove, a cozy coastal town in Maine, and maintained her links with all of her old friends, never letting the popularity of her novels go to her head. Jessica's one eccentricity was an insatiable curiosity, especially whenever murder reared its ugly head. Funny thing, but no matter where Jessica went (and she traveled all over the world, often as a lecturer on criminology and creative writing), a murder seemed to occur. The "official" police were almost always willing to slap the cuffs on the most likely suspect, but Jessica invariably felt that the so-called guilty party wasn't. Carefully and methodically piecing the clues together, gently but firmly asking questions that no else had asked, and refusing to give up her investigation despite warnings to do so, Jessica always managed to trap the guilty party -- who, given the series' "special guest star" policy, was often played by a famous film or TV personality.
While Angela Lansbury was the series' only true regular, several other characters made recurring appearances, notably her Cabot Cove friends Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley) (later replaced by Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger) and crusty general practitioner Dr. Seth Hazlitt (William Windom). During the series' eighth season, Jessica accepted a full-time teaching job in New York, returning to Cabot Cove on weekends, where she often compared notes with Deputy Andy Broom (Louis Herthum). Also showing up from time to time was Jessica's nephew Grady Fletcher (Michael Horton), who through no fault of his own always seemed to be in trouble with the law, obliging Aunt Jessica to help him out -- and to solve another murder or two along the way. Though Angela Lansbury seemed to enjoy carrying the load of the series by herself (she was also one of the executive producers), beginning in season six the actress cut back her appearances, allowing such other sleuths as reformed jewel thief Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), retired spy Michael Hagarty, (Len Cariou) and down-at-the-heel private eye Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) to take center stage. Viewers, however, didn't like Jessica's frequent absences during this period, so the "replacement detective" policy was eventually dropped.
A Sunday-evening tradition for over a decade, Murder, She Wrote was moved to Thursdays during its twelfth and final season, much to the dismay of its star, especially as she was forced to go head-to-head with NBC's extremely popular Friends. Not surprisingly, ratings plummeted on Murder throughout the season, and the show was canceled in August of 1996. However, Angela Lansbury fans could take heart in the fact that she would sporadically revive the character of Jessica Fletcher in a handful of feature-length Murder, She Wrote specials during the early years of the 21st century.
Plot
The show revolved around the day to day life of a retired English teacher turned professional mystery writer named Jessica Fletcher. In each episode, Jessica would somehow become entangled in a murder investigation and would come out being the one person able to make sense of the case. This being the basis of the show, it was viewed by critics as ridiculous how murders seemed to follow Jessica around the country. Many of the episodes took place in either Jessica's hometown of Cabot Cove or New York, where she later moved, but her travels promoting books or visiting relatives and friends lead to cases all around the USA, England and other places of the English-speaking world. A crossover episode with Magnum P.I. took place in Hawaii. Another characteristic point of the series was that Jessica, though widowed and childless, had an endless collection of nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws and other friends and relatives that always needed her help.
Jessica's relationship with law enforcement officials varied from place to place. Both the Sheriffs of Cabot Cove were used, and resigned, to have her meddling in their cases. Most detectives and officers didn't want her near their crime scenes, until her accurate deductions convinced them to listen to what she had to say. Others were fans of her books and glad to let her snoop. With time, she made friends in many Police Departments across the USA, as well as a British police officer attached to Scotland Yard.
A handful of episodes were stories "written by" Jessica, or submitted to her by friends. She would appear at the beginning of each episode to introduce it, but generally did not re-appear until the end, where she would wrap up the story.
Cast
Regular Cast
- Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher (1984 - 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003)
- Tom Bosley as Sheriff Amos Tupper (1984 - 1988), Cabot Cove's first sheriff. He later retired and went to live with his sister.
- William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt (1985 - 1996), one of Jessica's best friends.
- Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger (1989 - 1996), a former NYPD officer who took the place as Sheriff of Cabot Cove to live more peacefully.
Regular Guest Stars
- Michael Horton as Grady Fletcher (1984-1995), Jessica's not-so-lucky favorite nephew. After many romantic disasters, he got married later in the series.
- Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw (1985-1991), an old-school detective who becomes friends with Jessica.
- Len Cariou as Michael Hagarty (1985-1992), a British MI6 Agent of Irish origin that would appear when Jessica least expected him to draw her to a dangerous case.
- Keith Michell as Dennis Stanton (1985-1993), a former jewel thief turned insurance claims investigator, that always solved his cases with unusual methods, and send a copy of the story to his friend Jessica afterwards.
Guest Stars
Many famous or soon-to-be-famous actors have had guest spots on Murder, She Wrote:
- Rene Auberjonois (Mourning Among the Wisterias, 1988)
- Robert Beltran (Double Jeopardy, 1993; Time to Die, 1994)
- Sonny Bono (Just Another Fish Story, 1988)
- George Clooney (No Laughing Murder, 1987)
- Courteney Cox (Death Stalks the Big Top, 1986)
- Marcia Cross (Ever After, 1992)
- Kate Mulgrew (The Corpse Flew First Class, 1987; Ever After, 1992; The Dying Game, 1994)
- Leslie Nielsen (My Johnny Lies Over the Ocean, 1985; Dead Man's Gold, 1986)
- Adrian Paul (Danse Diabolique, 1992)
- Joaquin Phoenix (We're Off to Kill the Wizard, 1984)
- Summer Phoenix (We're Off to Kill the Wizard, 1984)
- Tom Selleck (Magnum On Ice, 1986)
TV Movies
- [[Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest]] (1997)
- [[Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For]] (2000)
- [[Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man]] (2001)
- [[Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle]] (2003)
DVD
DVD Releases
On July 1 2006 tvshowsondvd.com [link] announced that Universal Home Entertainment has planned to release Murder, She Wrote The Complete Fourth Season on Region 1 DVD on October 17 2006.On July 12 2006 it was confermed by Universal Home Entertainment that Murder, She Wrote The Complete Fourth Season is going to be released on October 17 2006 [link].
