When did Jessica Fletcher become this jet setting wealthy widow?

She was a killer-for-hire. Who do you think really murdered all those people?

because how many muders could tiny little Cabot Cove have? 22 episodes per year for like 15 years? She'd be the only resident left.

In the Pilot she had her first masterpiece published, became famous enough to start being recognised by readers from the media blitz and solved her first murders (that we know of)!

I think we jumped in time between the Pilot and first episode "Deadly Lady" because she's had several more books published and is releasing another in the intervening time.

By the next episode "Birds of a Feather" she's famous enough that her dear niece uses her name to get them a table at a popular hot-spot (where her fiance turns out to be the resident drag artist who gets accused of murder).

If you notice there are a lot of subtle changes made to Jessica (by Angela and the writers) throughout the first season - Making her less folksy, more glamorous, more sophisticated and fearless. Her renown grows from then on. So does her bank balance.

Angela spoke about making Jessica an "every woman" who could mix with anyone and be independent, not eccentric like she was initially written. Angie also refused Jessica getting into any relationships for this reason, so she'd be relatable for a wider audience.

As R2 pointed out, they had to get her out into the world as there'd be no one left in Cabot Cover but herself and the Sheriff!

The fact she has so, so many dear friends and relations from all walks of life who she had to visit will forever be, I'm afraid, a mystery.

Does anyone still watch it?

That bitch was Cheap,

Not to mention, a Whore...spread her legs for anybody with a nickel

That Jessica Fletcher went around Cabot Cove nude, wearing only a mink coat

Then she'd show her beaver to an unsuspecting man in the Diner

What did her beaver look like? Was it at The Hill Side Inn?

Style icon, Jessica Fletcher:

She sells her murder mysteries and makes a great deal of money...who doesn't know that? She still owns her house in Cabot Cove but she also makes book tours...mainly to New York. Rich people in Maine often visit New York City.

She was Agatha Christie of her generation.

^^ I mean she IS, not was.

Bump for Jessica's lack of libido

Love the show

[quote] Angela spoke about making Jessica an "every woman" who could mix with anyone and be independent, not eccentric like she was initially written.

Angela was the one who wanted her to be eccentric. She came up with a whole bunch of ideas for the character including goofy wigs. The producers told her they wanted Angela Lansbury, not some cartoon character. Angela has played an eccentric mystery solving character a few years prior. Later when she understood what producers wanted, she decided that Jessica wouldn’t be in a relationship and wouldn’t have a man coming to her rescue every episode.

[quote]Does anyone still watch it?

Is the sky blue? Do you know how big the show’s fan base is? Even RuPaul tweets about it all the time. The book series is gearing up to publish the 50th book. There was even a MSW calendar published for this year.

She was quite the accomplished crime novel / murder mystery author. That made it possible for her to be at home in any set-up the show threw at her. Whorehouse, rodeo festival, nunnery, rich friend's island / winery / farm / restaurant / hotel / factory / etc.,

Later they even get her to teach students about writing and literature (at least I hope that's what she was doing and not train the next generation of serial killers!).

My mom loved the show; she was so ill and it was one of the few things she looked forward to. When I visited I always watched MSW with her. My main complaint is how easy it was to figure out whodunnit by the second act.

Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote episodes are my go-to feel good entertainment when I am sad or sick at home.

If you watch the first season you may find Claude Akins playing Captain Ethan Cragg who was a friend of Jessica's. He treated her in a condescending fashion and was only on for a few episodes.

William Windom, who appeared as a suspect in the last episode of Season 1, was later cast as Dr Seth Hazlett and began appearing in Season 2, Episode 2's "Joshua Peabody Died Here ... Possibly." He was perfectly cast as the smart friend of JF who was not really a romantic interest, but cared about her as a close friend and to whom she would listen.

In a later season there was a character of a "big city" newsman who became the newspaper editor. Another pushy guy who didn't "fit" the scenario and didn't last long.

Didn't we have a thread on this not so long ago?

Well, she was notably more cosmopolitan by the end of the first season than in the pilot.

BTW, has anyone read any of the books? Are they any good?

The books don't capture the magic of Jessica. Gin and Daggers contains many errors such as Jess driving

[quote] Jess driving

Unforgivable. Jess constantly bumming rides (and meals and beds and more) from people was an integral part of the character.

Just like how she always had a sudden realization right before the waiter came with the bill and had to run off leaving her dining partner to pay.

