DVD Murder, She Wrote - The Complete First Season:
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Editor: Universal Studios
Category: Movie - Mystery / Suspense / Thriller - TV Shows - Television
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DVD Murder, She Wrote - The Complete First Season
There are two audiences for this DVD compilation of the first season of the enormously popular TV series Murder, She Wrote. The first enjoys the classic pleasures of the pre-forensics "whodunit," stories in which murder was not so much a crime as a logic puzzle; the joy here lay in how skillfully a writer could misdirect you. Murder, She Wrote--in which mystery writer Jessica Fletcher constantly stumbles across dead bodies in every setting imaginable, from a San Francisco drag show to a football field--doesn't have the elegance of an Agatha Christie or Rex Stout mystery, but the show was efficient at laying out its clues and cunningly used the audience's familiarity with television itself (the relative star power of the guests, the need for a dramatic high point before every commercial break, etc.) to mislead and manipulate. And of course Angela Lansbury, as Fletcher, was an ideal television presence: Warm and friendly, but with just a hint of the fierce, steely will she revealed in The Manchurian Candidate. Lansbury drove the show through an impressive twelve seasons (for which she received twelve Emmy nominations), plus multiple TV movies after its cancellation.
The other audience for Murder, She Wrote: The Complete First Season consists of viewers for whom names like Bert Convy, Dack Rambo, and Barbara Babcock send waves of guilty pleasure down their spines. The promotional materials for this boxed set make much ado about brief appearances by stars-to-be like Andy Garcia (who appears briefly as "1st White Tough" in the pilot TV movie) and Joaquin Phoenix (who's around 10 years old and still going by the name Leaf), but every single episode is a festival of B-, C-, and Z-grade celebrities from the 1970s and '80s: Claude Akins, Tom Bosley, Jeff Conaway, David Doyle, Samantha Eggar, Lynda Day George, Morgan Brittany, Belinda Montgomery, Gabe Kaplan, and Lyle Waggoner, just to name a handful. Some of these names may be forgotten, but their faces (and scenery-chewing performances) will spark a Proustian rush of television memories. --Bret Fetzer
Review(s): DVD Murder, She Wrote - The Complete First Season
A fine mystery series, thanks to solid plots, the pleasure of recognition and, above all else, Angela Lansbury
Murder, She Wrote might be a set of comfortable cozies designed for the BarcaLounger crowd, but count me in. It also is a classy murder mystery series which, over 12 seasons with usually 22 one-hour shows per season, maintained a high level of consistency and viewer loyalty.
I think there are three reasons for this. First, the mysteries are solid. The writers mostly play fair with the audience. There are clues to be had if we're alert (although sometimes the clue may be so insignificant that expecting it to be noticed is optimistic). The mysteries often involve relationships among people with whom we're given the time to get to know. There seldom are out-and-out rotters. It's not always possible to spot the villain early, and when justice is done, thanks to Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), the conclusion is satisfying.
Second, Murder, She Wrote was shrewd in using the "So that's what happened to him (or her)" ploy in most of the programs. It can be immensely satisfying to a target audience of a certain age to come across once well known actors you haven't seen in quite a while. Lansbury and her producers almost always had strong character parts written for former marque names who still commanded affection and fans. In the Season 1 set, for instance, you'll encounter, among others, Howard Duff, Virginia Mayo, Martin Landau, Dan O'Herlihy, June Allyson, Van Johnson, Dane Clark, Jose Ferrer, Milton Berle, Stewart Granger, Eddie Bracken and Samantha Egger. These aren't stunt roles. The actors carry their weight. Angela Lansbury has always been a supremely confident and successful actor. She seems to thrive in having strong actors to play off of.
Third, and most importantly, is Angela Lansbury. Over the years her appeal and her successes in movies, on Broadway and on television have been extraordinary. She seems able to play anything with complete aplomb. Did a dance hall girl ever have a more suspicious mind or do a more generous act than Em in The Harvey Girls? Did a housemaid ever seem more sluttish than Nancy in Gaslight? Did a grandmother ever seem...odder...than Grannie in The Company of Wolves? Did a mother ever seem more like an ice-cold demon from hell than Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate? Years ago I saw her on Broadway in Sweeney Todd as the deranged Mrs. Lovett. Whenever she was on stage she simply dominated the audience. The role of Jessica Fletcher, mystery writer and resident of Cabot Cove, is one she could have played with her eyes shut. It's to her credit as an actor that she didn't. She turned Fletcher into an immensely likable character, smart, experienced, shrewd and, above all else, sympathetic. The fact that we like Jessica Fletcher is due to Lansbury and is the reason the series lasted for 12 seasons.
