Murder, She Saw

buzzfeed: Terry Richardson did a photoshoot with Angela...

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:04:06 -0400

buzzfeed:

Terry Richardson did a photoshoot with Angela Lansbury recently, for some reason.

More pictures surface from the Angela Lansbury/Terry Richardson shoot.

Yes. Also, hello. I need to catch up on my “Murder, She...

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:49:00 -0400

Yes.

Also, hello. I need to catch up on my “Murder, She Wrote!”

When I was a kid my great aunt used to watch Murder She Wrote and the music scared me so much I would cry and beg to go home. What do you have to say to that?

Thu, 05 May 2011 18:00:05 -0400

Hannah, I say that when I visit you we should listen to the theme song on loop while watching video clips of Voldemort.

I’m off to the Sunshine State for the weekend!...

Thu, 05 May 2011 16:27:04 -0400

I’m off to the Sunshine State for the weekend! Here’s hoping that I don’t find a retired Jessica Fletcher living next door to the Golden Girls causing/investigating murders in Disney.

Or Tom Selleck. Is that Tom Selleck?

Tom Bosley AND Erin Moran? Imagine if Marion Jones was Jessica...

Thu, 05 May 2011 08:00:05 -0400

Tom Bosley AND Erin Moran? Imagine if Marion Jones was Jessica Fletcher…

TVHangover gives a great context to “Murder, She Wrote” in terms of today’s television.

tvhangover:

Recent days have found me watching a lot of Murder, She Wrote (?). It’s pretty low impact and runs well in the background as I’m working on other things, and it carries some nostalgia for me since I used to watch it with my mom when I was a little kid. It’s kind of silly and there are a lot of episodes I’ve already seen, but I’ve started to notice something.

This show is terrible!

This show is terrible, and it was on the air for 12 YEARS! That’s 264 episodes, which is more than 250 plots about friends and relatives of Jessica Fletcher being involved in murder investigations, which means more than 250 instances of Jessica talking her way into being involved in police murder investigations on a flimsy reason, which is usually that the detective in question is a fan of her books. Sure, this is a better excuse than the one Miss Marple has, which is that she is just a nosy old woman who doesn’t appear to have a home, but I’m serious how far am I expected to suspend my disbelief?

Everyone wants to talk about how TV is getting worse, but come on guys, an old woman who solves mysteries would never fly in a post Law & Order/post CSI world. Castle is similar but has a little bit of awareness of how ridiculous it sounds and has some (key word being some) character development. So next time you want to lament the lowered quality of the pilots you’re seeing and how we are all slowing having our brains turned to mush by network television’s poor writing and routine plots, remember, no one is getting pitched a show about an old woman who travels around the country visiting her friends and solving crimes anymore.

1.5 "It's a Dog's Life" aka THE ANIMALS ARE THE MURDERERS

Tue, 03 May 2011 14:48:00 -0400

Original air date: November 4, 1984
Wikipedia synopsis: Man’s best friend gets a bad reputation when a fox hunter dies in a riding accident and the authorities try to blame the heir to his estate, his beloved pooch.

For some reason, Netflix has this episode play instead of Episode 1.4 “Hooray for Homicide”. Anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, we meet yet another member of the widespread Fletcher clan—this time a British cousin played by Lynn Redgrave. Are the people in this family just unusually mobile? Or was there a Fletcher male that was a transient and had all sorts of secret families around the globe? I need to know.

Let me just say I loved this episode. It was like Jessica Fletcher meets Wishbone. Or Angela Lansbury in “All Creatures Great and Small.” She rode a horse. She investigates why a gray mare and a hound to go on a killing spree.

Seriously, a dog murders a woman by closing an automatic gate on her head. This is the best show ever.

But, y’know, animals aren’t completely conscious or aware of their actions like a human so naturally he was not convicted (but he did get put in jail, obvious natural course of action in line with logic).

The scene where Mrs. Fletcher is in the hands of the potentially murderous son and random hillbilly with a gun reminded me of “Winter’s Bone”. This is high level stuff.

Questions:

FLETCHER FAMILY TREE. Find it. I will start a Fletcher birther movement.
What happened to Mrs. Fletcher’s book? It was not mentioned in this episode. Perhaps the episode mix up with 1.4 “Hooray for Homicide” explains it.

Dateline, Cabot Cove

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:00:05 -0400

Residents of Cabot Cove, Maine have had it with Angela Lansbury.

