Diemazz

Murder, She Wrote
End of opening title sequence for Murder, She Wrote
Format	Mystery
Created by	Peter S. Fischer Richard Levinson William Link
Starring	Angela Lansbury William Windom Tom Bosley (1984–1988) Ron Masak (1985–1996)
Theme music composer	John Addison
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	264 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Angela Lansbury Peter S. Fischer Richard Levinson William Link David Moessinger
Running time	60 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS The Biography Channel
Original run	September 30, 1984 – May 19, 1996
Chronology
Related shows	The Law & Harry McGraw
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Murder, She Wrote is an award winning television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996. It was followed by four TV films, aired from 1997 to 2003, and a spin-off series, The Law & Harry McGraw.

History

Origin

Debuting September 30, 1984, Murder, She Wrote, TV's longest-running mystery series, starring Jessica Fletcher might never have come about had producers Richard Levinson and William Link enjoyed success with their TV series Ellery Queen. The series folded after a single season, but Levinson and Link were still committed to the concept of a bestselling 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.

The title comes from Murder, She Said, an adaptation of a Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie (while not appearing in the aforementioned film, Angela Lansbury herself did play Miss Marple in a film, and the character of Jessica Fletcher is thought to be based on a combination of Miss Marple, Agatha Christie herself, and another Christie character Ariadne Oliver)

Premise

The show revolved around the day to day life of a retired English teacher who after being widowed in her early fifties becomes a very successful mystery writer. Despite fame and fortune, Jessica remains a resident of Cabot Cove, a cozy coastal town in Maine, and maintains her links with all of her old friends, never letting her success go to her head. Exterior shots of Cabot Cove were filmed in Mendocino, California.

Her one eccentricity is an insatiable curiosity, especially whenever murder rears its ugly head - which it does with great regularity. The mystery term "Cabot Cove Syndrome" was eventually coined to describe the constant appearance of dead bodies in remote locations.

In most episodes, Jessica somehow becomes entangled in a murder investigation. The police are almost always willing to arrest the most likely suspect, but Jessica invariably feels that the so-called guilty party was innocent. Carefully and methodically piecing the clues together and asking astute questions, she always manages to trap the real murderer - who, given the series' "special guest star" policy, was often played by a famous film or TV personality.

Jessica's relationship with law enforcement officials varies from place to place. Both sheriffs of Cabot Cove resign themselves to having her meddle in their cases. However, most detectives and police officers do not want her anywhere near their crime scenes, until her accurate deductions convince them to listen to her. Some are fans of her books and are glad to assist her investigation. With time, she makes friends in many police departments across the U.S., as well as a British police officer attached to Scotland Yard.

In 1991, newly appointed executive producer David Moessinger and producer J. Michael Straczynski were brought aboard in an effort to shore up ratings. They moved Jessica to New York, and revitalized the show, bringing it back into the top ten from the mid-thirties where it had fallen. It was Straczynski who made her an instructor in writing and criminology, and is widely held to have most emphasized her role as a working writer, with all the deadlines and problems involved in that profession.

Cast

Regular cast

Seth Hazlitt, Jessica Fletcher and Mort Metzger in 1996

• Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher (1984-1996). The show was originally conceived as a vehicle for Jean Stapleton, who had just finished a nine-year run on All in the Family; when Stapleton decided she didn't want to commit to another television series, the role was offered to Lansbury. Doris Day was offered the part afterwards, and also declined. The character was loosely based on Miss Marple,^{[citation needed]} whom Lansbury had portrayed beforehand.
• Tom Bosley as Sheriff Amos Tupper (1984-1988), Cabot Cove's sheriff at the start of the series. Tupper later retires and goes to live with his sister.
• William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt (1985-1996), the local doctor of Cabot Cove and one of Jessica's best friends.
• Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger (1988-1996), a former NYPD officer who takes Tupper's place as sheriff in the mistaken belief that he would be living in a more peaceful place.