The Season 1 set consists of three DVD's with the 21 programs on both sides of the discs. There are no extras. The quality of the video and audio transfers is just fine. The first four seasons are out on DVD with the other seasons to follow.
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Murder for all to see!
God, what a great show! Since my husband and I got netflix, I decided to avail myself of the old TV shows I haven't seen in ages and that are now available on DVD.
This series was one of them.
I was delighted on how well written the who-dunnits are, and how great JB Fletcher's character is. I like how they portray her as an older lady that just wouldn't resort to knitting after her husband died. She instead followed her passion, and though she was probably about 60 when she did it, she still made a career for herself out of her hobby.
Angela Lansbury does a great job at showing how Jessica Fletcher is on the ball and always looking to help those wrongly accused.
I think that the heroine is an inspiration to women. Many people think that once you get older 'it's all downhill'. I'm relatively young ( 23) but I grew up with older parents ( my dad passed away at 67 and my mom is now 65) and I have seen how both men and women take age as something that is dreaded. My husband is 26 and now is freaking out about being almost thirty! I mean, come on!
But we all do it. However, JB Fletcher was no house wife; she was an active runner, writer, and loved every minute of helping the citizens of Cabot Cove out.
Rent this series, and the next! And the one after that! And enjoy the years ahead of you!
Related DVD's Murder, She Wrote - The Complete First Season
I have only watched the first 8 episodes and they were fantastic.. I can't wait to finish the rest of the season.. I know they will be just as good as the first 8 episodes and the first season.. I am also looking forward to the complete third season..
Rich Crowl More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 06 December 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Who cannot love Jessica! Great show and GREAT Service from Amazon! More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 14 March 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Armchair sleuths, get out your trenchcoats: Universal has released the sophomore season (1972-73) of the classic detective series Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the sage but rumpled police lieutenant. As with the first season, there's plenty of star power in front of and behind the camera to abet Falk in these eight 90- and 120-minute episodes: John Cassavetes stars in the season premiere, Etude in Black, as a philandering symphony conductor, with Blythe Danner and Hollywood legend Myrna Loy in support; Oscar winner Ray Milland is a scheming orchid grower in "The Greenhouse Jungle," co-starring Bradford Dillman and William Smith; Robert Culp and Dean Stockwell are a football team manager and owner, respectively, whose disagreements blossom into murder in "The Most Crucial... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Steven Spielberg DVD Release Date: Released the 08 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Created by Sidney Sheldon (I Dream of Jeannie), Hart to Hart was a Thin Man for the 1980s. Self-made millionaire Jonathan (Robert Wagner, It Takes a Thief) and part-time journalist Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) even had their own Asta-like pooch, Freeway. Unlike Nick and Nora Charles, however, children weren't part of their globe trotting, crime solving plan. Fortunately, they had trusty butler/Bentley driver Max (Golden Globe winner Lionel Stander) to keep them company.
Mr. And Mrs. H., as Max referred to them, were introduced by 1979's two-part pilot ("Hart to Hart"), which features Roddy McDowall and Stella Stevens as devious doctors and Wagner's future wife, Jill St. John (Diamonds are Forever), as a wealthy... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Gabrielle Beaumont - William Whitehead - Bruce Kessler - Karen Arthur - Stuart Margolin DVD Release Date: Released the 25 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The baffling crimes and mysteries continue with season four of "Murder, She Wrote". Angela Lansbury returns for a fourth season as famed mystery novelist and crime solver Jessica Fletcher, as she continues to find out "whodunit" when murders keep popping up around her. Just like with seasons one, two, and three, season four is a winner again. Intriguing mysteries, plus a delightful sense of humor, add up to another terrific season. And let's not forget about another great acting job by Lansbury in each episode. Jessica Fletcher was a role tailor-made just for her.
As usual, many well-known actors from the big screen to the small screen turn up in guest spots on "Murder, She Wrote". They include: Eileen Brennan ("Private Benjamin"), Nancy Dussault ("Too Close for Comfort"),... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 17 October 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
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