User Reviews

Well, 264 episodes have been produced for the twelve-season "Murder, She Wrote" television series, and now we're up to the last of these.

During the initial CBS broadcasts of "Death by Demographics," Angela Lansbury delivers a note of gratitude to share her appreciation to viewers for tuning into watch the adventures of J.B. Fletcher, whom she develops well throughout this series.

This makes one wonder how the series may have endured otherwise, had producers cast one of its original choices for the starring role, as Angela reportedly had been their fifth choice; some of the other contenders seem to have had a history of abandoning previous series, whereas Angela Lansbury goes on to serve as Executive Producer for "MSW's" last four seasons.

This program's co-creators have reportedly clashed with Angela over the direction of her character, as we see a somewhat different sleuth emerging throughout the series. Two aspects which they have all agreed upon, however, would be that Jessica would never drive an automobile, and that she would have no lasting romantic interest. So, they have succeeded on these points and beyond.

And now, the series winding to a somewhat unceremonious close, as producers have learned their lesson about these "send-off" episodes, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) visits her dear old friend Howard Deans (David Ogden Stiers) in San Francisco. (What begins on the Atlantic side of Maine climaxes on the Pacific side of California.)

Radio Station KLOY 114.3-FM in San Francisco plans to undergo a format change, from Classical music to Modern Rock, causing Howard Deans to face unemployment, as he specializes in presenting recordings composed by the greats, such as Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," a rendition of which Howard broadcasts with Jessica at his side, and Sound Engineer Eddie Mapes (Paul Linke) in the adjacent control room.

(Jessica arrives to promote her latest Mystery, "A Case and a Half of Murder.")

KLOY owner Graham Forbes (Robert Pine) welcomes from vacation his son, Bud Forbes (Robert Curtis Brown), to break the news about the station's switch from Classical to Rock, a move which Bud finds unsettling, when someone even more unsettling enters the office, