Common sense prevails---for now: NBC rejects Murder, She Wrote pilot, may reconsider another concept later

Three months ago, NBC & Universal announced that they would revive the former CBS hit, Murder, She Wrote, albeit with an African-American lead (Octavia Spencer) in the role created by Angela Lansbury as amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher. The treatment submitted had Jessica rebooted as a hospital administrator who just wrote her first novel, and, well, you can guess where that goes.

Yahoo! is reporting that the pilot was rejected by NBC, although network suits have said they would revisit Murder later on with a different submission. Well, at least they're halfway to common sense.

Let us consider again the fact that Universal has tried several times to revive iconic series of the 60's (Ironside), 70's (Kojak, Bionic Woman, Night Stalker, and submissions for revivals of McCloud & The Rockford Files that never got past the talking stage), & 80's (Knight Rider), only to result in abject failure each time. They haven't figured out yet that star-driven vehicles such as those named left enough of an indelible impression with viewers such that fans cannot see anyone else playing the iconic roles. Murder falls into this category, and should rightfully be left well enough alone.

Better that Universal plumb its vaults for one of their anthology series, like, for example, Name of The Game, if they want to try another revival. Conversely, a current USA series, White Collar, likely wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for the success of It Takes a Thief in its 3 year run (1968-70). The concept is not entirely the same, and for that reason, Collar has been successful itself.

The same should apply to the other networks and studios should they attempt similar revival projects, although WB and the CW network are going forward with a new version of The Flash, which will spin out of the current Arrow series. The first Flash lasted 1 season (1990-1), but then, at the time, consider that it was on the wrong night of the week, airing opposite The Cosby Show. Enough said. For all the talk about Marvel & ABC mounting a revival of The Incredible Hulk, it seems they're hesitating, waiting to see how Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. plays out the rest of the season. Hulk was another star vehicle that lasted 5 seasons at Universal & CBS (1977-82), and would fall into the same category as the other revivals, even though the new version would likely be at Disney/Marvel/ABC.

Otherwise, would it be asking too much for Hollywood to take a chance on something fresh for once?