Customer Reviews

Murder, She Wrote - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Murder, She Wrote was created with the CBS Sunday night prime audience of older viewers in mind; An audience that CBS had reveled in for countless years due to 60 Minutes. Well, I was not one of those older viewers.

I was 14 when I started watching Murder, She Wrote in 1984. Having grown up with shows like Columbo, Matlock, Remington Steele, Hart to Hart, Charlie's Angels, (the short-lived) Ellery Queen, and many others, I was very intrigued by this new show. I didn't know who Angela Lansbury was or how the show would be structured. All I knew was that I would get to play detective along with the lead, and that was all I needed to hear. Created & written by the same team (Peter Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link) who'd created shows like Columbo, a deviously clever made-for-TV movie called 'Rehearsal for Murder' (which I had just seen the summer before MSW premiered), plus a whole slew of other shows to their credit, I knew MSW was bound to be a hit. And a hit it was.

Filled with more celebrity guests than Oscar night, the show played fair with its audience, giving them the clues they needed to solve the crime(s) before the final 10 minutes of the show. The flashbacks, helping to remind you what you may have missed, were an especially nice touch. The writing was sharp, the storylines fun & original, and the production was first rate. Of course, none of this would've mattered if the lead wasn't someone we liked. Cue: Angela Lansbury.

Originally, the part of J.B. Fletcher was supposed to go to Jean Stapleton; Edith Bunker from All in the Family. But Stapleton didn't want to do another series, so she turned the part down. Lansbury was the studio's 2nd choice. A veteran of stage and screen, Lansbury was the perfect fit for the role of J.B. Fletcher, a retired High School English teacher turned writer by her somewhat naïve but absolutely adorable nephew, Grady, who turns in Fletcher's manuscript she wrote to fill the lonely times following her husband Frank's death to a New York publisher. After becoming an immediate success, Fletcher is whisked off to her publisher's mansion where a costume party leads to the ultimate death of 2 of the stars of that evening's show. Using common sense, some logic, and perseverance, J.B. solves the crime in the final 15 minutes and her fate is sealed. She becomes the writer everyone adores who seems to find a murder (or two, or three...) to solve no matter where she goes.

Lansbury's charm was subtle but immediately contagious & recognizable. She played Fletcher perfectly. J.B. was no-nonsense but never derogatory. She was practical, but not a stick-in-the-mud. She was fun but she knew her limits. She was fallible, compassionate, funny, smart, susceptible to deceit, and an all-around nice person. In other words, she portrayed someone who could exist. Someone we could root and care for. Sure, there are countless many who couldn't believe the show's characters would even invite J.B. to an event given that there always seemed to be death following close behind her. But, hey. This was television. And that was the whole premise of the show: A mystery writer turned murder solver. There had to be some suspension of disbelief. And in the end, it was great television; watching what most criminals thought was a helpless old busybody foiling their crimes in a cool & calm style.

What most people may not know is that MSW was not a runaway hit during its 1st season that it eventually turned into. The 1st season ratings were okay, but nothing stellar, and there was a time when it looked like MSW might not return for a 2nd season. It was only during the first season's reruns that the show began to find its audience and pick up steam. And by the time Season 2 started, the show was primed for broadcast. After it did, there was no stopping it.

Never let it be said that Sunday nights during the mid to late 80's or early 90's were boring. For 11 seasons Murder, She Wrote ate up the ratings on Sunday nights following 60 Minutes. Unfortunately, its 12th season pitted it against Friends on Thursday nights when the then head of CBS, who didn't know what to do with the show after so many [successful] years, wanted to bury it for good. And good he did. Murder, She Wrote just couldn't survive the onslaught of Friends. The show was cancelled after the 12th season, with the aptly entitled final episode `Death by Demographics'. Lansbury did go on to appear in 4 Murder, She Wrote 2-hour TV "movies" over the next 6 years, (South by Southwest, A Story to Die For, The Last Free Man, and The Celtic Riddle). None of them included members from the show (like Seth, Mort, or Grady), but they did help fill the void felt when Murder left the air in 1996.

Now the show seems to be finally making its way to DVD soon. However, there are rumors on Universal Studios' website that the disks will be compiled in a `Best Of...' format. I really hope that isn't the case, as I'll probably not purchase it if they are. While Murder, She Wrote (like any other show) certainly had its share of dud episodes, they still lent credence to why this was one of the most successful shows of all time, even if CBS executives decided to murder it instead of nurturing it.

