Murder, She Wrote

[BetterForgotten]

MSW's premiere commercial from 1984 and other commercials throughout the years:

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This one mentions Vicki Lawrence and Macdonald Carey (aka Dr. Tom Horton) as guest stars of the week:

1989-1990 season promos:

 

[Khan]

I wonder why Valerie Bertinelli or her "One Day at a Time" co-star, Bonnie Franklin, never made a guest appearance on MSW.  Everyone else from that cast did.

[Franko]

I don't know if it's true, but I once heard that Patty Duke was on MSW's "don't hire" list.

[Khan]

Who else was on MSW's don't-hire list?  I'm sure Betsy Russell was added after "Menace, Anyone?," lol.

[Paul Raven]

Rockabye was the first of the CBS Sunday Movies that followed MSW.

Crazy Like A Fox and Trapper John were not holding the 60Min/MSW leadin and being beaten by movies on NBC and ABC so CBS decided to get into the act. 

That week MSW was 3rd 28.5/40 and Rockabye 4th 25.3/38.

Love how those promos tried to jazz up the show by showing fights, bodies falling from windows etc with cuts to Jessica showing various expressions. The only action bit they called find for her was rushing to answer the phone! I was probably her hairdresser cancelling an appointment..

[BetterForgotten]

It would be interesting to go back and understand what the expectations and media coverage were for this show before it debuted. Everything I've seen points to it being an "unexpected" and "surprise" hit. I guess that's to be expected about a show starring a senior citizen that's a non-professional sleuth. 

This promo for a TV Guide cover story on the show and Angela Lansbury certainly spins it as a surprise hit:

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Barbara Walters does as well in her 1985 Special interview with Angela Lansbury:

 

[Paul Raven]

Well CBS did place it Sunday @8 so they must have had some faith in it. Probably feeling that it would flow nicely from 60 Minutes.

The competition was kid oriented action/adventure Hardcastle & McCormick (ABC) and Knight Rider (NBC)

In Wk 1, MSW ranked 9th, Knight Rider was 10th and Hardcastle was 32nd.

The following week MSW was 10th but Knight rider fell to 32nd.

 

[Khan]

Still, even on Sunday nights, and following an older-skewing show like "60 Minutes," there were no guarantees that audiences would have wanted to tune into a "cozy" mystery series -- remember, we're talking about the era of "Magnum, P.I." and "The A-Team" -- and one starring someone who had no cache beyond Broadway and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks."  Everyone at CBS flipped for it, but would the rest of America feel the same way?  It was probably a relief, then, when they found out that the rest of America did.

I guess that (promos designed to make the show look more action-oriented) was to be expected.  After all, CBS had to hook the younger audiences somehow.  But, man, imagine how disappointed some must've felt to tune into the actual show after seeing one of THOSE commercials, lol.

It still burns me up how the network (and specifically Les Moonves) wouldn't allow Angela Lansbury to end the series on her terms.  I mean, MSW (and "60 Minutes") essentially pulled the rest of the network through some very dark times in the '80's and '90's, and that's the thanks she gets?  A move to a Thursday night time slot she didn't have a chance of succeeding in?

If a show like MSW no longer fits within your long-range plans for your network, fine.  Sit down with all parties and work out the best way to close out the show with some dignity.  Tell 'em they have one more year and then advertise the hell out of it so the show can go out on top.  But to relegate it to a different night after America has spent over a decade making it a go-to destination for Sunday nights....

MSW wasn't just cancelled.  It was murdered.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Khan

[BetterForgotten]

Angela tells Donahue at the beginning of this interview that they weren’t sure they had a hit on their hands in the beginning and that the show found it’s audience via repeats - but the data we have seems to contradict that. Angela herself said she didn’t expect it to last more than a year as well.

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Edited February 16, 2022 by BetterForgotten

[Paul Raven]

Odd Angela would say that as the show was a hit right out of the gate.

Sometimes,on air talent are several steps removed from ratings and such so she may be  misremembering or not properly informed.

Apart from MSW CBS only launched Charles in Charge (which went on to be a syndication hit) Dreams (with John Stamos) and the ill fated Cover Up (Jon Erik Hexum shot himself on set).

[DaytimeFan]

Who could blame Angela - Patty Duke stole her Oscar for The Manchurian Candidate.

I always found it odd that for as many MGM actors who appeared, and who Angela delighted in giving great paying guest shots that maintained their SAG insurance, major MGM people like Ann Miller or Arlene Dahl never did.

I always wondered if those glamour girls treated Angela like sh*t on the MGM backlot and when she finally had some power she exercised it.

[Paul Raven]

In the 1986-87 TV season, CBS came up with the idea of a crossover between 'Magnum, p.i.' and 'Murder, She Wrote'. Michael Eisenberg of CBS told 'Newsday', "'Magnum' has more viewers who are male, teens and children, while 55% of 'Murder, She Wrote's' audience is women. This could bring more women to 'Magnum'. If this works, you'll see more such crossovers." 

 

Robert Swanson of 'Murder, She Wrote' and Jay Huguely of 'Magnum, p.i.' "worked very closely together. Obviously, the tough part for Jay Huguely was to put together the first part, the 'Magnum' episode, so it looked like a 'Magnum' and, at the same time, to bring in Angela as Jessica so that she looked good. I had the easier job. I had to make sure with the 'Murder' episode that we had four or five characters, as always one of whom would turn out to be the murderer, while doing justice to Tom Selleck as Magnum." 

 

Jay Huguely mentioned, "All along, adjustments were being made to suit the two lead characters. 'Magnum' is pretty much straight action-adventure regularly, with a big climax. In this case, because of Jessica Fletcher, our show had to be somewhat more complex and cerebral even with all the action." 'Newsday' reported, "When their scripts were finished, Swanson and Huguely found they still had more to do. Since the shows won't be sold together when they're sold into syndication as reruns, each hour episode had to be complete in and of itself." B. Donald Grant of CBS told 'Knight-Ridder Newspapers', "The key to these things is to create a certain amount of linkage between these shows in the minds of the viewers." 

[Khan]

IIRC, there were also plans for an MSW/"Simon & Simon" crossover, but those never came to fruition.

Truthfully, I haven't seen the "Magnum" episode w/ Angela Lansbury, because "Magnum" just isn't my kind of show.  But I have seen the MSW one w/ Tom Selleck and I thought it was well-done.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Khan

[Franko]

While Dallas and MSW couldn't cross over, it does seem rather obvious that Barbara Bel Geddes and Howard Keel's last storyline involving the mystery of Weststar shareholders all dying was a bit of follow the leader.

[Khan]

Well, when you put it that way, lol.

Just imagine, for the moment, Jessica popping up and solving mysteries on various CBS shows.  Heck, she could have even put in an appearance as one of Murphy Brown's short-lived secretaries, lol!