Editing Murder, She Wrote (section)

==Production==
''Murder, She Wrote'' was mostly filmed on sound stages at [[Universal Studios Lot|Universal Studios]] in [[Universal City, California]] (near Los Angeles).<ref name="Parish_Page_8">{{cite book |last1=Parish |first1=James Robert |title=The Unofficial Murder, She Wrote Casebook |date=1989 |publisher=Kensington Books |location=New York |isbn=9781575662107 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7K0HAQAAMAAJ&q=%20universal |access-date=28 February 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011195752/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Unofficial_Murder_She_Wrote_Casebook/7K0HAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%20universal |url-status=live }}</ref> The series also filmed exterior shots and some episodes [[Location shooting|on location]] in the Northern California town of [[Mendocino, California|Mendocino]], which stood in for the fictional Maine town of Cabot Cove.<ref name="Parish_Page_8" />  Cabot Cove dockside scenes were filmed a few miles north at [[Noyo Harbor]] in [[Fort Bragg, California]].<ref name="Mend:1">{{cite web |title=Murder She Wrote was filmed in Mendocino County, Mendocino & Fort Bragg |url=https://www.mendocino.com/?id=455 |website=www.mendocino.com |access-date=26 April 2024}}</ref>

[[Bruce Lansbury]], Angela's brother, served as producer of 88 episodes of the show. He was also a writer for 15 episodes.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bruce-lansbury-dead-tv-producer-angela-lansburys-brother-was-87-976535| title=Bruce Lansbury, TV Producer and Brother of Angela Lansbury, Dies at 87| last1=Barnes| first1=Mike| newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]| date=14 February 2017| accessdate=22 January 2018}}</ref>

===Lansbury considers retirement in 1988===
[[File:Angela Lansbury.jpg|thumb|upright|Angela Lansbury in September 1989]]
In August 1988, Lansbury expressed weariness of her commitment to the series as she was not sure, at 63, that she could continue at the pace now required of her; she specifically cited the change from seven to eight days to shoot each episode. Thus, ''Murder, She Wrote'' went into its fifth season that autumn with the distinct possibility that it would cease production at the end of it and the series finale would air in May 1989.

A solution was worked on, however, which enabled Lansbury to continue but also give her time to rest. This also enabled some secondary characters to get significant stories. For the next two seasons, Lansbury reduced her appearances in several episodes, only appearing at the beginning and the end, to introduce stories starring several friends of Jessica, such as private investigator Harry McGraw, reformed thief Dennis Stanton or MI5 agent Michael Hagarty. The "experiment" ended in 1991.<ref>{{cite news|title=A break, she needed, from Murder She Wrote|url=http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/3236485-a-break-she-needed-from-murder-she-wrote/|newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator|access-date=September 14, 2016|date=May 24, 2013|archive-date=September 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913075806/http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/3236485-a-break-she-needed-from-murder-she-wrote/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1992, Lansbury took on a more extensive role in production as she became the show's executive producer.

===Move from Sundays in 1995===
''Murder, She Wrote'' was renewed for a twelfth season after finishing the [[1994-95 United States network television schedule|1994-95 season]] as the eighth-most watched program on television, tied with [[NBC]]'s new sitcom ''[[Friends (TV series)|Friends]]'' for the spot. Despite the continued popularity of the program, Lansbury was considering retirement again after the upcoming season as she would be nearing seventy years of age at its conclusion. The decision, ultimately, would not be left up to her as CBS would make a decision regarding the series that would prove problematic for the network on two separate nights of programming.

''Murder, She Wrote'' was, at the time, the most popular scripted series on CBS; in fact, it had been one of only two series on the network to garner a rating in the top ten (''[[60 Minutes]]'' was the other). Meanwhile, over at NBC, their Thursday night [[Must See TV]] lineup had been a ratings powerhouse for years and CBS decided to use ''Murder, She Wrote'' in an effort to cut into their viewership. So, after eleven years on Sunday night, the series moved to Thursday for the 1995–1996 season. It would keep the same time slot (8:00&nbsp;p.m.) on its new night, leading off a lineup that included the new drama ''[[New York News]]'' and the long-running news magazine ''[[48 Hours (TV program)|48 Hours]]''.

The move was met with protests from fans, and the entire Thursday night lineup for CBS proved to be no match for NBC's lineup. Going up against ''Friends'' and a pair of freshman comedies in its time slot, ''Murder, She Wrote'' saw its ratings drop significantly on Thursday; in fact, the series dropped below a 10.0 rating when the final season ratings were tabulated. (Its follow-up, ''New York News'', continued the downward trend and did even lower ratings, with CBS cancelling the new drama before December 1995.)