Let's just hope that Universal Studios gives its audience what it wants: The show, on DVD in order of broadcast, just like any other show. J.B., Angela Lansbury, and their fans deserve some sweet justice after all these years...

Saying that the upcoming DVD release of Murder, She Wrote is long overdue is like saying chocolate is only an "OK" treat -- a world class understatement! In fact, "world class" describes this venerable series perfectly, from its multi-talented cast, interesting stories and production value. Murder, She Wrote is arguably the most beloved American TV mystery series, and for good reason.

The series began in 1984 when Angela Lansbury was 58 and continued through 1996 producing 264 episodes for CBS, and easily winning its time slot for most of its run.

The fabulous Ms. Lansbury, who as a distinguished career on Broadway and in the movies, portrayed the lead character of Jessica Fletcher, a widowed, childless English teacher from the fictional small seaport of Cabot Cove, Maine. (The exteriors of the homes, seaport and ocean scenes were actually shot on the opposite coast -- in Mendicino, Calif.)

In the series, Jessica's quiet and predictable life is abruptly turned upside down after her nephew submits a mystery manuscript she wrote under the name "J.B. Fletcher" to an East Coast publisher without her knowledge and the book is published. (In the show, Jessica's middle name is Beatrice.) The book becomes an instant bestseller, and Jessica-the-author continues to write similarly popular yarns until she becomes internationally famous. Equally famous is Jessica's uncanny knack at solving crimes as an amateur sleuth who is called upon to help by law enforcement from Cabot Cove to Europe and beyond as the series continues. (It is interesting to note that Jean Stapleton, who portrayed Edith Bunker on All in the Family, was first offered the role of Jessica but, thankfully, declined.)

Show creators Richard Levinson, William Link and Peter S. Fischer (Lansbury's real-life husband) brought an impressively combined resume that included Columbo, Mannix, Alfred Hitchcock Present and Ellery Queen.

In the show's premiere (included in this DVD release), Jessica's nephew Grady (portrayed throughout the series by Michael Horton) submits that fateful manuscript to a New York City publisher. Not only does that launch his beloved aunt's career, it quickly embroils her deeply into her first homicide investigation as well as a tragic love affair.

Each week, viewers were treated to the often murderous happenings in small town, quiet Cabot Cove, which ended up having at least 50 murders investigated by Jessica over the course of the series. Jessica helped the local constabulary there, initially bumbling Sheriff Amos Tupper, portrayed by Tom Bosley, then a more credible Sheriff, Mort Metzger, portrayed by Ron Masak, to solve whatever crime occurred.

Viewers also followed "J.B." around the world as she promoted her books on tour. Viewers were also treated to a fabulous character progression by Ms. Lansbury that took Jessica from a somewhat dowdy widow to a chic, sophisticated and internationally famous author of means and influence who helped citizens and governments alike. (She also helped a seemingly endless stream of nieces, nephews and other family members get out of trouble.)

Along the way, Ms. Lansbury was supported by brilliant charactor actor William Windom who portrayed crusty Dr. Seth Hazlitt and Jessica's closest friend. Hazlitt felt more than friendship for Jessica as the show continued, but unfortunately, the two were never officially brought together.

Broadway legends Len Cariou and the late Jerry Orbach (both friends of Ms. Lansbury) had recurring roles as British Intelligence Agent Michael Hagerty and Chicago Private Detective Harry McGraw, respectively. It was this role that provided Orbach with the opportunity to move on and join the cast of the celebrated Law & Order.

When the show began, Jessica was inexperienced and naive, the opening title sequence featuring an old manual typewriter upon which she pounded out her novels. When the series went off the air, Jessica maintained a second apartment in New York, had dined with kings and queens, been involved in international intrigue, dressed in the most stylish fashions -- and the opening sequence featured an up-to-date computer and printer! But, at the heart of the series was the heart Ms. Lansbury endowed her alter ego of Jessica, who never forgot her humble beginnings or her friends and remained a woman of integrity, compassion and warmth.

On the series, Ms. Lansbury was often able to showcase her many talents. Twice she played the dual role of her cousin Emma MacGill, a London dance hall performer. It is no coincidence that the singing and dancing Ms. Lansbury's given name is Angela Brigid MacGill Lansbury.

