Editing Murder, She Wrote (section)

===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.