I forgot how good this show was. It might seem dated in today's era, where entertainment on TV consists of reality TV shows like The Bachelor / The Bachelorette, Survivor, Seeking Brother Husband and other mind-rotting drama, where people are fighting or tempting their significant others to cheat or even older women looking for younger men to hook up with. But these old shows are great. The way the characters dress and talk, act and more takes you back to a more simple time, when there was less to worry about.
Summary
-Jessica Fletcher is a professional writer and amateur detective on the side who uses her good manners, charm and high intellect to help solve every case she encounters
-Angela Lansbury: Jessica Fletcher
-William Windom: Dr. Seth Hazlitt
-Ron Masak: Sheriff Mort Metzger
-Louis Herthum: Deputy Andy Broom
-Tom Bosley: Sheriff Amos Tupper
-Will Nye: Deputy Floyd
-Michael Horton: Grady Fletcher
-Ken Swofford: Lt. Catalano
-Julie Adams: Eve Simpson
-The harbor of Cabot Cove, Jessica's home town, is in reality the lake for Jaws on the Universal Studios tram tour
-While Angela Lansbury was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series for all twelve seasons of the show, she didn't win any Emmy awards for the show
-Jessica Fletcher's middle name is Beatrice, a tribute to Angela Lansbury's close friend Bea Arthur
-Jessica Fletcher couldn't drive, unlike Angela Lansbury, who did drive. Jessica Fletcher got around on bicycles, taxis or rides/lifts from the people around her
-The show got its name from a Miss Marple mystery called Murder She Said, which was, in turn, based on an Agatha Christie novel
-Despite being filmed in the fictional Maine town of Cabot Cove, the show was actually filmed on the West Coast. Jessica Fletcher's house was actually the Blair House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Mendocino, California. Other locations that look like New England were actually Northern California and Oregon
-Jessica took her maiden name McGill from Angela Lansbury's mother. Angela Lansbury's mother was born Charlotte Lillian McIldowie, who took the name Moyna McGill when she started acting
-Doris Day and Jean Stapleton were offered the roles of Jessica Fletcher, but refused. Angela Lansbury accepted the role
-There was a crossover episode done with Magnum P.I. It involves Jessica going to Hawaii and getting pulled into a case where Magnum (Tom Selleck) is framed for a crime and Higgins (John Hillerman) asks for Jessica's assistance. The episodes were called Magnum P.I.: Novel Connection (1986) and Murder, She Wrote: Magnum on Ice (1986)
-Angela Lansbury, Jerry Orbach (who often appeared on the show) and David Ogden Stiers all appeared in the 1991 Disney film Beauty & The Beast. Lansbury played Mrs. Potts and even sang the iconic theme. Jerry Orbach played Lumiere and David Ogden Stiers played Cogsworth
-On the show, prior to marrying her husband Frank Fletcher, Jessica wanted to pursue journalism as a career. She worked as a schoolteacher in her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine where she and her husband lived until his death
-There is an actual harbor inlet called Cabot Cove in Kennebunkport, Maine
-Angela Lansbury was more than familiar with the whole murder-mystery genre. She had appeared in two film adaptations of Agatha Christie novels Death on the River Nile (1978) and The Mirror Crack'd (1980). In The Mirror Crack'd, she played a sleuth named Jane Marple. By the time this show premiered, everyone was more than willing to welcome Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher with open arms
-On the show, her late husband Frank was a Korean War veteran. He was a bomber pilot
-The framed color photo that is supposed to be of Jessica and her husband Frank is actually a photo of Jessica and her husband Peter Shaw
-When Angela Lansbury died in 2022, this show was binge watched by more people than ever before
No comments:
Post a Comment