The picturesque town, of course, was the setting for the TV series “Murder, She Wrote.” Since the series’ own death in 1996, Lansbury has become a frequent vacationer and, many say, a nuisance. After spending three weeks last summer in her TV house, now a bed and breakfast, she refused to pay her bills. This is my house, she told the innkeeper. Twice she’s been cited for bicycle DUI, and once for lewd conduct with a lobster.

Dr. Seth Hasletch treated her for a jet ski related accident, another bill that went unpaid. Quote, “She wasnt just rude, she accused me of murder. She accuses everyone she doesn’t like of murder.”

“Angela feels like she made this town what it is,” says beauty parlor owner Loretta Spiegel. “Nonsense, ‘Murder, She Wrote’ made Cabot Cove look like a killing field, someone getting murdered every week. She’s done enough damage.”

-Mo Rocca’s fake story for NPR’s “Wait…Wait…Don’t Tell Me”

1.3 "Birds of a Feather" in which Kenicke is a Drag Queen

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:45:00 -0400

Original air date: 10/14/1984
Wikipedia Synopsis: Pre-wedding jitters take on a new meaning for the fiancé of Jessica’s niece when he’s accused of a cabaret owner’s murder.

The premise of this episode is Jessica Fletcher takes what should be a relaxing vacation to San Fransisco for her niece’s wedding and-you guessed it-she become entangled in a murder investigation.

Surprisingly, this episode does not take place in Cabot Cove. Perhaps I misjudged the series and it is more along the lines of “traveling murder mystery” than “continual murders in a small town that seem to alarm no one.” I am genuinely interested in seeing how the show’s writers continue to justify the aura of death around Jessica.

Mrs. Fletcher’s task at hand is to ingratiate herself within the gruff police department of San Fransisco (in which all policemen behave like they’re from the Bronx) and subsequently clear her niece’s drag queen fiance’s name for the murder of a nightclub owner. Got all that?

I spent most of this episode fixated on hair than the plot. Why does the Fletcher niece look like Malibu Barbie meets Little House on the Prairie? Why are these wigs on the drag queens so bad? All the men have Kotter-hair syndrome. Alas, the fashion of the 1980s is strong with this episode.

Also, I am three episodes deep and Jessica Fletcher seems to have relatives coming out of the woodwork: first, her nephew Grady in the pilot was responsible for getting her book published, now her niece pops up and gets married in San Fransisco. Who are these kids’ parents? Why aren’t they or Grady at the wedding? Were they killed along with the mysterious Mr. Fletcher? I need a Fletcher family tree pronto.

These questions plague me as I watch each episode, but its out of love.

Twentysomething viewers of "Murder, She Wrote" Unite!

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:05:00 -0400

Me: I started a blog about me watching all the episodes of "Murder, She Wrote"
Sahil: ...What?...Emily.
Me: I AM LIVING ALONE THIS SUMMER. It is a measure I am taking to avoid becoming a cat lady.
Sahil: ...I don't think writing a blog about every episode of Murder, She Wrote makes you any less of a stereotypical old lady. By trying to avoid becoming a cat lady, you're basically becoming one...Cause I imagine cat ladies watch that show all the time.
Me: Nu-uh
Sahil: Maybe you should wait until you're 55 to start acting like a 55 year old.
Me: I added music to the blog ! :-)
Sahil: Is it swing music from your days as a child in 40s America?
Me: Yep
Sahil: oh. well that makes sense then.

1.2 "Deadly Lady" in which Howard Cunningham is a sheriff

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:49:00 -0400

Original air date: 10/7/1984
Wikipedia synopsis: A mysterious man who briefly stops by Jessica’s house turns up dead, supposedly swept overboard during a hurricane before Jessica even met him.

How have I never known that Tom Bosley was on this show? Double-whammy combo with Angela Lansbury. His grumpy sheriff is the perfect foil for Mrs. Fletcher’s pep. His face just screams, “Sit on it, Fletcher.”

Basically, this episode is about why you do not let strange old hipster hobos into your house and give them your deceased husband’s pipe: you will have to solve his real murder and deal with his bratty daughters even though you were already in the middle of investigating his staged murder. Duh.

If you are familiar at all with King Lear, skip this episode as it riffs on similar themes. If you are not, go get some culture by reading the play and THEN watch “Deadly Lady”.

The premise is a CEO father wants to divide his megamillions amongst his daughters, but fakes his death to do so. The daughters are greedy and lead the father to his actual death. Mainly, they’re all harpies dressed in Jordache.

