NBC hopes to revive the old CBS series Murder, She Wrote, one of the most successful series in TV history, with Octavia Spencer (who won an Oscar for her performance in The Help) taking over the role made famous by Angela Lansbury (pictured), Deadline Hollywood reports.
The series won’t exactly follow the original plot. It’s been pitched as a contemporary procedural — that follows a hospital administrator who sleuths by night — with a similar feel to the Fox series Bones. Alexandra Cunningham, who formerly was a Desperate Housewives executive producer, will write for and serve as an executive producer on the reboot.
Angela Lansbury was nominated for an Emmy a record 12 times for her portrayal of Jessica Fletcher, the middle-aged, widowed murder-mystery writer who solves real crimes, in the original series. Murder, She Wrote premiered in 1984 and ran for 12 seasons.