We can only hope that the remaining seasons of this fine series are released in full and very, very soon!

I don't know what to make of Universal Studios? On the one hand Universal has done a pretty good job of making some of the older and classic television shows available to their fans. MSW is definitely a show that fans have been waiting for. I'm one of the more casual fans. As a teenager, when the show first aired, I enjoyed watching the first few seasons, after that I found that the shows were still good but the novelty had worn off. However, when I heard that the first season was making its way to DVD I knew I would have to purchase a copy. I don't remember having ever seen the pilot movie, "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes", and that was an unexpected treat. These early episodes are my favorites. I enjoyed the Cabot Cove crowd that made up these episodes. Claude Akins, Capt. Ethan Cragg, as Jessica's friend that will do anything to help her. Tom Bosley, Sheriff Amos Tupper, was my favorite Cabot Cove Sheriff, I greatly missed him when he departed the show. Also, each show was packed with multiple, and recognizeable, guest stars. My favorite episode from season one is "Murder takes the Bus." A nifty "who-dunnit" that keeps the viewer guessing as to who the killer(s) is. This brings me to my compalint on the other hand of this issue.

During my viewing of "Murder takes the Bus" my DVD froze and then skipped an entire chapter. This is the fourth Universal DVD that I will have to take back for this problem. I have no real knowledge of what causes a disk to freeze or skip but I'm willing to bet that it has to do with the way Universal crams eight shows on each disk, four on each side. I'm sure that Universal is attempting to save money by limiting the amount of disks for each shows DVD release. Well they can't be saving money, the shear amount of money they must be loosing in returns and exchanges is probably eliminating any savings they think they are making by using 3 disks instead of 6 for a seasons release of shows. I've noticed that Anchor Bay, who released HUNTER and THREE'S COMAPANY only use one side of their disks and I have never had to return any of their DVD's. Using one side of a disk makes them a lot easier to handle and I'm guessing that having less material crammed on the disk helps reduce the skipping and freezing.

I would have given this DVD set a 4 star rating. I deducted a star for the cheap Univeral DVD packaging and lack of extra features. I would still suggest that fans buy this set but make sure you watch all the episodes as soon as you can so that you can return or exchange the set if you encounter viewing problems.

I eagerly awaited the first season of "Murder, She Wrote" on DVD. Unfortunately, less than 25 minutes into the first episode, the DVD froze.

A problem, but it's probably just dirty from shipping (although no DVD from anyone except Universal has this problem.) Stop the player, take out the DVD, and carefully wash it with optical cloth. Restart the player, fast forward to the skipping spot. Failure: the DVD hangs fast forwarding. Ditto using the scene selection menu.

Take the DVD out, clean it again, and try it in our second DVD player. This time it hangs fast forwarding, hangs in menu selection, and hangs in the first 3 minutes after skipping several times in those 3 minutes.

Fine -- one of joys of buying from Amazon is that they are very good about replacing defective products. Except that when I request a replacement DVD, Amazon says that due to the number of similar problems with "Murder, She Wrote", they will NOT replace the disks, but instead issue a refund.

I have over 3,000 DVDs, and only a few have been defective. Now that I think about it, the defective ones have all been Universal double-sided DVDs.

I wish Amazon would refuse to sell a product that they know is so defective that they won't even try to replace it.

I think Universal should be ashamed for releasing a such shoddy product.

Note: there is no review of the content because I was unable to see the content.

I'm very disappointed by the DVD quality. For all three DVD's in the set I have experienced problems with skipping and disruption of the movies. I played the DVD's on different players and the movies stop at the same location. The first problem occurs in the pilot movie about 1 hour into the movie. Anyone experience the same problem?
The DVD's don't appear to be scrathed or damaged, maybe the studio created the DVD's using a bad master?

Murder, She Wrote might be a set of comfortable cozies designed for the BarcaLounger crowd, but count me in. It also is a classy murder mystery series which, over 12 seasons with usually 22 one-hour shows per season, maintained a high level of consistency and viewer loyalty.

