Octavia Spencer’s ‘Murder, She Wrote’ reboot scrapped
By Sam Rigby
A reboot of Murder, She Wrote, starring The Help‘s Octavia Spencer in the lead role, has been scrapped by NBC.
However, Deadline reports that the plans for a reboot may be revisited in the future.
Last year, it was revealed that producers Alexandra Cunningham and David Janollari (Desperate Housewives) were developing a new version of the classic TV series after securing a put-pilot commitment from NBC.
The original version of Murder, She Wrote – which starred Dame Angela Lansbury as the iconic Jessica Fletcher – ran for 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996.
Lansbury has admitted to the BBC that she is “terribly pleased and relieved” by the news.
“I knew it was a terrible mistake,” she said. “I didn’t want to sully the memory.”
She added: “Octavia Spencer is a superb actress. She had no business being put into a situation that she couldn’t win.”
Spencer’s take on the show’s protagonist was going to be a hospital administrator and amateur sleuth who publishes her first mystery novel. However, the character was set to become involved in real life criminal investigations in a similar fashion to Lansbury’s character.