Murder, She Wrote facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Murder, She Wrote
Created by	Peter S. Fischer Richard Levinson William Link
Starring	Angela Lansbury William Windom Tom Bosley Ron Masak
Theme music composer	John Addison
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	264 (+ 4 TV movies) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Angela Lansbury (1992–96) Peter S. Fischer Richard Levinson William Link David Moessinger
Running time	48 minutes (excluding commercials)
Production company(s)	Universal Television Corymore Productions (1992–96)
Distributor	NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution (current)
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	35 mm film Original Broadcast: 4:3 480i (SDTV) Remastered: 4:3 1080i (HDTV)
Original release	September 30, 1984 – May 19, 1996
Chronology
Related shows	Magnum, P.I. The Law & Harry McGraw

Murder, She Wrote is a popular American TV show. It's about a mystery writer named Jessica Fletcher, played by Angela Lansbury, who also solves real-life crimes. The show ran for 12 seasons, from 1984 to 1996, on the CBS network. There were 264 episodes, plus four TV movies that came out later.

Murder, She Wrote was one of the most successful and longest-running TV shows ever. At its peak, about 26 million people watched it every week! It was a big part of CBS's Sunday night schedule for ten years. Even today, the show is still very popular around the world.

Angela Lansbury was nominated for many awards for her role as Jessica Fletcher. She received ten Golden Globes nominations and 12 Emmy Award nominations. She won four Golden Globe awards for Best Actress in a TV drama. The show itself was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes six times, winning twice.

After the TV series ended in 1996, four special TV movies were made between 1997 and 2003. Fans could also play a Murder, She Wrote video game on their computers, with the first one released in 2009 and a sequel in 2012. There's even a series of books about Jessica Fletcher, written by Donald Bain, that are still being published!

About the Show

How it Started

The creators of the show, Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link, thought Angela Lansbury would be perfect for the role of Jessica Fletcher. They weren't sure if she would be interested in a TV series, though. Before this show, Angela Lansbury had acted in two movies based on Agatha Christie's mystery novels: Death on the Nile and The Mirror Crack'd.

When Angela Lansbury said she was looking for a new project, the creators sent her the script for Murder, She Wrote. She liked it right away and felt she could really bring Jessica Fletcher to life. The show first aired on September 30, 1984. It became a huge hit for CBS, lasting 12 years. It also made Angela Lansbury, who was already famous for her movies and Broadway plays, a household name for millions of TV viewers. The show's title was inspired by a 1961 movie called Murder, She Said, which was based on an Agatha Christie novel.

What the Show is About

The show follows the daily life of Jessica Fletcher. She's a kind, widowed, retired English teacher who becomes a very successful mystery writer. Even though she's famous and wealthy, Jessica still lives in her small hometown, Cabot Cove, a coastal community in Maine. She stays close with her old friends and doesn't let her success change her. The outdoor scenes of Cabot Cove were filmed in Mendocino, California.

Each episode usually starts with Jessica giving a hint about what's to come, saying: "Tonight On Murder, She Wrote..." Jessica is almost always better at solving crimes than the official police. The police often want to arrest the most obvious suspect, but Jessica carefully puts clues together and asks smart questions. She always manages to find the real killer.

So many murders happen around Jessica that people joked about a "Cabot Cove syndrome." Some fans even have funny theories that Jessica herself might be involved in the murders because she's always there when they happen!

Jessica's relationship with the police changes depending on where she is. The sheriffs in Cabot Cove usually let her help with their cases. However, many detectives in other cities don't want her near their crime scenes at first. But when her smart ideas help them solve the case, they start to listen. Over time, she makes friends in many police departments across the U.S. and even with a British police officer from Scotland Yard. In later seasons, Jessica even moved to New York City part-time to teach about solving crimes.

How it Ended

Angela Lansbury in September 1989

By 1988, Angela Lansbury felt a bit tired from her busy schedule, and it was thought the show might end in 1989. But she kept playing Jessica, with a few changes. For two seasons, Angela Lansbury appeared in fewer episodes. Some episodes would only show her at the beginning and end, introducing stories about Jessica's friends, like private investigator Harry McGraw or MI5 agent Michael Hagarty. This "experiment" ended in 1991.

By the end of the 1994–95 season, which was Murder, She Wrote's 11th season, CBS moved the show to Thursday nights. This meant it was competing directly with very popular shows on NBC. Many fans were upset, thinking CBS was trying to make the show fail. Murder, She Wrote lost many viewers and its ratings dropped a lot. Because of this, CBS decided to end the show after 12 seasons in August 1996.

To make up for it, CBS aired the last four episodes in its original Sunday night spot. They also ordered four Murder, She Wrote TV movies to be made over the next few years. These movies were South by Southwest (1997), A Story to Die For (2000), The Last Free Man (2001), and The Celtic Riddle (2003).

Angela Lansbury once said in 2011 that she would like to play Jessica Fletcher again. However, in a 2015 interview, she changed her mind. She felt it would be better to remember Jessica as she was: "I think it's better to maintain that picture we have in our mind's eye of her as a vigorous person."

Characters

Main Cast

• Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher (1984–1996; 263 episodes): A retired English teacher who becomes a very successful mystery writer after her husband passes away.
• William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt (1985–1996; 49 episodes): The kind local doctor in Cabot Cove and one of Jessica's best friends.
• Tom Bosley as Sheriff Amos Tupper (1984–1988; 19 episodes): The sheriff of Cabot Cove when the series begins. He later retires.
• Ron Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger (1988–1996; 38 episodes): A former police officer from New York City who takes over as sheriff in Cabot Cove. He thought it would be a quiet place, but he was wrong!
• Louis Herthum as Deputy Andy Broom (1991–1996, 25 episodes)

Other Important Characters

• Michael Horton as Grady Fletcher (1984–1995; 12 episodes): Jessica's favorite nephew, who often gets into trouble, but it's never his fault! He eventually gets married later in the series.
• Jerry Orbach as Harry McGraw (1985–1991; 6 episodes): An experienced private investigator who becomes friends with Jessica. He even had his own short-lived spin-off TV show!
• Len Cariou as Michael Hagarty (1985–1992; 7 episodes): A British secret agent from MI5 who sometimes pulls Jessica into dangerous cases.
• Richard Paul as Sam Booth (1986–1991; 7 episodes): The friendly, but not very effective, mayor of Cabot Cove.
• Julie Adams as Eve Simpson (1987–1993; 10 episodes): The real estate agent in Cabot Cove who loves to gossip.
• Keith Michell as Dennis Stanton (1988–1993; 9 episodes): A charming English former jewel thief who now works as an insurance investigator. He solves cases in unusual ways.
• Wayne Rogers as Charlie Garrett (1993–1995; 5 episodes): A private investigator who often gets into trouble and needs Jessica's help.
• Herb Edelman as Artie Gelber (1984-1995, 10 episodes): A NYPD Lieutenant and a friend of Jessica's.

Episodes

Crossover with Magnum, P.I.

Jessica Fletcher even appeared in an episode of another TV show called Magnum, P.I.! In that story, Jessica goes to Hawaii to investigate a murder attempt and helps clear Magnum's name when he's wrongly accused.

Awards and Recognition

Murder, She Wrote received many awards and nominations during its 12 years on TV. Angela Lansbury holds the record for the most Emmy nominations for Best Actress in a Drama Series, with one nomination for each season (12 in total!). She never won an Emmy for this role, which is also a record.

Planned Reboot that Didn't Happen

In 2013, there were talks about making a new version of Murder, She Wrote for NBC. It was going to star the Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer as a hospital worker and amateur detective who writes her own mystery novels.

Angela Lansbury wasn't a fan of using the same title for the new show. She felt that "Murder, She Wrote" would always be about Cabot Cove and Jessica Fletcher. Producers decided that Octavia Spencer's character would not be named Jessica Fletcher, because Angela Lansbury was the only one who could play that role. In January 2014, it was announced that the new show would not be made.

Watching Around the World

Since it first aired, Murder, She Wrote has been shown in many countries all over the world.