I love that when Jessica is in Boston or New York or London, she is always hurrying to catch "the next plane to Cabot Cove". And she has at least 1,000 nephews in trouble all over the world but practically no siblings to speak of.

Frank's siblings most be some of the most fertile people ever.

Didn't they also die pretty early? I remember Jessica mentioning that she, and her husband, pretty much raised her nephew Grady after his parents' passing.

Grady's parents were killed in a car wreck, then The Fletchers raised him.

Jessica actually has 2 brothers, one of them appears in the episode where Jess goes on a cruise with her.

r26. Thank you. I didn't know that Jessica had two brothers.

R20. Yes. She insisted on the character being less folksy but the show ran for longer than people remember. 12 years. Remember “Positive Moves”? It’s when Angela got in on the home video crazy of the mid/late 80s. It’s on YouTube and is often parodied.

That video speaks to a bigger point about the show though. Initially, she was going to quit at the end of the six season. It’s an episode with Jean Simmons playing by another mystery writer.

Angela agreed to stay on under the conditions that she become a producer, the show runner quit and the second didn’t work out. Her husband and son took over a lot of the work in the last half. Her son was even a director for the show.

She also insisted that instead of seven days that she’ll be shot in at eight. If you watch the show in the early seasons you can see how puffy tired and a little bit overweight Angela is. She was also freshened up with a facelift after the weight loss. 1988 or 89.

R20. I’m in the middle of my first MSW book. She on the Queen Mary 2 and jewelry is missing. It’s an ok read. A lot like and episode of the show. They did a good job there.

She shoot it in 8* bahaha

R26. The one about her brother and his daughter going on the cruise was on the other night. Love Leslie Neilson.

I got the entire series for Christmas. WGN and Hallmark mystery still do reruns though.

Her appearance visiting her many nieces and nephews was always a harbinger of death. They knew someone close to them would die quickly after she visited, and they had to steel themselves for it. It was as inevitable as the sun rising in the east.

I think they also got a beauty case ready for when they are getting falsely arrested for murder.

R28 just some minor points. It was at the end of Season 5 when they were going to wrap it up. The last shot with Jess and Seth was going to be the final shot of the show and they were going to add a shot of a potential romance between the 2.

I don't think she had a face lift during MSW but she admitted to a neck lift in the 80s. Her husband didn't work on the show but was her manager. It was her gay brother and her son that worked on the show as a writer and director respectively.

Another concession she got for staying on was those awful "bookend" episodes where she was only on screen for a few minutes. Angie was the won who chose to move her to NYC and teach.

The One!

R33. It’s crazy to think that Jessica didn’t get a NYC apartment until season 8. It’s a great opener.

Sorry for having some things wrong. Thanks for filling in the gaps. And I neck lift makes perfect sense. They also lit her much more favorably after season 6.

There was one more scare of her not coming back. It’s explained by a writer who is on the box set saying he had to leave a finale a bit ambiguous because Angela hadn’t finished negotiations yet.

I think this was all horseshit. If you look back on magazines from the time the show ending was a topic nearly every year. Especially when Angela was bargaining.

She always said she would never have left the wave.

R35 no problem, glad you weren't offended! Yep I think in one of the interviews on YouTube about the show they counter the suggestion there had to be last minute re-writes of the season 5 closer "Mirror, Mirror on the wall" as they didn't know if the show would come back. All they did was write a small addition that could have been used to bring closure.

*Seth has upset Jess at the start of the 2-parter by saying she's really missing out on life by working too hard. By the end, after he nearly dies, Jessica decides he's right and runs after him to go fishing together. The scene they were going to add was a suggestion of potential romance between them.*

Even if you watch the scene as it was broadcast it could easily have been the very final moment. Jessica sailing off, happy and safe. The actual last scene of Season 12 was no closer at all. The show just ended with Jess solving a random murder in San Francisco and froze on her merrily laughing!

Interestingly, Jean Simmons was the only guest star to be nominated for an Emmy!

I just got the box set for Christmas so I need to watch these interviews again, but I am sure that a later season end with, “Well, maybe it’s not really the end.” And of course it was renewed.

The season 5 ending is a good one. I just took it that Jessica came to realize that home life in Cabot Cove and her friends were too important to just leave on the back burner. We’ve just seen two hours Eudora's life and it sucked. I can’t say I ever thought it was to set up a romance with Seth, just close friends, but you could be 100% right.

The real finale in season 12 is a great episode. I like how the killer is called out live on the radio. I know Angela talks about how upsetting it all was but I do not understand why a proper ending wasn’t filmed. Was she banking on those TV movies to keep the story going?

