Sorry, fans of Murder She Wrote, turns out NBC has decided to not move forward with the proposed and much-buzzed-about reboot of the series. Writer Alexandra Cunningham and producer David Janollari’s take on what was the most beloved and successful series in TV history, had Oscar winner Octavia Spencer in the starring role. Needless to say, the announcement has many scratching their heads.
The news comes as a bit of a shock given the attention the announcement garnered back in October. This adaptation of Murder was said to be a light, contemporary procedural following a hospital administrator and amateur sleuth (Spencer), helmed by Cunningham, who worked on such popular series as Desperate Housewives and the Maria Bello-fronted Prime Suspect, and Janollari, who was previously the head of programming at MTV — so, you know: hardly small potatoes. The series even received a put pilot commitment from the network. For those not in the studio-know, a “put pilot” is a categorization that forces the network to air the series’ initial episode. And if the network fails to put the pilot on TV, they have to pay up a lot of financial penalties to the studio that created it. So, clearly, there were lots of eggs riding in this proverbial basket.
But the fact remains that rebooting a series as beloved and iconic as Murder, She Wrote is extremely challenging, because rebooting an iconic series is extremely difficult. Previously, NBC had attempted to reboot the Rockford Files with David Shore (creator of House) and Steve Carell (yes, that Steve Carell). But even when they get on air, success is rarely guaranteed — hello, 90210 reboot. But the network probably had reason for high hopes in this instance, as Prime Suspect was a remake itself of a popular British drama.
Should your Jessica Fletcher dreams not wish to be dashed there is still hope. According to the sources over at Deadline, the heads of the network are open to considering an entirely new approach to the world made famous by Angela Lansbury. And the other players involved certainly have their share of work to do, too: Janollari already has a pilot order for his other NBC drama, Salvation, and Cunningham has another drama project titled Gone For Good that’s also in contention over at the peacock. The only player left to scoop up is Spencer, and well, considering how impressive she is, we hardly doubt there won’t be many an offer for her, either.
But until the day Murder, She Wrote returns, you’ll just have to satisfy yourself with repeat viewings of the opening credits:
