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Angela Lansbury Has a Problem With NBC’s New ‘Murder, She Wrote’

Nov 12, 2013  •  Post A Comment

With NBC recently announcing plans to remake the long-running mystery show "Murder, She Wrote," its former star, Angela Lansbury, revealed that she has a problem with the idea.

The Associated Press reports that Lansbury, who played amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher for 12 seasons during the original show’s run on CBS from 1984-1996, has criticized NBC’s decision to use the original name "Murder, She Wrote" for the reboot.

As previously reported, NBC is working on a new version of the show — one of television’s most successful series — with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer in the lead role that Lansbury made famous. Lansbury received 12 consecutive Emmy nominations for her role as Jessica Fletcher, among her 18 total Emmy nods. She has never won an Emmy.

Lansbury won four Golden Globes for the role, receiving a total of 10 Globe nominations for the series. She also won Golden Globes for two film roles — in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1945) and "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) — and has been nominated for three Oscars.

Lansbury told the AP in a telephone interview that she thinks the new NBC series should have a different title.

"I think it’s a mistake to call it ‘Murder, She Wrote,’" Lansbury said, "because ‘Murder, She Wrote’ will always be about 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. …

"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," she said.

Lansbury described Spencer as a "wonderful … lovely actress." She added, "So I wish her well, but I wish it wasn’t in ‘Murder, She Wrote.’"

Spencer’s representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment from the AP, the piece adds.

angela lansbury.jpgAngela Lansbury

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