5 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Murder, She Wrote’
Forty years ago, on Sept. 30, 1984, viewers took their first trip to scenic Cabot Cove, Maine, on the premiere episode of Murder, She Wrote. Though star Angela Lansbury wasn’t sure that the series would last for two seasons, it ran for 12, becoming one of CBS’ greatest hit shows and turning film and Broadway star Lansbury into a household name.
So pack your magnifying glass, jump on your bicycle and get ready to learn some fun facts about Murder, She Wrote.
1The Show Was Written for Jean Stapleton
Though it’s practically impossible to imagine anyone but Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, the show was originally pitched as a vehicle for Edith Bunker herself, Jean Stapleton.
Stapleton was coming off eight seasons of All in the Family, which ended in 1979, when she was approached about the role, and appeared initially interested. But, as Stapleton told Emmy Legends in a 2000 interview, she soon felt she’d have less creative flexibility on Murder, She Wrote than she’d had in her previous show. “It didn’t seem to be the kind of role I could really get my teeth into, and it just didn’t have enough color for me,” said Stapleton. “I thought, ‘This isn’t for me, now.'”
Lansbury, meanwhile, was eager to expand out of the music theater roles she was known for and get some TV exposure. “Every time I saw Angela in those years,” Stapleton added, “she’d say ‘Thank you, Jean!'”
2It Was Originally About a Retired Magician
MURDER, SHE WROTE, Angela Lansbury, 1984-96
Series creators Peter Fischer, Dick Levinson and Bill Link first pitched a series that also featured an older protagonist solving mysteries … but they imagined someone who used a magic wand, not a typewriter, as their tool of the trade. In a 1988 article for The Christian Science Monitor, Fischer recalled that the trio originally tried to sell network executives on a show about a retired, male, 50-something magician who solved mysteries. Execs were intrigued, but wanted a female protagonist instead. Taking Agatha Christie as their inspiration, the creators then developed the character of Jessica Fletcher.
And just in case you were curious, the “retired magician who solves mysteries” show did eventually make it to air! Blacke’s Magic, starring Hal Linden, ran for one season in 1986.
3Angela Lansbury Already Had an Agatha Christie Connection
(c) Associated Film Distribution/courtesy Everett Collection
Though the show is not based on any Christie novel, it has a few points of connection. The title is inspired by the 1961 film Murder, She Said, which was based on a book by Christie. And the character of Jessica Fletcher herself was inspired by Agatha Christie.
Lansbury might have had the strongest Christie connection, however. After playing novelist Salome Otterbourne in the 1978 Christie adaptation Death on the Nile, she went on to portray Miss Marple herself in the 1980 film The Mirror Crack’d.
4Cabot Cove Was Actually in California … and on the Jaws Ride?
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Cabot Cove is the archetypal small New England coastal town. However, rather than decamp to the East Coast (and shoot around Maine’s oft-harsh weather), the production shot some exterior footage for the show in the Northern California town of Mendocino, which is known for its picturesque cliffs and beaches. The exterior of Jessica Fletcher’s home was actually a local bed and breakfast that still operates, so fans can book an overnight stay.
Some other exterior footage, however, was filmed on a body of water that would be a bit less charming to vacation at. Some shots of Cabot Cove were actually filmed at the Jaws Lake stop on the Universal Studios backlot tour.
5The Show Referenced A Rival That Ruined Its Ratings
Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection
In its final season in 1996, Murder, She Wrote was moved from its traditional Sunday time slot to Thursday, where it was up against new mega-hit Friends. The move sank the show’s ratings, making it fall from eighth to 58th place. The situation is slyly referenced in the Season 12 episode “Murder Among Friends,” when Jessica must solve the murder of a writer on a TV show called Buds. Buds concerns a group of 20-something friends who spend their free time hanging around a coffee shop and discussing their love lives; the writer is murdered after she plans to write one of the characters off the show. Fletcher remarks in the episode, “Who would have thought a group of 20-something young people sitting around all day long discussing their sexuality would turn out to be a top TV show?” Jessica Fletcher is usually the one solving the crimes.. but that line might be brutal enough to count as attempted murder.
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