Recurring cast

• Michael Horton as Grady Fletcher (1984–1995), Jessica's not-so-lucky favorite nephew, who (through no fault of his own) always seems to get in trouble with the law. After many romantic disasters, he gets married later in the series. In real life, Horton is married to actress Debbie Zipp, who played Grady's eventual wife, Donna Mayberry. The two had been married for many years before working together on Murder, She Wrote.
• Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw (1985–1991), an old-school private investigator who becomes friends with Jessica. Orbach was popular enough to garner his own, short-lived spinoff series in 1987, The Law & Harry McGraw.
• Len Cariou as Michael Hagarty (1985–1992), a British MI6 agent of Irish origin, who would appear when Jessica least expected him to drag her into a dangerous case. Cariou had previously starred with Lansbury in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as the titular character.
• Keith Michell as Dennis Stanton (1988–1993), a former jewel thief turned insurance claims investigator, who always solves his cases using unusual methods, and sends a copy of the story to his friend Jessica afterwards.
• Wayne Rogers as Charlie Garrett (1993–1995), a disreputable private investigator who usually gets into trouble and needs Jessica's help.
• Julie Adams as Eve Simpson (1987-1993), the Cabot Cove realestate agent with a great love for men, both single and married, and hobby of gossiping. She is a good friend of Jessica.
• Richard Paul as Sam Booth (1986-1991), the genial, ineffectual mayor of Cabot Cove whose main campaign promise is that he will do nothing.

Guest stars

Main article: List of Murder, She Wrote guest stars

Many famous or soon-to-be-famous actors have had guest spots on Murder, She Wrote:

Episodes

Main article: List of Murder, She Wrote episodes

Jessica in the Season 3 episode "The Cemetery Vote"

For several years, the show was the longest-running mystery show on television. In total, there were 264 weekly episodes including the 2hr feature-length pilot episode, The Murder of Sherlock Holmes(265 episodes, since the pilot is now aired as two separate episodes during reruns) . Lansbury is the only actress to appear in all of the episodes and TV films.

Many of the episodes took place in either Jessica's hometown of Cabot Cove or in New York, but her travels promoting books or visiting relatives and friends (of which she seemed to have an endless supply) led to cases throughout the world. A 1986 crossover episode with Magnum, P.I. took place in Hawaii, which began in the Magnum, P.I. episode "Novel Connection" and concluded in the Murder, She Wrote episode "Magnum On Ice".

Beginning in season six, Lansbury cut back her appearances. A handful of episodes purported to be stories "written" by Jessica, or submitted to her by friends. She would introduce each episode, but generally disappear until the end, when she would wrap up the story. Other sleuths, such as reformed jewel thief turned insurance investigator Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), retired spy Michael Hagarty (Len Cariou), and down-at-heel private eye Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach), took center stage. Viewers, however, didn't like Jessica's frequent absences, and the "replacement detective" policy was eventually dropped.

TV Movies

Advertisement for The Celtic Riddle on CBS

• Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest, aired November 2, 1997. Jessica is warned away by an FBI agent while following clues to Agua Verde where a woman who left her purse apparently lives.
• Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For, aired May 18, 2000. Jessica Fletcher puts her sleuthing skills to work at a writer's conference after a Russian author is found dead.
• Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man, aired May 2, 2001. Jessica Fletcher uncovers a shocking link between her family history and the death of a slave in the 1860s.
• Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle, aired May 9, 2003. Jessica travels to Ireland, where she attends the reading of an old acquaintance's will. The will contains the clues to finding a secret treasure, one that will require an already strained family to work together in order to solve the mystery. It was based on The Celtic Riddle by Lyn Hamilton.

In February 2007 on the ABC daytime talk show The View,^[1] Lansbury announced that she hopes to make another Murder, She Wrote TV movie in the near future, if her son, Anthony Shaw, can find a suitable story.^[2]

Awards and nominations

Murder, She Wrote received numerous Emmy Award nominations. Angela Lansbury herself holds the record for the most Emmy nominations for outstanding lead actress in a drama series with 12, one for each season. She never won, also a record. The show won only twice, for costume design in 1986 and music composition in 1985.

Lansbury was more successful with the Golden Globe Awards, winning four times.

Emmy Awards

Nominations

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Angela Lansbury) (1985-1996)

Golden Globes

Wins

• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Drama (Angela Lansbury) (1985, 1987, 1990, 1992)
• Best TV Series - Drama (1985, 1986)

Nominations

• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Drama (Angela Lansbury) (1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995)
• Best TV Series - Drama (1987-1990)

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Nominations

• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Drama (Angela Lansbury) (1995)

Murder, She Wrote Novels

Novels by Donald Bain

In keeping with the spirit of the TV show, the author credit for a series of official original novels, written by Coffee, Tea, or Me? writer Donald Bain, is shared with the fictitious "Jessica Fletcher".

Novels by J. B. Fletcher

During the series many novels that J. B. Fletcher wrote were mentioned. Her first novel, The Corpse Danced at Midnight, was made into a film in one episode.

DVD releases

Main article: Murder, She Wrote DVD releases

Season releases

DVD cover art of Murder, She Wrote: The Complete First Season

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the first eight seasons of Murder, She Wrote on DVD in Region 1. Universal Playback has released the first eight seasons in Region 2. The remaining seasons are expected to be released soon. Region 2 release dates are the United Kingdom release dates only.

