Murder,
She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury as amateur sleuth and mystery
writer Jessica Fletcher, has been the only significant dramatic
series on American television to feature an older woman in the sole
leading role. Lansbury, who received Oscar nominations and Tony
awards over her long film and stage career, started the series at
age 58 and is now probably most widely recognized for her television
character.
Creators
Richard Levinson, William Link and Peter S. Fischer brought with
them a combined resume from Columbo, Mannix, Alfred Hitchcock
Presents, and Ellery Queen. In Murder, She Wrote,
they created a classical mystery program set in the fictional seaside
village of Cabot Cove, Maine. The program quickly became one of
CBS's most successful offerings and among the most expensive for
it to produce. It frequently placed first among the network's lineup
in the Nielsen ratings and was a champion in its time slot, 8:00
P.M. Sundays. It finished in the Nielsen top ten during most of
its run.
The
series narrative has remained fairly stable. Widowed Jessica Fletcher,
a retired high school English teacher, became a best-selling mystery
author after her nephew, Grady, sent a manuscript to a book publisher.
She quickly became world famous and affluent, but she maintains
the rambling, old house that she and her longtime husband, Frank,
shared in Cabot Cove. Jessica remains close to old friends in the
village, including Dr. Seth Haslett, played by character actor William
Windom. A few cast changes have occurred; most significantly, Tom
Bosley, who portrayed bumbling Sheriff Amos Tupper, left after four
seasons to pursue his own mystery series. Familiar former television
stars and unknown character actors appear as guests on the program.
In
the earlier seasons, a matronly Jessica frequently bicycled across
town, boiled lobsters, planned fishing trips on a friend's trawler,
or dropped in at the beauty parlor. She wore conservative pantsuits
and spoke with an occasional New England influence. Her signature
was her ancient manual typewriter, and the opening credits showed
her tapping merrily away on one of her mystery novels. Gradually,
the character evolved. The manual typewriter eventually shared time
in the opening sequence with Jessica's personal computer (which
has, itself, been involved in two mysteries). Jessica added a second
residence, a Manhattan apartment and the character became more glamorous
in appearance coinciding with Lansbury's own personal makeover in
the 1988-89 season.
Murder,
She Wrote's formula is true mystery: Jessica encounters several
people displaying animosity toward a mean person. An innocent person,
often a friend or relative of Jessica's, publicly threatens or criticizes
the bully. The audience sees the bully murdered, but the killer's
identity is hidden. The authorities accuse Jessica's ally, based
on circumstantial evidence. Jessica notices--and the camera lingers
on--details that seem inconsequential but later prove central to
the solution. She investigates, uncovering various means, motives,
and opportunities and eliminating suspects. A few minutes before
the program ends, she suddenly realizes the last piece of the puzzle
and announces that she knows who the killer is. She confronts the
killer, privately, in a group, or with authorities observing off
camera. Almost always, the killer confesses, and Jessica presents
the person to the police. A final scene often shows Jessica sharing
a good-natured exchange with someone, often the wrongly accused
friend.
Coincidences
abound. Nephew Grady (Michael Horton) has been arrested for murder
on several occasions, and Jessica always proves him innocent. In
fact, each of the many times Jessica's family members or old, "dear
friends" have been introduced, one has become involved in a murder.
Tiny Cabot Cove has been the site of about fifty of the more than
250 murders Jessica has solved. Rarely has a suspect been shown
in touch with a lawyer; Jessica always happens to be on the scene
when a murder has just taken place and makes time in her schedule
to solve the crime. She usually happens upon the body herself. The
police never get it right. Her friend is almost always innocent.
Jessica is always present when crucial evidence comes to light.
Despite
the formulaic nature of the program, the notion that violent death
can invade even the quiet world of Jessica Fletcher connects it
to old meanings of the mystery genre. The world, as the profession
of the mystery writer demonstrates, is not a safe place. The wisdom
and acute mental capacity of this older woman are weapons in an
ongoing struggle for order.
On
the professional, rather than the fictional level, Lansbury's involvement
with the series changed over time. In the 1989-90 season, CBS persuaded
her to stay with the show after she announced plans to leave. The
network cut demands on her time, and Lansbury made only brief appearances
in several episodes. She addressed the viewer directly to introduce
the evening's mystery, involving, for example, her sleuthing "friends,"
Harry McGraw or Dennis Stanton. And she often returned at the end
of the hour, explaining how the mystery was solved. In the following
1992 season, however, Lansbury was back in force assuming the role
of executive producer. Her sons and brother are also involved in
the production.
Murder,
She Wrote skews toward older audiences, however, especially
older women, and advertisers will pay much more to attract younger
viewers. In the 1994-95 season, the show charged lower advertising
rates than competitors such as Lois and Clark, appearing
in the same time slot on rival network, ABC. Lois and Clark attracted
fewer viewers, but was watched by more young viewers, hence the
higher advertising rate.
At
a time when less traditional programs, such as the quirky, more
serial Northern Exposure and the offbeat Seinfeld,
were attracting favorable critical notices, Murder, She Wrote
did not. It attracted instead large numbers of viewers with
its combination of a highly ritualistic formula and its progressive
treatment of a 60-plus heroine played by a popular star. Jessica
Fletcher is, significantly, an amateur, unlike James Rockford
or Thomas Magnum. However, although unfailingly well behaved, she
displays a worldliness about modern life, and she has a career that
contributes to her vitality. These elements distinguish her from
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple character, to whom she has often been
compared.
Since
her involvement in Murder, She Wrote, Lansbury, the actress,
has spoken out on occasion against the tendency for network television
to propagate a "masculine mystique" and unfairly favor programs
oriented toward younger audiences. (Murder, She Wrote has
always followed CBS's other long-running successful program,
60 Minutes, which has also collected large numbers of older
viewers.) Because portrayals of older people on American television
have traditionally been infrequent and unflattering (in such silly
roles as Fred Sanford of Sanford and Son, Designing Women's
dotty Bernice, and some of the women of The Golden Girls),
Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher is especially significant. She has demonstrated
that competent, glamorous older women can draw large prime-time
audiences. As a result, Murder, She Wrote is one of CBS's
most valued programs.
-Karen
E. Riggs
Allman, Kevin. "Auntie Angela(interview)." The Advocate (San
Mateo, California), 22 September 1992.
Smith,
Wallace E. "'Cabot Cove,' California: TV Intrigue on Mendocino Coast."
American West (Cupertino, California), December 1988.
Waters, Harry F. "A New Golden Age; The Over-55 Set Flexes its Wrinkles
on Prime Time." Newsweek (New York), 18 November 1985.
