Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series focuses on the life of Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer and amateur detective, who becomes involved in solving murders that take place in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, as well as across the United States and abroad. The program ran for 12 seasons from September 30, 1984, to May 19, 1996, for a total of 264 episodes and included among its recurring cast Tom Bosley, William Windom, and Ron Masak. The series was a ratings hit during its broadcast, becoming a staple of the CBS Sunday-night TV schedule for around a decade, while achieving distinction as one of the most successful and longest-running television shows in history, averaging 25 million viewers per week in its prime. In syndication, the series is still highly successful and popular throughout the world. For her role on the program, Lansbury was nominated for ten Golden Globes, winning four, along with nominations for 12 Emmy Awards, earning her the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actress in a television drama series and the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. The series itself also received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, and six Golden Globe nominations in the same category, with two major wins. After the series finale in 1996, four television films were released from 1997 to 2003. Two point-and-click video games were released for PC: one in 2009, and a sequel in 2012. The show was spun-off into a bestselling book series in 1989; it continues to be published as of 2026.