Country	Channel(s)	Title	Literal translation	Language
Argentina	-	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Australia	Nine Network, Network Ten, TV1, GO!, GEM, 111 Greats, FOX Classics, ABC, 13th Street	Murder, She Wrote		English
Austria	ORF, Puls 4	Mord ist ihr Hobby	Murder Is Her Hobby	German dubbed
Belgium: Flanders	VTM, VIJFtv	Murder, She Wrote		English, Dutch subtitles
Belgium: Wallonia	La Une	Arabesque		French dubbed
Brazil	Universal Channel	Assassinato por Escrito	Written Murder	Portuguese dubbed
Bulgaria	Fox Crime, Diema, AXN, AXN White	Убийство по сценарий	Murder by Script	Bulgarian dubbed, Bulgarian subtitles
Canada	Vision TV	Murder, She Wrote		English
Canada: Quebec	TQS	Elle écrit au meurtre	She Writes "Murder!"	French dubbed
Chile	Canal 13	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Croatia	HRT	Ubojstvo, napisala je	Murder, She Wrote	Croatian dubbed
Czech Republic	Nova, Prima	To je vražda, napsala	That Is Murder, She Wrote	Czech dubbed
Denmark	DR 1, DR 2, TV 3	Hun så et mord	She Saw a Murder	English, Danish subtitles
Estonia	TV3	Mõrv sai teoks	Murder Became True	English, Estonian subtitles
Fiji	FBC TV	Murder She Wrote		English
Finland	YLE TV1, MTV3 Sarja, Kolmoskanava, TV5	Murhasta tuli totta	Murder Became True	English, Finnish subtitles
France	La Cinq, TF1, TV Breizh, TMC	Arabesque		French dubbed
Germany	ARD, RTL, Super RTL, Sat.1 Gold, TNT Serie, kabel eins, WDR, Einsfestival, rbb	Immer, wenn sie Krimis schrieb; Mord ist ihr Hobby	Whenever She Wrote Crime Novels; Murder is Her Hobby	German dubbed, original English version
Greece	Star Channel	Η συγγραφέας ντετέκτιβ	The Detective Writer	English, Greek subtitles
Hungary	Viasat 3	Gyilkos sorok	Murderous Lines	Hungarian dubbed
India	Star Plus	Murder, She Wrote		English
Ireland	RTÉ One	Murder, She Wrote		English
Israel	HOT Israel 10	רצח במשיכת קולמוס	Murder With a Stroke of Pen	English, Hebrew subtitles
Italy	Rai Uno, Fox Crime, Rai Due Rete 4	La signora in giallo	The Lady in Yellow	Italian dubbed
Japan	NHK, Mystery Channel, LaLa TV, Chiba TV, Gunma TV	ジェシカおばさんの事件簿 Jessica obasan no jikenbo	Auntie Jessica's Case Files	Japanese dubbed
Kuwait	KTV 2	Murder, She Wrote		English, Arabic subtitles
Latvia	LTV Fox Crime	Noziegumam pa pēdām	On the Trail of the Crime	Latvian dubbed
Lithuania	TV3	Džesika Flečer	Jessica Fletcher	Lithuanian dubbed
Macedonia	Fox Crime	Убиство, таа напиша	Murder, She Wrote	Macedonia dubbed
Mexico	4TV (former), Universal Channel (former), FX Latin America (current)	La reportera del crimen	The Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Netherlands	RTL 8, NCRV, 13th Street Universal	Murder, She Wrote		English, Dutch subtitles
New Zealand	TV One, TV2, TV3	Murder, She Wrote		English
Norway	TV3, NRK1	Jessica Fletcher	Jessica Fletcher	English, Norwegian subtitles
Pakistan	Pakistan Television, PTV1	Murder, She Wrote		English
Philippines	GMA Network, RJTV 29	Murder, She Wrote		English
Poland	13th Street, AXN, AXN Crime	Napisała: Morderstwo	Murder, She Wrote	English, Polish voice-over translation
Portugal	RTP 1, FOX CRIME	Crime, Disse Ela	Crime, She Said	English, Portuguese subtitles
Romania	Pro Cinema, TVR 2, AXN Crime, AXN White, AXN Spin	Verdict: Crimă	Verdict: Murder	English, Romanian subtitles
Russia	NTV, Domashny	Она написала убийство	Murder, She Wrote	Russian dubbed
Serbia	FOX Crime	Pisac i detektiv	A Writer and a Detective	English, Serbian subtitles
Slovakia	Markíza	To je vražda, napísala	Murder, She Wrote	Slovak dubbed
Slovenia	RTVSLO Kanal A FOX Crime TV3 Slovenia	Umor, je napisala	Murder, She Wrote	Slovene dubbed
South Africa	TV1 SABC Encore	Murder, She Wrote		English
South Korea	MBC	제시카의 추리 극장 Jessica-eui Churi Geukjang	Jessica's Detective Theatre	Korean dubbed
Spain	TVE, Calle 13, Atresseries	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, TV4 Guld	Mord och inga visor	Murder and No Melodies	English, Swedish subtitles
Turkey	TRT 1, Star TV, Kanal D TNT Türkiye	Cinayet Dosyası	Murder File	Turkish dubbed
Ukraine	СТБ	Вона написала вбивство	Murder, She Wrote	Ukrainian dubbed
United Kingdom	ITV, ITV3, ITV4, BBC1, BBC2, True Entertainment	Murder, She Wrote		English
United States	Hallmark Movie Channel, TV Land, Cozi TV	Murder, She Wrote		English
Uruguay	Monte Carlo Televisión	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed
Venezuela	Televen	Reportera del crimen	Crime Reporter	Spanish dubbed

Fun Merchandise

In 1985, a Murder, She Wrote board game was released. In the game, one player secretly acts as the killer, and the other players try to figure out who it is using clues. The killer wins if they can "kill" five characters and escape, while the detective players win by correctly guessing the killer's identity.

Later, in 2009, a company called Legacy Interactive released a computer video game based on the TV series. In the game, players help Jessica Fletcher solve five different murders. A second game, Murder She Wrote 2, came out in 2012.