14 DAY TRIAL // Last month, NBC announced that it was working on a remake of the classic detective series “Murder, She Wrote” and that it might even get original star Angela Lansbury to do a cameo. While still in negotiations with the network for said appearance, Lansbury is speaking out against the reboot.
The new series is meant to be a procedural like “Fargo” and “Bones,” starring Octavia Spencer as an author of mystery novels who is so fascinated by murder stories that she works her way to becoming an advisor / private detective for the police, helping them solve some of the biggest cases they come across.
NBC is yet to choose a title for the reboot or, for that matter, to provide more details on Spencer’s character, but Lansbury is going on the record with how upset she is that they would use the same title and name as in the original series, Deadline reports.
“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,” the actress says.
“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. I saw [Octavia] in ‘The Help’ and thought she was absolutely wonderful, a lovely actress. So I wish her well, but I wish it wasn’t in ‘Murder, She Wrote’,” she adds.
However, Deadline points out, either Lansbury has some inside information that the public isn’t privy to yet, or she’s really speaking out of turn.
“The thing is, the character played by Spencer will not be named Jessica Fletcher as execs and producers determined early on that no one but Lansbury could play that character, and NBC has not settled yet on a title for the remake, which may or may not be called Murder, She Wrote,” the trade publication writes.
Even more ironic is that Lansbury is speaking out against a project she’s still considering doing. If we didn’t know better, we’d be tempted to think she was asked to say these things to raise interest in the new show. Or perhaps she’s already made up her mind not to be a part of it, but she’s yet to let network bosses and producers know about it.