I guess it makes sense that Simmons was the only one. It was a much bigger role than usually given to guest and she was Jean Simmons. I love seeing the old Hollywood people. Even when they’re wheezing on mic and look a little pickled. The only one that shouldn’t have been thrown a bone was the woman who runs the library! The poor woman can barley read off the cards and all scenes with her kind of halt the show.

[quote]I know Angela talks about how upsetting it all was but I do not understand why a proper ending wasn’t filmed.

I liked the last episode. It alludes to the show going off air and why but doesn't stick out awkwardly on re-watching.

R37 the romance being hinted at was, I read, one small scene on the boat at the end. Who knows if it even got scripted? It would likely have been to give Jess her happy ending and a sense that her wandering was going to ease off.

I've never heard of any other seasons after this being in question or ending on a "maybe we'll be back". The season 6 ender was a bookend that starred Deidre Hall! Haha

R38 the writing in "Death by Demographics" was very effective. It mirrored what happened with MSW. A lovely but non-hip show was replaced with something for the kids. I read that the episode ended with a voice over from Angela/Jess but I've never found this :(

R36. I have yet to watch the interviews again but I will today.

I’m surprised that no one brought up the episode in the twelfth season was a spoof on Friends (Buds) dominating in the ratings. MSW had been moved from a safe spot on Sunday nights to Thursday where, after 12 years, couldn’t compete.

It doesn’t stick out and it is a really effective way to end it as you said. I just think about younger people like me who watch the reruns and they are really watching Jessica solve a mystery at a radio station and the next episode is the pilot. It must be jarring.

She was well-regarded enough to be asked to be appointed a congressman (which doesn't happen) in the first season. Barbara Babcock makes her first of God knows how many appearances in that episode.

R40 I know, it's such a subtle end. They'd already promised x amount of TV specials at that point so I guess it made no sense to do a conclusive ending.

R41 that was absurd, Jessica was a respected novelist but she wrote murder mysteries. It made 0 sense to have her fill that seat. I love the later episode when the arrogant attorney tears her apart on the witness stand, citing all the times she and her family have been accused of murder plus that time Jess had herself committed to a Psychiatric hospital (research for a book!)

R41 makes me wonder if Jessica voted for DL non fave Susan Collins.

Is Susan Collins of the Collinsport Collinses?

Did Cabot Cove have a higher murder rate than Collinsport?

Could Jessica have outfoxed Barnabas Collins?

Why did she never win an Emmy? At some point during the run, you'd think they would have given it to her.

The last year she had been heavily favored to win by critics, as they thought she would get it as a consolation prize for twelve years of hard work. I think Kathy Baker wound up winning for the umpteenth time for Picket Fences. Angela didn't even bother showing up.

It was thought her best chance of winning was the year Sela Ward unexpectedly won for Sisters. There seemed to be no clear cut favorite and Lansbury was on her umpteenth nomination at that point.

[quote]I love the later episode when the arrogant attorney tears her apart on the witness stand, citing all the times she and her family have been accused of murder plus that time Jess had herself committed to a Psychiatric hospital (research for a book!)

That was when she went to Quebec which they made no attempt to seem like Quebec. They even had the very English accented Hayley Mills as a QC in that episode.

Barbara Babcock played five different characters. Is that the record?

My favorite location goof is in one of the New Orleans episodes you see mountains in the distance as she comes out of her hotel.

Did it ever snow in Cabot Cove?

Do you think the show would have worked as well with Jean Stapleton?

[quote]Do you think the show would have worked as well with Jean Stapleton?

No.

June Allyson was offered the role before Lansbury (as were a few others) but had to turn it down due to her medical problems.

Lucille Ball’s husband Gary told her she wasn’t up to the grind of a weekly hour-long series so she backed out.

When you say that June Allyson was on their short list it really shows you how folksy they imagined her in the beginning. Can you imagine how sweet and corny Allyson would have been in this?

Plus, the show wouldn’t have lasted as long with the others. They were older than Angela, who made her name playing older roles.

R49 I’m a southerner and for all I’ve heard about New England winters you’d think they’d have tried an episode or two like that. I guess there was no way to get that town they sporadically filmed in covered. There are several episodes with snow.

I’m guessing 80% was shot on the Univeral Lot and various rented locations and houses in the TMZ.

*and the other 20%.....

