Angela Lansbury not thrilled with NBC’s hope to remake ‘Murder, She Wrote’

As you may have heard earlier this year, NBC is planning to try and remake “Murder, She Wrote” as a new drama starring “The Help’s” Octavia Spencer in the lead role; but, what is interesting to hear now is that the woman who put the original version of the show on the map is not altogether pleased with the idea or the concept.

Speaking to the Associated Press after hearing that her beloved CBS series, which ran for over a decade, was going to be getting a new sort of treatment elsewhere, Angela Lansbury had the following to say in what was hardly a vote of confidence to network executives trying to make the move happen:

“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.

“[They] also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual kind of person. So I’m sorry that they have to use the title Murder, She Wrote, even though … it’s their right.”

We understand perfectly why in the world Lansbury would be upset with the notion of a “Murder, She Wrote” remake for a show that is really not the original at all. Spencer’s character is a very different sort of woman who works at a hospital, and is not just Jessica Fletcher 2.0. So while she may still have an interest in mystery writing, it is not a situation here where they are just taking all of the attributes of the original show, and then adding them to this one.

Lansbury did add that she is a fan of Spencer’s and loved her role in “The Help,” but wished that they gave the series a different title rather than just one that capitalizes largely on the success of the original.

Personally, it’s still a mystery why NBC wants to even bring back a show that they know is going to skew incredibly old. It’s almost like they are ignoring what happened with “Harry’s Law,” and doing the same thing here for a show that will get two seasons more than likely before getting canceled due to lack of support in the demo.

Photo: NBC