I think there are three reasons for this. First, the mysteries are solid. The writers mostly play fair with the audience. There are clues to be had if we're alert (although sometimes the clue may be so insignificant that expecting it to be noticed is optimistic). The mysteries often involve relationships among people with whom we're given the time to get to know. There seldom are out-and-out rotters. It's not always possible to spot the villain early, and when justice is done, thanks to Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), the conclusion is satisfying.

Second, Murder, She Wrote was shrewd in using the "So that's what happened to him (or her)" ploy in most of the programs. It can be immensely satisfying to a target audience of a certain age to come across once well known actors you haven't seen in quite a while. Lansbury and her producers almost always had strong character parts written for former marque names who still commanded affection and fans. In the Season 1 set, for instance, you'll encounter, among others, Howard Duff, Virginia Mayo, Martin Landau, Dan O'Herlihy, June Allyson, Van Johnson, Dane Clark, Jose Ferrer, Milton Berle, Stewart Granger, Eddie Bracken and Samantha Egger. These aren't stunt roles. The actors carry their weight. Angela Lansbury has always been a supremely confident and successful actor. She seems to thrive in having strong actors to play off of.

Third, and most importantly, is Angela Lansbury. Over the years her appeal and her successes in movies, on Broadway and on television have been extraordinary. She seems able to play anything with complete aplomb. Did a dance hall girl ever have a more suspicious mind or do a more generous act than Em in The Harvey Girls? Did a housemaid ever seem more sluttish than Nancy in Gaslight? Did a grandmother ever seem...odder...than Grannie in The Company of Wolves? Did a mother ever seem more like an ice-cold demon from hell than Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate? Years ago I saw her on Broadway in Sweeney Todd as the deranged Mrs. Lovett. Whenever she was on stage she simply dominated the audience. The role of Jessica Fletcher, mystery writer and resident of Cabot Cove, is one she could have played with her eyes shut. It's to her credit as an actor that she didn't. She turned Fletcher into an immensely likable character, smart, experienced, shrewd and, above all else, sympathetic. The fact that we like Jessica Fletcher is due to Lansbury and is the reason the series lasted for 12 seasons.

The Season 1 set consists of three DVD's with the 21 programs on both sides of the discs. There are no extras. The quality of the video and audio transfers is just fine. The first four seasons are out on DVD with the other seasons to follow.

This series is exceptional and highly entertaining. However I am very disappointed in the quality of the DVDs. As others have noted here there are defects in many of the episodes...the ones that are on the flip side of the disks. They jump and skip and entire scenes are eliminated. Universal has released a very mediocre product here which this excellent series does NOT deserve. Be sure you go to scene selection for each episode when you buy the set so that you can be sure you're not getting faulty disks. If you do, return them and I want to know if someone knows a phone number or address or email where we can contact Universal and complain about this? There have been several reviews here that have mentioned the same problem. Thanks. This is a wonderful series!

The company who made the DVD, did a bad product. The DVD skip on some parts, or no sound in other parts. I love this series but this DVD is substandard. It feels like they recorded it from the TV on DVD.
I will not recomend buying it until another company produce a better quality DVD.

I waited so long to get the DVD of this series but I am not satisfy with the end product. Nancy.

Murder She Wrote - One of the Best TV shows. Angela Lansbury is a classy and refined lady. New actresses should strive to emulate her poise and acting ability.
I too experienced trouble with 3rd DVD - freezing and skipping. I did buy this new from Amazon. After much complaining to Amazon - I did receive another set. I am hesitant to purchase other DVD's put out by Universal after reading time and again folks having same trouble.

Of course I love the series and I'm happy to finally have it on DVD. But just so you're not disappointed, be forewarned that the quality of these discs is poor. (And I bought mine new from Amazon, so I know it's not a bootleg.) There are jumps and skips in the visual, sometimes the the soundtrack is out of synch, and the sound quality varies from ok to poor, especially on the "flip" side. It sounds like one of my speaker wires is loose, but they're fine because everything else I play on my DVD sounds great. I compare this to Quantum Leap (also double-sided) and it's hard to believe they're both produced by Universal.

I find it ironic that the studios wage war against bootleggers, yet they take forever to release old shows, then force us to pay full price for poor quality releases like this. Seems like a better way to build our loyalty would be to 1) release shows in a timely manner and 2) make sure that the authentic studio releases are of higher quality than a pirated one. Sadly, this one is bootleg quality. (But better than nothing)