Reconstructing Murder, She Wrote

Pastrami a go-go and other wry tales of the city #71

Murder, She Wrote hasn’t aged particularly well. I’ve watched many of its 264 episodes of the show which aired over 12 years from 1984 to 1996 on CBS over the past month. Starring the marvelous Angela Lansbury, the show was a massive hit on Sunday evenings and is popular via syndication. But after watching it today, it seems dated. The acting and sets are as artificial as bad dinner theater. Cabot Cove and Jessica’s home look more like a stage with bad lighting and harsh makeup. Jessica Fletcher’s home is spotless to the point of unreality with no clutter, no unmade beds, no trace of her daily life.

And then there’s the body count. For a quaint Maine village, Cabot Cove has an astonishing number of murders. Realistically, no one would be caught dead living there.

Yet the show worked. Audiences love it. Angela Lansbury played Jessica Fletcher with sincerity and crewneck sweaters. Guest stars often veered into theatrical excess with undeterminable wandering accents like that of Dr. Seth Hazlit (William Windom) and Sheriff Amos Tucker (Tom Bosley). Still, the show was mesmerizing. Viewers tuned in for a sharp, older independent woman calmly outthinking everyone and for the fun of seeing actors and actresses of decades past revived for guest roles.

No one can replace Angela Lansbury. There’s been lots of chatter about replacing Jessica Fletcher. Jamie Lee Curtis is set to star in a movie adaptation for Universal Pictures, scheduled for release in February 2028.

For a television or streaming program, a 12 episode series to start, my people and I came up with quite a few options. A long list range extends from Viola Davis, Monique, Sharon Stone, Marlee Matlin, Sigourney Weaver, Rosie Perez, Helen Hunt, Parminder Nagra, Michelle Yeoh, Ali Stroker, Geena Davis, Lisa Kudrow, Helen Mirren, Asha Parekh, Sally Field, Susan Sarandon, Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, and Julie Andrews.

But no one seems quite right.

A Distinct Choice for a Reboot

Enter Whoopi Goldberg as Jackie Mabley (a nod to comedienne Moms Mabley) Fletcher, a cousin to Jessica who lives in Jackson Heights, Queens, Whoopi Goldberg wouldn’t and can’t replace Jessica. Instead, she would extend her murderous world into contemporary New York City. For continuity, though, a photograph of Jessica and her books would sit on Jackie’s bookshelf.

The introduction is simple: Jackie travels to Cabot Cove to sort through Jessica’s unpublished manuscripts. One night in the eerily pristine (is there any dust?) Victorian house is enough and she ships everything back to New York. The house is already sold. Time to move on.

Whoopi as Jackie is a retired no nonsense New York City public school teacher living in a rent-stabilized apartment in Queens. Like Jessica, she’s underestimated but her instincts, intelligence, humor and life experience make her formidable. She navigates assumptions about her age, race, and demeanor with dry wit and straightforward comments.

Why Whoopi? Why not Whoopi?

Whoopi Goldberg is uniquely suited for this role. Like Lansbury, she’s an EGOT winner with effortless authority and presence on screen. She blends comedy and drama with her performances from her Academy Award winning role in Ghost to Jumpin’ Jack Flash, showcasing exactly what Jessica’s cousin needs: street smarts, timing, and presence. Cousin Fletcher doesn’t just ask questions. She disarms people with a look, a pause, a well-placed comment, and then their truth comes out. From her days in the classroom, she speaks with a layer of exasperation.

Bonus: As a longtime co-host of The View, Whoopie already has a built-in audience and cross-generational appeal which is exactly what made the original Murder, She Wrote series such a hit.

A Modernist Fletcher with a New York Sensibility

Whoopi as cousin Jackie trades the typewriter for a phone and laptop and is a technology wizard.She reads people, not databases but in defense of stereotypes about older people as Luddites, cousin Jackie is comfortable around technology.

Where Jessica was polite and inquisitive, Jackie is direct, dry, warm, and ironic. Angela Lansbury dressed with more of a Maine sensibility. Here, Whoopi dresses as creatively as she wants. Her wardrobe reflects her personality with flowing layers, signature eyeglasses, and comfortable shoes and sneakers.

Her apartment in Queens is realistically tilted towards a very much lived in feel. She’s got grandchildren and nosy neighbors who barge in, pillows are askew, she decorates with thrift shop decor, there’s a sock or two on the floor, and yes, she vacuums.

From Cabot Cove to Queens

Cabot Cove is out of bodies.

Instead, the series is set in Queens which gives Whoopi an easier commute from her View duties. She’s local. In fact, she could even appear as a guest on Law & Order. She shops at Trader Joe’s and orders clothing online, sometimes mending or reworking an old piece into something new.

And Queens is so vast and varied. Our character moves from Astoria to Flushing to Jackson Heights to every ethnic enclave throughout the five boroughs most often by subway. And the inside joke is that Whoopi’s character is always dining on a new cuisine every week, introducing the audience to local restaurants.

A Supporting Cast of Thousands

The cast of the original Murder, She Wrote was very much white. In this reboot with Whoopi Goldberg, both the supporting cast and guest actors are from everywhere and include different body types, genders, ethnicities, appearances, people with disabilities, and of different ages but with an emphasis on those over 50. We’ll have

A by-the-book police chief played by Geoffrey Owens who is serious, authoritative, and constantly frustrated that Jackie is always ahead of him.

A sharp, tech-savvy former student in her thirties played by Marissa Bode who handles the digital world while learning Jackie’s instinct-driven methods as she navigates technology and the city with her wheelchair.

Local business owners and neighbors played by Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Billings, and Naomi Watts who trade gossip for conversation.

Her daughter would be played by her real life daughter Alexandra Martin Dean. Jackie’s two grandchildren who are in their twenties with casting to come.

A suspiciously charming regular played by Giancarlo Esposito who always seems just a little too smooth.

Guest stars remain essential with a rotating lineup of veteran actors, Broadway performers, and familiar faces, giving each episode a theatrical edge. Why not Oprah Winfrey or Angela Bassett or Melanie Griffith, Rita Moreno, or Maggie Cheung as guest stars?

The Show’s Format

Twelve episodes. Each follows the classic structure of

Murder in the first 10 minutes

Investigation and misdirection

Final reveal. Jackie gathers everyone and dismantles the crime step by step.

Sample Cases to Be Solved

New York has unlimited possibilities for locations and stories. We’re keeping the structure, the intelligence, the character-first storytelling but giving it a sharper, more ironic voice in a richer world than Cabot Cove and a lead who would lend her distinct presence to a reboot.

Here’s a sampling.

A rare book collector found dead after a suspicious online auction

A Broadway actor murdered during intermission

A food critic poisoned at a Brooklyn food festival

A former student found dead in a classroom

A body discovered near the Hudson River

A rug missing from the Cloisters reveals a centuries old mystery

A former mayor goes missing

So here we have it.

Jackie Mabley Fletcher isn’t Jessica Fletcher. Just like Whoopi Goldberg isn’t Angela Lansbury. Whoopi is what comes next. I’m taking calls, people!