Jessica Fletcher naturally saves the day by having none other than Tom Bosley on the phone, which is hidden behind a vase of flowers, during the murderer’s confession. Then, Mrs. Fletcher actually shows the killer how she hid the phone. It’s like when the villain reveals his master plan before executing it; oooh Girl, don’t mention the sheriff until he is there in person to make the arrest!

Of course, no villain would want to escape Jessica Fletcher’s grandmotherly ways and the killer chooses to wait in comfort for her arrest rather than go on the lam. Ah, TV logic.

Questions/Predictions: What’s the deal with Mr. Fletcher? Did she solve his murder too? Will she get together with Tom Bosley (please oh please)?

I Know This Much Is True

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:51:00 -0400

This is an excerpt from I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb that I always found hysterical and accurate.

Felice pointed up at the wall-mounted TV. “Jessica Fletcher there. Murder, She Wrote. She goes shopping; there’s a stiff. She goes to visit some friend of hers; there’s another one. She goes off on vacation. Boom! When’s the last time you went out someplace and ran into a corpse? She’s like the Grim Reaper or something.”
…
“She’s like a corpse magnet,” Felice said. “I tell you one thing. If you ever see Angela Lansbury coming toward you, start running the other way quick.”

(submitted by pale-fire)

1.1 "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes" aka Jessica Fletcher is a true lady

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:22:00 -0400

Original air date: 9/30/84
Wikipedia Synopsis: After the successful publication of her first murder-mystery novel, Jessica is invited to a costume ball at the mansion of her publisher, with whom she happens to be falling in love. When a guest dressed as Sherlock Holmes is murdered, all eyes turn to her to out-sleuth the assassin of the deceased “detective”. (Airs as two separate episodes during syndication.)

Okay, so this was my first full viewing of an episode of “Murder, She Wrote” and boy is the pilot a doozy. This was like a made for TV movie in its length and variety of characters. I was expecting lots of New England bicycle rides and geriatric Nancy Drew-ery but got a comical stereotype of New York City with mystery peppered in.

I was a bit disappointed the pilot takes place mainly in NYC and not the Cabot Cove I have heard so much about. However, I did get a kick out of Jessica Fletcher’s constant trips to the train station and how she wins over every gruff New Yorker with her ever-persistent-yet-charming-ways. Seriously, no cab drive would ever give you a free fare in exchange for a home made foot ointment recipe written down off the top of some lady’s head.

Jessica Fletcher as reluctant author/willing sleuth is a combination that didn’t make sense to me at first. If she is so quick to shy from attention and praise, why get visibly involved in a murder investigation? By the end of the episode, it was clear to me that the character is so naturally inquisitive and genuinely interested in improving the lives of those she encounters that I just absolutely could not do anything but love the show.

I was also frustrated with myself at the end of the show because I figured out who the murderer was based on Jessica Fletcher’s ladylike ways. No steadfast widow would carry on an emotional affair like a vixen without having him be a regular on the TV series that is her life. She would not roll that way. On the other hand, as she is a quality role model and a good looking gal, surely her beau would not leave her.
Mental Thesis of the Episode: Mrs. Fletcher would not love ‘em and leave ‘em, but is too good a catch to be dumped. Therefore, her male suitor must be the murderer and carted off to jail (SPOILER: he was).

Overall, though, I found myself laughing out loud at some of the jokes and intrigued by the airtight script. I can’t imagine writing something so tricky to unravel while remaining light and maintaining clarity for the audience. Plus, any script that features Angela Lansbury doing a weird jog no fewer than three times in an episode is clearly going for laughs from someone with my absurd sense of humor.

The Project

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:10:00 -0400

You’ve all been there: Late at night, looking for a new TV series to curl up with on Netflix Instant because you’ve already seen everything in your queue twice, but Netflix keeps recommending series that it only has two seasons of on Instant. And Lord knows you are NOT gonna sit around waiting for a disc.

What ho- you discover a show that has all TWELVE seasons online, spanning hundreds of episodes; a show with enough episodes that you don’t feel bad about depriving your future self of things to watch when you go on a day-long episode binge; a show that is well-written enough to keep your interest, but does not require you to pay attention to every detail to follow the plot; a show that has…Angela Lansbury!

Am I hoping to establish some sort of “Julie and Julia” relationship with a fictional character? Perhaps. Will I become a shut-in who hums the theme song nonstop? Perhaps. Is all of this an attempt to become an old lady at the age of 24? Perhaps.

Either way, pull up a chair and enjoy Jessica Fletcher’s adventures in Cabot Cove…because it’s going to be a long summer fling with “Murder, She Wrote”.

Audio

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:07:00 -0400