Murder -- According to Maggie

During the run of "Murder, She Wrote", there were quite a few episodes which did not feature Jessica Fletcher in the lead. Instead, the character introduces the episode but otherwise isn't present in the show. Why? Well, I read that Angela Lansbury needed a break from the rigors of a weekly show....but I also suspect they were trying to create spinoff shows. But, in the end, these shows never resulted in a series.

In "Murder--According to Maggie", Jessica tells the audience that the show is about one of her old talented students who is now a writer for television....and the show follows Maggie (Diana Canova) through the ups and downs (and murders) of working on TV. In this case, she acts like an amateur sleuth simply to prevent her show from being canceled!

The episode was decent...not great but also enjoyable. What I couldn't get past was the feeling that the show was meant as a commentary about the business....sort of like the writer airing their complaints about sleazy and two-faced network execs, actors and agents. This does make for an interesting story! Worth seeing.

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

Of the 'Murder She Wrote' bookend episodes, "Murder According to Maggie" is one of the best by quite some way and to me it is definitely the best of the bookends up to this point of 'Murder She Wrote'. It's not one of the best episodes overall, but for an episode both without Jessica investigating and not set in Cabot Cove "Murder According to Maggie" is pretty darn good. Maybe the mystery aspects could have kicked in slightly earlier but the only real fault agreed is the sloppy and needlessly repetitive business with the pencil.

The cast elevate "Murder According to Maggie" to a greater level. Diane Canova is a charming lead and ensures that attention never wanes, Maggie by quite some way is one of the more compelling lead characters of the bookends that isn't a recurring character (perhaps overall too). Leann Hunley and Talia Balsam are strong value and Tim Thomerson enjoys himself. "Murder According to Maggie" doesn't suffer, like some bookends do, from having too many characters or ones that are uninteresting, these characters add a lot to the light-hearted tone, fit the series-within-a-series well and make it interesting and drive the mystery along well.

Mystery-wise, "Murder According to Maggie" is mostly well-paced (though the beginning could have had a little more kick) and is clever and engaging with a suitably surprising ending. Perhaps though a little more standard than one would expect for something revolving around a former pupil of Jessica's considered by Jessica to be her brightest. It does tread familiar territory with the series-within-a-series/conflicts behind the scenes of a TV show but this didn't matter due to it still being interesting and worth investing your time in. Unlike some of the other bookends, especially from this season, "Murder According to Maggie" works very well as a standalone, has the light-hearted and amiable 'Murder She Wrote' spirit (so even without Jessica it feels like 'Murder She Wrote') and doesn't feel too much like a failed pilot episode.

Production values as ever are slick and stylish. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune. The writing is suitably light-hearted, amiable and intriguing.

All in all, for a bookend episode this is very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

One of Jessica's former pupils Maggie gets caught up in a murder at the studio she works at.

I can see this has been generally well received by other reviewers, for me however, it was a fairly average episode.

When I watch an episode, and see Jessica holding an empty cup and saucer, and address the camera, I know it spells trouble, and her absence. This could have been any show, it sadly doesn't have the Murder she wrote DNA running through it.

A clunky, if watchable mystery, one where the victim was glaringly obvious, and the killer's identity didn't come as much of a surprise. I wasn't crazy about the character of Maggie.

Dwayne Hickman was the standout for me as Brian, a typical early nineties yuppy, with braces and patterned shirt, one imagined a red Porsche 911 in the car park.

I have preferred most of the other non Jessica mysteries.

Angela Lansbury provides introduction to this episode where she describes the success of former pupil Diane Canova who has taken up writing but she writes for television.

Her successful cop show is about to be cancelled and before that happens a network vice president.is gunned down. Canova proves to be as resourceful as JB Fletcher in solving real crimes.

Acting honors go to Dwayne Hickman as a sneaky TV executive and Tim Thomerson as an outrageous overacting star of Canova's show who is the one first suspected.

Every time I settle in for my nightly Murder She Wrote and JB Fletcher starts talking directly to the camera I am so disappointed.

I do not care for these episodes where she introduces a show without her.

I have speculated that either Angela Lansbury was doing a Broadway show, needed a break, or they were throwing these characters on the wall to see what stuck to possibly start a spin-off.

Whatever the reason, I can barely watch.

I DO like many of the actors that appear in these type of episodes, like in this one, Diana Canova, great, Gary Sandy, also pretty good (although I felt he was a tad over-the-top).

I watch the show to see JB Fletcher, and in particular, the Cabot Cove cast of characters.