Murder, She Wrote, starring the late Dame Angela Lansbury as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher, was a ratings juggernaut for CBS between 1984 and 1996. At its peak, the show drew around 40 million viewers and consistently ranked among the top 13 most-watched programmes in the United States. However, its final season saw a dramatic collapse to 58th place, leading to the show's abrupt cancellation after 12 years.
The sudden decline in viewership was not due to waning popularity but to a controversial scheduling change. CBS moved the programme from its coveted Sunday night slot to Thursday, directly against NBC's hugely popular 'Must See TV' line-up, which included Friends. The network hoped Murder, She Wrote would siphon viewers from NBC, but instead the show's audience evaporated, finishing in 58th place for its final season.
Dame Angela was fiercely critical of the decision. She told The Spokesman-Review: 'I don't think I would have ever agreed to do this 12th season if I knew this was going to happen. I just couldn't understand. I couldn't find any logic to their thinking, and neither could anybody else.' Following the cancellation, she reprised her role in four TV movies between 1997 and 2003, which saw Jessica Fletcher solving mysteries on a train and in Ireland.
In 2013, NBC considered a reboot starring Octavia Spencer as a hospital administrator and budding crime novelist. Dame Angela objected, stating: 'I think it's a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote because Murder, She Wrote will always be about Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of people.' The reboot was shelved a year later, to her relief. She praised Spencer, calling her a 'superb actress' who had 'no business being put into a situation that she couldn't win.'
Dame Angela passed away on 11 October 2022 at age 96. In 2023, a film adaptation was announced with Jamie Lee Curtis set to play Jessica Fletcher. However, in early 2024, Curtis indicated to Entertainment Weekly that the film had not yet started production.