Season
| Release Date
| ||
Region 1
| Region 2
| Region 2 - French
| |
| The Complete First Season | March 29 2005 | August 29 2005 | June 6 2006 |
| The Complete Second Season | December 6 2005 | May 1 2006 | TBA |
| The Complete Third Season | March 14 2006 | July 31 2006 | TBA |
| The Complete Fourth Season | October 17 2006 | TBA | TBA |
DVD Box Art
For more info on the Murder, She Wrote DVDs see [all about MURDER, SHE WROTE - DVD]
International
Murder, She Wrote has been broadcasted, successfully, in many countries around the world, and it's being repeated regularly in many of them.| Country | Channel | Title | Translation | Language | DVD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Network Ten & TV1 | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English | |
| Brasil | Universal Channel | Assassinato por Escrito | Written Murder | Portuguese dubbed | |
| Canada | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English | Seasons 1, 2 & 3 (4 from October 17) | |
| Finland | YLE TV1 | Murhasta tuli totta | Murder became true | ||
| France | La Cinq | Arabesque | French dubbed | Season 1 | |
| Germany | RTL & Super RTL | Mord ist ihr Hobby | Murder is her hobby | ||
| Ireland | RTÉ ONE | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English | Seasons 1 & 2 (3 from July 31) |
| Italy | Rai Uno | La signora in giallo | The dame in yellow | Italian dubbed | |
| Japan | NHK, Mystery Channel, LaLa TV, Chiba TV & Gunma TV | Jessica obasan no jikenbo | Aunt Jessica's case files | Japanese dubbed | |
| Latin America | Reportera del crimen | The crime reporter | |||
| Netherlands | RTL 7 | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English, Dutch subtitles | Season 1 |
| Spain | TVE & Calle 13 | Se ha escrito un crimen | A crime has been written | Spanish dubbed | Season 1 |
| Spain: Catalonia | TV3 | S'ha escrit un crim | A crime has been written | Catalan dubbed | |
| Spain: Galicia | TVG | Escribeuse un crimen | A crime has been written | Galician dubbed | |
| Sweden | TV3 | Mord och inga visor | Murder without melodies | ||
| UK | BBC ONE, UKTV Gold & UKTV Drama | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English | Seasons 1 & 2 (3 from July 31) |
| USA | A&E & The Biography Channel | Murder, She Wrote | Murder, She Wrote | English | Seasons 1, 2 & 3 (4 from October 17) |
Trivia
- In the beginning, Fletcher was not even interested in publishing her first novel, and definitely not interested in sleuthing real-life cases. However, trouble usually followed her, and the formerly peaceful life she lived in Cabot Cove became a rarity, only showing up from time to time before she was involved in her next investigation.
- Despite the leading lady's success in Murder, She Wrote, she was not the producer's original choice of star. Actresses Jean Stapleton and Doris Day were offered, and consecutively turned down, the main part.
- The show enjoyed a wide audience, and was for several years the longest-running mystery show on television. Throughout its run, countless notable stars played guest parts, making it a considerably diverse show. In total there were 264 weekly episodes, and Lansbury subsequently reprised the character in four (to date) T.V. movies between 1997 and 2003.
- Although Lansbury was the show's main star, the series was arranged so that several episodes each year would focus upon one of her friends and their mystery-solving exploits, allowing Lansbury to appear only briefly in the episodes and take a break in filming. One of these recurring characters, a private detective named Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) was popular enough to garner his own, short-lived spinoff series in 1987, The Law & Harry McGraw. The character of Jessica Fletcher also appeared in an episode of Magnum P.I. in 1986.
- Lansbury holds the record for the most Prime-time Emmy Nominations for an outstanding lead actress in a drama series, 12, one for every season 1984-1996—she never won (which is also a record).
- A series of original novels based upon Murder, She Wrote began in the late 1980s and new books continue to be written and published; in keeping with the spirit of the TV show, the author credit for these books, which are written by Coffee, Tea, or Me? author Donald Bain, is shared with the fictitious "Jessica Fletcher".
- Exterior shots of "Cabot Cove" were filmed in Mendocino, California.
- In Series 2, Episode 5, Sing a Song of Murder, we learn Jessica has a cousin, Emma McGill, a music hall singer from London (who is also played by Angela Lansbury). She was named after Lansbury's mother, Moyna McGill. Emma appeared in two other episodes.
- In the UK some episodes were networked (shown nationally) by the ITV Network and others were shown regionally. Yorkshire Television were the most consistent and had the privilege of being the first ITV region to screen many episodes in their Tuesday 8pm slot. Other regions preferred Falcon Crest in this slot.
- During the original ITV run in the UK, two commercial breaks were inserted into each episode. The first break always occurred at the point where the body had been discovered.
- The Complete Third Season on DVD was originally going to have an episode from Season Four in it's Bonus Materials section but was changed to the Magnum, P.I. crossover episode "Novel Connection", thanks to the site owner of the tvshowsondvd.com website, Gord Lacey. [link]
- The fourth and last Murder, She Wrote TV movie, [[Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle]], was based on a novel by Lyn Hamilton, The Celtic Riddle.
See Also
fictional books by J.B. FletcherExternal Links
- [all about...MURDER, SHE WROTE] - Show & DVD Info, Episode Guide, Downloads and lots more...
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