Other releases

In the United Kingdom, Universal Playback has released several multi-season box sets.

International

Murder, She Wrote has been broadcast in many countries around the world, and is repeated regularly in many of them.

Country	Channel(s)	Title	Translation	Language
Australia	Network Ten, TV1	Murder, She Wrote		English
Austria	ORF	Mord ist ihr Hobby	Murder is Her Hobby	German dubbed
Belgium	VTM	Murder, She Wrote		English, Dutch subtitles
Brazil	Universal Channel	Assassinato por Escrito	Written Murder	Portuguese dubbed
Bulgaria	Fox Crime, Diema	Убийство по сценарии	Murder by script	Bulgarian dubbed
Canada	A&E, Vision TV	Murder, She Wrote		English
Canada: Quebec	TQS	Elle écrit au meurtre	She writes on the (subject of) murder	French dubbed
Chile	Canal 13	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Croatia	HRT	Ubojstvo, napisala je	Murder, She Wrote	English, Croatian subtitles
Czech Republic	TV Nova	To je vražda, napsala	Murder, She Wrote	Czech dubbed
Denmark	DR 2	Hun så et mord	She Saw a Murder	English, Danish subtitles
Estonia	TV3	Mõrv sai teoks	Murder Became True	English, Estonian subtitles
Finland	YLE TV1	Murhasta tuli totta	Murder Became True	English, Finnish subtitles
France	La Cinq, TF1, TV Breizh	Arabesque	Arabesque	French dubbed
Germany	ARD, RTL, Super RTL	Immer, wenn sie Krimis schrieb, Mord ist ihr Hobby	Each Time When She Wrote a Crime Novel, Murder is Her Hobby	German dubbed
Greece	Star Channel	Η συγγραφέας ντετέκτιβ	The Detective Writer	English, Greek subtitles
Hungary	Viasat 3	Gyilkos sorok	Murderous Lines	Hungarian dubbed
Ireland	RTÉ One	Murder, She Wrote		English
Italy	Rai Uno, Fox Crime	La signora in giallo	The Mystery Lady	Italian dubbed
Japan	NHK, Mystery Channel, LaLa TV, Chiba TV, Gunma TV	Jessica obasan no jikenbo	Aunt Jessica's Case Files	Japanese dubbed
Kuwait	KTV 2	Murder, She Wrote		English, Arabic subtitles
Mexico	Universal Channel	La reportera del crimen	The Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Netherlands	RTL 8	Murder, She Wrote		English, Dutch subtitles
Norway	TV3	Jessica Fletcher	Jessica Fletcher	English, Norwegian subtitles
Philippines	GMA Network, RJTV 29	Murder, She Wrote		English
Portugal	RTP 1	Crime, Disse Ela	Crime, She Said	English, Portuguese subtitles
Romania	Pro Cinema, TVR 2	Verdict: Crima	Verdict: Murder	English, Romanian subtitles
Russia	НТВ, Домашний	Она написала убийство	Murder, She Wrote	Russian dubbed
Slovakia	Markíza	To je vražda, napísala	Murder, She Wrote	Slovak dubbed
Slovenia	Kanal A	Umor je napisala	Murder, She Wrote	English, Slovene subtitles
Spain	TVE, Calle 13, Antena 3	Se ha escrito un crimen	A Crime has Been Written	Spanish dubbed
Spain: Catalonia	TV3	S'ha escrit un crim	A Crime has Been Written	Catalan dubbed
Spain: Galicia	TVG	Escribiuse un crime	A Crime has Been Written	Galician dubbed
Sweden	TV3	Mord och inga visor	Murder and not Melodies	English, Swedish subtitles
Turkey	TRT 1, Star TV, Kanal D	Cinayet Dosyası	Murder File	Turkish dubbed
United Kingdom	ITV, BBC Two, Alibi	Murder, She Wrote		English
United States	A&E, Biography Channel, Hallmark Channel	Murder, She Wrote		English
Uruguay	Monte Carlo Televisión	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed

References

^[4]

External links

• Murder, She Wrote at the Internet Movie Database
• Murder, She Wrote at TV.com
• The Murder, She Wrote Wiki

Site Map: RSS 2.0

Recent Searches: Desio
Murder, She Wrote
Cutwork
Category:1941 in comics
WRFB
Kishin Line
Perry, Florida
Culètre
Nakhon Pathom Province
Category:Manche geography stubs

Related Pages:
"murder she wrote lyrics"
"murder she wrote episode guide"
"murder she wrote song"
"murder she wrote dvd"
"murder she wrote reggae"
"murder she wrote season 9"
"murder she wrote episodes"