Television in the 1990s would be a decade that revolutionized sitcoms and dramas.The Simpsonsspoofed a typical family comedy, whileTwin Peaksdescended a soap opera into dark surrealism. Never was that more clear than whena long-running mystery show confronted this new reality with an emerging sitcom.Murder, She Wroteran from 1984 to 1996, and a major reason it ended was because of the growing popularity ofFriends. The cozy mystery formula wasn’t enough anymore. Although the sitcom didn’t set out to end it, by the following year, only one of these shows was left standing.
Murder, She Wrote
Professional writer and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher uses her intellect, charm, and persistence to get to the bottom of every crime she encounters.
‘Murder, She Wrote’ Once Included a Spoof of ‘Friends’
Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is a successfulmystery writer and amateur detective. Each episode sees her traveling or going about her day in her New England town, always investigating and solving if not one murder, several. In Season 12’s “Murder Among Friends,” there’s a hot new show on TV. While Jessica is trying to keep her PBS program going strong, teaching howAlfred Hitchcockmade his thrillers work, all the studio attention is going toBuds, a comedy that is centered around a friend group of 20-somethings. Soon, the domineering creator is killed and Jessica learns everyone had a good enough motive to do the crime. It won’t take you long to see how much ofBudsis a rip-off ofFriends. Any similarities to characters or episode events are usually purely coincidental — except when it comes to this.
One set is a groovy replica of Central Perk, with a coffee station, a neon sign, and the best sofa to invite big groups to sit down and talk about their problems. Around the production studio, there is a promotional poster that is similar toFriends, where the cast is all posed close together. And actress Dyan Emery (Barbara Alyn Woods) plays a character that is a stand-in for Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), fit with a similar hairstyle to the ’90s iconic “the Rachel.” Someone even makes it a point to tell her, “Girls all over America are copying your hairdo!” A jingle plays that is so obviously in the style of the upbeat transitional score fromFriends, it will make you think nonstop:Could this episodebeany more of a parody?
This being a murder mystery show, the lightheartedBudsis overcome by plenty of drama. The studio wants showcreator Ricki (Cindy Katz) to kill off one of the stars to save money. “They’re not equally funny, you know,” one character tells Ricki. She rules over the cast and crew with an iron fist, but agrees with the studio, promising them, “I’ll give you one body,” ashocking death that will make for great TV. Ricki is the kind of condescending, demanding figure written that way, so she will be easy to kill off.She won’t let anyone take a hiatus fromBudsto do other acting jobs, and that’s the deadly motive for one in the cast. The irony to this is that Jennifer Aniston was almost not let go from another sitcom she had a role in so she could stay onFriends.
As explained duringFriends: The Reunion,Aniston had requested to leaveMuddling Through, to which the producer told her how little successFriendswould bring her. As for ripping offFriends, this was done on purpose by theMurder, She Wroteshowrunners. They were venting frustrations on CBS, the channelMurder, She Wrotecalled home, which decidedSeason 12 should move from its regular Sunday night slot to Thursday night. When CBS did this change, it put Season 12 up against the more popularFriends, then in its second season, and there was no competition.
‘Murder, She Wrote’ Suffered From a Steep Decline in Viewership
In aMay 1996 article, theLos Angeles Timesstated, “The highest-rated drama series for nine consecutive seasons, ‘Murder’ saw its ranking plunge this year from No. 9 to No. 65.” David Shaw, co-producer onMSW, explained how CBS once gave Lansbury a good amount of control over the coveted Sunday 8 p.m. slot, forMSWand potentially another show she starred in afterward. Factors changed by the time Season 12 was made;there were new people in charge of CBS, plus a decline in ratings for the channel as a whole. In an attempt to ease conflicts, CBS did moveMSWback to Sunday nights for its culminating four episodes, but Lansbury had been frustrated.Maddy Horn, head of programming at CBS, talked about the overall decision, saying, “That was to establish a comedy block on Sunday and also to strengthen Thursday night [with] the only viable alternative to the NBC comedies. We actually accomplished both.” It sounds more positive than what happened though. This was 1995-1996 and what didn’t help was the nostalgic coziness toMurder, She Wrote, a polar opposite of the younger, livelierFriends.
