Angela Lansbury is not happy with ‘Murder, She Wrote’ remake

NBC has put a remake of that classic ‘80s TV staple “Murder, She Wrote� into development, but it turns out the show’s original star, Angela Lansbury, isn’t too pleased with the idea.

Lansbury, who starred as murder-solving mystery writer Jessica Fletcher for 12 seasons and four TV movies on CBS, recently told the Associated Press she’s a fan of actress Octavia Spencer, who’s set to star in the remake; she just wishes they wouldn’t use the name.

Lansbury told the AP: “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.�

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She continued, “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.�

Lansbury was a big star before her “Murder, She Wrote� days, having won four Tony Awards and three Oscar nominations before taking the job in 1984. But her decade-plus on TV most every Sunday night made her a household name. She earned a best actress in a drama series Emmy nomination for every season the show was on the air, though she didn’t win.

This isn’t the first time a star of a classic TV show has bemoaned the remake. Richard Hatch, who played Captain Apollo in the original “Battlestar Galactica,� tried for years to mount his own continuation of the show before Universal decided to do a complete remake. Though Hatch was critical of the new series at first, he was eventually offered a role on the series and came to embrace it.

So maybe it’s possible that Lansbury will be given a plum role on the relaunched “Murder, She Wrote� and everything will end well. Of course, it should be noted that the title of the very first “Murder, She Wrote� episode was “The Murder of Sherlock Holmes.� So the series has never been above killing off iconic detectives.

Watch your back, Fletcher!

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