I just watched an episode based in Ireland. I was completely unaware they moved the whole thing to Ireland - how bizarre. Presumably, because she lives there. So strange to see the whole concept shifted to Irish accents and backdrops. I could t figure out if the actors were all Irish or if everyone was faking accents.

Yes, Allyson, Ball, and Doris Day all turned it down before it was offered to Lansbury.

R54. She sold that house in Ireland years ago. 1970s or 80s. That was the house where her kids, especially the son kicked their heroin habits.

What you’re thinking of are the second unit shots. The director sends out his B team to do exteriors. I don’t know how much was stock footage and how much was second unit (Amsterdam, London, Mexico City....) They’re are some truly terrible green screen shots in the Egypt episode and the “London Street” in the first Cousin Emma episode is obviously “New York Street” redressed to look English.

There are 3 or 4 in Ireland and a TV movie (parts of it were really filmed there) but not the regular episodes.

The Gulls Way Estate in Malibu is where the re-run for “Angel of Death” was filmed. It’s been used in a lot of tv. It’s mostly used for weddings now.

It’s been remodeled but you can clearly see the patio where Jessica reads the play and talks to the blind woman.

Again, the Thirty Mile Zone.

*re-run from last night.

A Lucille Ball version is horrifying to imagine.

Gale Gordon as Seth or Amos. Desi Jr as Grady. Spider face when Lucy/Jess discovers a corpse. "Waaaah!" when Lucy/Jess is confronted by a killer. Mary Jane Croft instead of Barbara Babcock. Scripts by Bob Carroll and Madelyn Pugh.

In that long interview she gave in 1996 Lizabeth Scott claimed she had been asked to appear on MSW. She made out it was something beneath her so she turned it down. The funny thing is when she referred to the show she couldn't get the title right. She said something like " I would never have done "She said murder....murder she wrote" haha so funny.

Didn’t know

R60. You’d think she’d have done it for the money considering no one knows her from anything other than the All About Eve type drama between her and Bankhead during “Thr Skin of Our Teeth.”

She didn’t have 1/10 the career Angela (or even drunkard Bankhead) had.

R62. I know right? Maybe she was just saying she was offered the chance to sound like she was still getting offers. The whole interview is quite sad. She comes across as wanting to give the impression her career was more than it really was. Has anyone seen it?

Where was Terminal Connection filmed? It's obviously a real place. I loved that beach house. It reminded me of Michael's from MELROSE PLACE.

LOL R59

R64. IMDb doesn’t list the house they rented. There is a good/ok blog called “Murder She Blogged” and it doesn’t list any trivia for the episode either.

I liked the show a lot - for the most part. Understandably with time they had to cut down on Lansbury's screen time. But I really hated those episodes. I'd rather have shorter seasons if filming had become too exhausting for her. Didn't care for those bookend episodes as mentioned above.

And in the later season they got into the habit of having the murder take place at the end of the second or even third act. So you got a built up of 20-30 minutes, basically soapy drama about people you didn't care for at all. Then somebody investigated for maybe 10 minutes and the show was over. Just awful. But I guess they got away with it for a couple of seasons.

We've talked a lot about them over the years, but I don't think they ever met, Angie and Lucy.

Maybe they could bond over their mutual hatred of Patty Duke.

There are a few where the murder is late in the episode and some could be a little soapy but I’m watching one from season 11 now and 25 mins in two people are dead. It’s a good classic formula episode.

We all hate the bookends. I don’t understand when people say they hate them like it’s a revelation we’ve never heard before haha. They suck and thankfully stopped around season 8.

Come on, OP. You know you love the fact that one moment she's at a little cafe in her home town and the next she's stumbling across the NSA in Arizona, dealing with voodoo in New Orleans, or looking for treasure in Ireland. All good, silly fun.

Lucy was never offered Murder She Wrote. Neither was Doris Day.

The show was offered to Jean Stapleton, who turned it down. Jean had done some critically acclaimed guest spots on CBS show Scarecrow and Mrs. King and they thought she would be a perfect fit for the show. Angela was second in line after Jean.

I'm surprised their second choice wasn't Jean's sister, Maureen Stapleton.

But was it offered to Lizabeth Scott or did she make it all up?

I recently watched the first season of the show, and Angela's performance as Jessica is completely different in those early episodes. She plays the character in an eccentric and hammy manner. It's like she was performing Mame on Broadway. Frankly, her acting was terrible in that first year. She then relaxed her performance and the show blossomed.

R74. She hated how they wrote her as an old woman’s and basically took over the show slowly to have it how she thought best.