Meanwhile, in the Sunday time slot that ''Murder, She Wrote'' was vacating, CBS elected to try a situation comedy block. Leading off the 8 o'clock hour, CBS went with ''[[Cybill]]'', which starred [[Cybill Shepherd]] and had finished its abbreviated first season just outside the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings. The second half of the hour featured the new series ''[[Almost Perfect]]'', which starred [[Nancy Travis]] as a television producer. Neither series performed well; ''Cybill'', which had relocated from Monday night, saw its ratings drop to the point where it nearly fell out of the top 50. ''Almost Perfect'' found itself relocated to Monday night in the hopes of improving its ratings; its replacement, a retooled ''[[Bonnie (TV series)|Bonnie]]'', lasted five episodes on Sunday before it was cancelled.

Ultimately, ''Murder, She Wrote'' finished in 58th place in the final ratings and CBS opted not to renew the series for a thirteenth season. The network did, however, eventually reverse itself on the scheduling. Two episodes were scheduled for Sunday nights as 1996 began, with the first airing on January 7 and the second on February 25. Both of these episodes pulled in significantly higher ratings than the show had been garnering on Thursday, approaching nearly twenty million viewers for each of the two airings. CBS elected to return ''Murder, She Wrote'' to Sundays for the last four episodes of the series, which began on April 28. Three of the four episodes drew over sixteen million viewers and the finale, which aired on May 19, 1996, finished in the top 20 of that week's ratings.

===After the series===
The network also agreed to commission four ''Murder, She Wrote'' movies over the next few years. The first was ''South by Southwest'' (1997), with three more following as ''A Story to Die For'' (2000), ''The Last Free Man'' (2001), and ''The Celtic Riddle'' (2003).<ref>{{cite news|title=Movies Keep 'Murder, She Wrote' Alive|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 5, 1997|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/08/05/movies-keep-murder-she-wrote-alive/|access-date=October 20, 2010|archive-date=June 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614033542/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-08-05/features/9708050162_1_magnificent-seven-advocacy-groups-horst-buchholz|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lansbury stated in May 2011 that she would like to make a comeback appearance as Jessica Fletcher.<ref>{{cite magazine|title='Murder, She Wrote' Angela Lansbury Return|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=May 13, 2011|url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/13/murder-she-wrote-angela-lansbury-return|access-date=February 22, 2012|archive-date=February 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208023833/http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/13/murder-she-wrote-angela-lansbury-return/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, in a 2015 interview, she quashed the idea of reprising the much beloved character, stating, "I think it would be a downer. In some way, we'd have to show her as a much older woman, and I think it's better to maintain that picture we have in our mind's eye of her as a vigorous person. I'm still pretty vigorous, especially in the garden … but if I wanted to transform myself back into the woman I looked like then, it would be ridiculous. And I can't do that."<ref>{{cite web|last=Bobbin|first=Jay|url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2015/07/12/lansbury-a-driving-force-as-miss-daisy/|title=Angela Lansbury thinks reviving Jessica Fletcher 'would be a downer'|website=Zap2it.com|date=July 17, 2015|access-date=August 10, 2016|archive-date=May 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511034959/http://zap2it.com/2015/07/angela-lansbury-murder-she-wrote-jessica-fletcher-downer/|url-status=live}}</ref> Dame Angela Lansbury died on October 11, 2022, at age 96.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/angela-lansbury-murder-wrote-beauty-beast-star-dies-96-rcna42421|title=Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' and 'Beauty and the Beast' star, dies at 96|publisher=[[NBC News]]|accessdate=11 October 2022|archive-date=11 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011194028/https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/angela-lansbury-murder-wrote-beauty-beast-star-dies-96-rcna42421|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/obituaries/angela-lansbury-dead.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes|title=Angela Lansbury, Star of Film and Stage and TV's Favorite Sleuth, Dies at 96|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=11 October 2022|accessdate=11 October 2022|archive-date=11 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011194748/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/obituaries/angela-lansbury-dead.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Over-the-top media services|over-the-top]] [[Video on demand|video streaming]] service [[The Roku Channel]] launched a 24-hour ''Murder, She Wrote'' channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.techradar.com/streaming/roku-has-added-a-ton-of-free-channels-from-nbcuniversal-and-more-are-on-their-way |title=Roku Has Added a Ton of Free Channels from NBCUniversal and Aore Are on Their Way |website=[[TechRadar]] |date=August 18, 2023 |access-date=June 14, 2024}}</ref>