Angela Lansbury: ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Remake Was ‘An Awful Mistake’

Angela Lansbury has said officially that she is happy that NBC decided to scrap their idea of re-making Murder, She Wrote, which would have starred Octavia Spencer.

Lansbury was open about the fact that she thought the reboot was a bad idea all along. She told the Associated Press on Thursday:

I couldn’t believe that they would even consider doing such a thing. I think it was an awful mistake and it was a terrible disservice. I have too much admiration for her to saddle her with the awful responsibility of having to bring that title into a different venue.

88-year-old Lansbury played the crime-busting Jessica Fletcher in the series for 12 years, ending in 1996. Angela Lansbury is still working though, as she gets set to appear on stage for the first time in 40 years in London’s West End for Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

Lansbury reminisced about the fact that her mother, Monya Macgill, first performed at the Gielgud Theater in London (where she is about to perform) in 1918. She said about her mother: “She was a lovely actress. I get all my talent from her.”

She added:”I always say there are two things in life that I know how to do – one is to keep house and the other is to act. Acting usually takes precedence: the house gets a bit messy.”

Are you upset that NBC have nixed the Murder, She Wrote reboot idea? We all remember the excitement of hearing the classic opening theme music for the show and rushing to the sofa to watch the perfectly spoken Jessica Fletcher solve another crime.

Do you think Octavia Spencer could have pulled off a good Jessica Fletcher or is Angela Lansbury irreplaceable? Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments feed below.