Angela Lansbury is not happy with ‘Murder, She Wrote’ remake

NBC has put a remake of that classic ‘80s TV staple “Murder, She Wrote” into development, but it turns out the show’s original star, Angela Lansbury, isn’t too pleased with the idea.

Lansbury, who starred as murder-solving mystery writer Jessica Fletcher for 12 seasons and four TV movies on CBS, recently told the Associated Press she’s a fan of actress Octavia Spencer, who’s set to star in the remake; she just wishes they wouldn’t use the name.

Lansbury told the AP: “I think it’s a mistake to call it ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ because ‘Murder, She Wrote’ will always be about a Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place, and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person.”

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She continued, “So I’m sorry that they have to use the title ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ even though they have access to it and it’s their right.”

Lansbury was a big star before her “Murder, She Wrote” days, having won four Tony Awards and three Oscar nominations before taking the job in 1984. But her decade-plus on TV most every Sunday night made her a household name. She earned a best actress in a drama series Emmy nomination for every season the show was on the air, though she didn’t win.

This isn’t the first time a star of a classic TV show has bemoaned the remake. Richard Hatch, who played Captain Apollo in the original “Battlestar Galactica,” tried for years to mount his own continuation of the show before Universal decided to do a complete remake. Though Hatch was critical of the new series at first, he was eventually offered a role on the series and came to embrace it.

So maybe it’s possible that Lansbury will be given a plum role on the relaunched “Murder, She Wrote” and everything will end well. Of course, it should be noted that the title of the very first “Murder, She Wrote” episode was “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes.” So the series has never been above killing off iconic detectives.

Watch your back, Fletcher!

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