NBC is reviving Murder She Wrote

[gtru1981]

NBC is getting desperate. This will never work on so many levels.

A. Remakes always tend to fail.

B. I am 30, never watched the original, why would anyone my age or under be interested in this?

C. The big four are getting desperate at this point, bc their ratings have been crashing since cable, Netflix and other sources are producing way Bette things to watch.

[Ben]

Add Hawaii 5-0 to the list, except that seems to have been a success.

At this rate they'll be rebooting Magnum P.I., Quincey, and Diagnosis Murder. Speaking of which, this remake sounds like Murder, She Wrote meets Diagnosis Murder. And both shows were quite different, and in no way needs to be meshed.

As others have said, Angela Lansbury was the show. And you can't mess with that.

I think this was evident during those episodes that she "narrated", where she only appeared in 2 scenes - they never worked as well as the regular episodes, and always lacked AL's presence as Jessica Fletcher.

I will be very surprised if this is actually any good and it gets a full season order. The original is rerun every day in the UK, and easily bounces from one network to another within months of airing the entire run, so you can see how popular the original must be.

I'm not even 30, yet, and I've watched the entire series when I was a kid, and still watch the reruns. The show just has a certain charm. Just b/c a show is made for an older audience, doesn't mean it will only appeal to said audience. Besides, this reboot could have a much more younger vibe about it than the original does.

[Khan]

IA. Jessica Fletcher wasn't the stereotypical, doddering "old lady." She was affable, independent, non-judgmental, filled with integrity and keen on living in the present; and I think we have Angela Lansbury and her innate classiness and style to thank for that. I just hope Octavia Spencer is up to that challenge.

[quartermainefan]

Hawaii 5-0 seems to be a moderate success. Battlestar Galactica was a cult hit too. They just need to have a good idea and not just trying to make a buck.

[~bl~]

I think NBC is desperate at this point to have any successful series even one that isn't great with the demos.

[DRW50]

That's a good point, but I'm not even sure this will be successful outside of demos.

I think the idea of MSW can appeal even to younger audiences, but it has to be done right.

I forgot about Hawaii 5-0. That just tends to do OK-ish, in spite of tons of support from CBS. But that's another show which was so dependent on the original cast, so I'm surprised the new one has done even that well.

[YRBB]

It didn't hurt that it established its own identity and was terrifically written. Which 95% of reboots/reimaginings are not.

[DaytimeFan]

The thing with Octavia is that she's still young, she's only 43! Angela Lansbury was 61 when she started MSW and was 72 when the series ended (of course the TV movies followed till she was 78). While Jessica Fletcher wasn't some doddering old lady, she was a mature woman who had lived a full life, had experience and wisdom and was thoughtful. The 20 year age gap in the proposed protagonist to Jessica Fletcher is pretty stark.

[DRW50]

One of the appeals of the show was the idea that the original sucked and the reboot was so much better (I never got the hype, myself). Most of the time this doesn't work. I remember the Bionic Woman producer trashing the original show to say how much better the reboot was. Oops.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

What's next...Matlock?

[dragonflies]

Nah the Golden Girls is next

[ChitHappens]

Aren't they doing GG with the women being between the ages of 30 and 37 or is that a joke too? It's hard to tell now.

[Khan]

I take back what I wrote upthread. The more I watch "McMillan & Wife" on Netflix, the more I think I'd be down for a remake of that particular series. I'm just figuring out who'd be good for each of the four main roles (Stuart, Sally, Mildred and Sgt. Enright.)

[Soaplovers]

The hand that rocks the cradle was just announced this week... I can't even begin to imagine how they can stretch that out to fit a season.. unless it's a limited series.

[DRW50]

Looks like Angela won't be going near this reboot.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20754424,00.html