All this week as discussed above.

She wasn’t producing the early seasons.

R71. CBS was rushing a mystery show because Agatha Christie TV movies and mysteries in general we’re doing so well for them.

Stapleton had lost her husband and “didn’t understand the script.” Which is really funny hearing the producer talk about how....off that was.

Angela had pressured her agent for a good tv role. They came up with a Norman Lear sitcom and MSW. They stopped looking when she was interested. She was never “on the list” until her agent started looking around for her.

She wasn’t William Link or any other creator/producers “second choice.” She was the only one that said yes and CBS was rushing for a 2 hour pilot for that fall.

Angela Lansbury is almost as old as Betty White.

R73

I've heard Ball and Day elsewhere, but never Lizabeth Scott before this thread. It's hard to imagine her being offered it, so....

They never actually filmed in Ireland but Angie bought a holiday home in Ireland in the 80s, she would go there to relax during the summer hiatus.

There was one episode "A Christmas Secret" set in Cabot Cove where it snowed. This is also actually the only episode where no one dies.

Really - they never filmed there? Seemed like some real houses and nature of Ireland. And I assumed it let her live in her house in Corke or wherever. Odd choice.

I know they went to Paris for the season four opener, but did they ever go anywhere else? Or was it all stock footage, Bodega Bay, and the Universal backlot (and NYC).

[quote]Angie bought a holiday home in Ireland in the 80s, she would go there to relax during the summer hiatus.

Actually R79, she lived in Ireland full time:

Lansbury moved to the village of Conna with husband Peter Shaw and their children in the early 1970s. Lansbury has spoken about how she wanted to get away from Los Angeles as her son Anthony had become addicted to drugs and her daughter Deirdre had fallen in with the Manson family.

“They hired a car when they arrived at Shannon and drove around,” says John O’Shea. “They saw the house for sale in Conna and bought it almost immediately. She considered it her home, and she went to LA and London for work.”

R76 they actually only filmed a few scenes for the pilot and wove them around Jess talking to the screen. This was before the show was greenlit and that version was never broadcast.

The bookends ended after season 7 when Lansbury got a better deal.

“The Exorcist” was written in her guest house.

[quote] The books don't capture the magic of Jessica. Gin and Daggers contains many errors such as Jess driving

That was written in 1989. Donald Bain wasn’t given specifics in relation to the show. In 1994 it became a series and he had the show down perfectly. Gin and Daggers was republished in 2000 with the errors fixed.

Shame Pazuzu never guest starred on an episode of MSM.

Angie would never have allowed it. She didn't like to be upstaged, R86.

Angie never got upstaged. She always had the last (freeze framed) laugh!

I remember over the years reading conflicting information about Peter S. Fischer, who was a co-creator of Murder, She Wrote. Some stories said Angela didn't particularly care for his vision of Jessica Fletcher, and that part of her staying on after 7 years was him going. Fischer has said in various interviews I've read and seen that he left of his own accord because he felt after 7 years he had played out all his ideas and would just be recycling stories at that point. He also stated that Jessica moving to NYC was a bad move in his opinion. Seems like he didn't care for the direction of the show after he left, which I've read Angela had a lot to do with. Still, Fischer always seems nothing but complimentary of Angela, how nice she is, and how professional she was on the show. I never got the sense from Fischer's interviews that there were any hard feelings on his part if Angela did indeed not like Fischer's vision of the character.

Fischer was a writer for Columbo. Columbo is one of the few 1970s TV shows where I think the show and writing hold up. I've seen all the MSW seasons, and like other shows where there were changes, I think the first 7 seasons hold up better than the last 5 seasons. I always enjoyed the recurring character of Dennis Stanton played by Keith Mitchell, and Fischer wrote that character in Season 5. I was never a fan of the bookend episodes, but I mostly enjoy the Dennis Stanton ones. Fischer also seemed to be better at crafting mysteries than the writers who followed him. The show remained a hit, though, so it had little impact.

I can't help but wonder what the true story is behind Fischer leaving. Did he get forced out? Looking at his IMDB page, he did some work after MSW but not a lot.

Yeah Angela wanted more control and brought her family on board too. Made it a family affair.

Angie must be quite wealthy herself since the show is still in syndication (a lot of other shows of that age aren't).

I know once DYNASTY went of air she overtook Joan Collins' longstanding title as the highest paid woman on television. I suppose if the show had run just a couple of seasons longer she'd have been overtaken herself by the FRIENDS actresses.

She sold the rights awhile ago and said she now regrets it.