The date was August 05, 2025, and what were you going to watch? On the same night “Murder Among Friends” aired, there was “The One Where Ross and Rachel…You Know.” It came after the“Prom Video” episode, one of the show’s most iconic, whereRoss and Rachelwere on their way to being a couple. It followed a long line of stellarFriendsepisodes in Season 2, from alesbian weddingto a Super Bowl two-parter. In this Feb. 8 episode, Monica (Courteney Cox) is a “smitten kitten” when she meetsRichard inTom Selleck’s first appearance, and Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel attempt to have a good first date, but it’s off to a rocky start. Rachel gets a case of the giggles during a kiss and, as a last resort, tries to get Ross to be more physical. He won’t budge as she tells him, “Come on, touch it. Oh, come on, squeeze it. Rub it? Oh, come on, would you just grab my ass!”
The sexiest episode ofMurder, She Wrote, if it can be called that, included many extramarital affairs. In “If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Beverly,” Jessica realizes the older women around Cabot Cove have been sleeping with a local police officer, who is accused of his wife’s murder. “It was good clean sex once a week!” the titular “other woman” exclaims in her defense. This was a little different from Monica nearly falling over as she called out the best erogenous zone on a woman’s body: “Seven, seven,seven!” TV was changing in the ’90s. WhileMSWtook pride in its formulaic mystery plots,there was an appetite for something else in 1996.
Angela Lansbury’s Best On-Screen Moments, From ‘Murder, She Wrote’ to ‘Gaslight’
Examining the career of the recently passed stage and screen icon.
The One Where ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Said Goodbye
Talking about thenight slot switch-up, Lansbury said inThe Spokesman-Review, “I don’t think I would have ever agreed to do this 12th season if I knew this was going to happen. I just couldn’t understand. I couldn’t find any logic to their thinking, and neither could anybody else.”Murder, She Wrote, as Lansbury described, was “family-oriented,” and in talking about the show’s fans, she said, “They are all fascinated by this older woman who has it all together and solves these naughty little problems. Nobody ever thinks of Jessica as being a bloodthirsty woman who enjoys the gore and the horror of the murder. The murder is incidental. It sets the stage to solve the crime.”Friendsoffered a different approach to entertainmentby looking into the daily lives of characters who, unlike Jessica, didn’t have it all figured out or could end an episode with a tidy bow and freeze-frame.
Murder, She Wrotehad become a family affair for Lansbury, who was an executive producer, with her husbandPeter Shawas a producer and her sonDavid Shawas a co-producer. It would also bring in older actors for guest spots, likeCesar Romero,Roddy McDowall, and even Tom Selleck, who did aMagnum, P.I.crossover. Courteney Cox also guest-starred, in a very small role, for Season 3. But the guest star lineup inFriendswould be much different, withJennifer Coolidge,Brad Pitt, andJulia Roberts, among more modern and famous actors. There was a difference in the format, too.MSWwas episodic, not serialized, andFriendsestablished ongoing storylinesin the romances among the friend group.
In “Murder Among Friends," Jessica tells one of theBudsco-stars, “I mean, who would have thought a group of twenty-something young people sitting around all day long discussing their sexuality would turn out to be a top TV show?” She chuckles as the actor can’t defend the show as being anything but what Jessica described it as. The thing is, no matter how preposterous Angela Lansbury or the showrunners ofMSWfelt it was,Friendswas a massive, beloved hit because of its premise. However, “Murder Among Friends” ends with a typical cheery final scene.
Jessica receives a diploma from the cast with the declaration, “Whereas, Jessica Fletcher has proven herself to be a friend extraordinaire, be it herewith resolved that she is officially designated an honorary bud.” Themystery seriestook its chance to be creative in taking a jab at the ‘90s sitcom classic,there was no bad blood by the time the credits rolled. WhileFriendswould go into the 2000s, the mystery show ended that year, with CBS releasing four TV movies to make amends with Lansbury. For 12 years,Murder, She Wrotehad been busy racking up a colossal body count, and in 1996,Friendswould end up zipping its body bag for good.
Murder, She Wroteis available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