There is one season of the show that she says was dreadful. It might be 7 or 8. I think it was the first year she took over. The new show runner was instantly let go. They also toyed with the show not having a murder and being a straight up mystery but then remembered the title of the show. lol

Angela kept an actress on who got sick and was in a wheelchair just so she could keep her health benefits. Everyone who was worked with Angela states she has a heart of gold.

Her best shot at the Emmy was the season 7 episode where a woman tricks Jess into thinking her beloved Frank had cheated and fathered a child (who was now accused of murder). One of the few episodes where Angie gets to show true emotion.

"Thursday's Child"

I prefer Jessica in the first 7 seasons. After that she loses her warmth. Plus the show loses most of it's recurring characters. Grady disappears except for one episode in season 11. His wife never comes back. The women of Loretta's Beauty Parlor never come back except Eve Simpson and she eventually disappears. Michael Haggerty and Dennis Stanton are replaced by Wayne Rogers of all people.

R95 I don't think she lost her warmth but the stories lack a lost of interest and there aren't enough good actors in them.

I just hated the cheap music used after the first couple of seasons.

I agree, R96, about there not being enough good guest actors after Season 7. I don't know that the character of Jessica lost her warmth, but she was played a bit differently by Lansbury. It's hard to put my finger on, but there was some sort of shift. Anyway, I prefer the first 7 seasons.

I think Jessica in the later seasons loses a lot of the quirky, amateur qualities. When she started teaching Criminology (WTF?!) and creative writing in NYC, got her own apartment there and was very self-assured it felt different. She also had no qualms about inserting herself into investigations without any of the old charm. Like she was a professional crime solver nowadays.

What I mean by warmth is she always appeared as this down to earth, favorite aunt, type. Once Season 8 comes, she loses all that especially walking around in those Hillary Clinton pants suits. She even feels out of place in Cabot Cove.

In some of the later episodes, the murder does not happen until almost 40 minutes in, like it's an afterthought

R101 and most of the characters are dull and tedious.

That seems like a natural character evolution. I suppose a couple hundred murders can change a gal.

Jessica was living proof that some people are impervious to PTDS

PTSD!

[quote]there not being enough good guest actors after Season 7.

I noticed that too. I won't see they weren't *good* but there were fewer big names in the later seasons.

I remember reading an article at the time that they wanted to appeal to a younger audience so they cut down on the old movie and tv stars. Like that would really make a difference.

Jessica was a millionaire from the first season. Her books were being turned into movies from the 5th episode.

[quote]I remember reading an article at the time that they wanted to appeal to a younger audience so they cut down on the old movie and tv stars. Like that would really make a difference.

'No Jane Powell this week? Maybe no one at school will laugh at me when if I reveal I watch this show?'

I bet Lansbury stole all those high end outfits they bought for the show

R91. That exactly what happened. She was moved to Thursday night and could compete with Friends.

R110. I bet she had it in her contract to keep them. She really held up Mame as her glamour moment and it took 8 seasons but she made Jessica too fancy.

I get it. Jessica had evolved but the show looses warmth, character and is in the world of the rich after season 7.

I love the show but it’s stride we’re seasons 2-7

I think season 1 to 5 and season 8 were the peaks. 6-7 had too many bookends.

Did you not know that Murder She Wrote was stolen from the Margaret Rutherford Agatha Christie movies from the '60's?

Rutherford and her movies were far superior to Angie's knock-off.

R114 great movies but nothing to do with Marple Christie wrote

R114 no they weren't stolen at all

MSW had a parody of Friends.

[quote]MSW had a parody of Friends.

Yes -- 'Buds'!

Angie played Miss Marple in 1980's The Mirror Crack'd with Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson and Kim Novak, among others. It was a success but not the big hit hoped for and plans for further Lansbury/Marple films weren't pursued.

[quote] Barbara Babcock played five different characters. Is that the record?

Bradford Dillman played eight different ones but I'm not sure if he's the record holder.

Her nephew Grady was such a loser but he was the one who helped get her first book published

Angela Lansbury sold the rights to Murder She Wrote?

She was a hooker. It's all in the subtext.

The recurring characters were mostly annoying---esp. that sheriff who didn't seem like a Mainer. This wasn't a show that would attract young actors or viewers, but networks cling to very old tropes (lets have a wedding, we need a baby on this show, etc.). It really was a great series for people who liked old movies and tv shows and could tolerate subpar writing and tedious situations.

Blow it out your wazoo, R124.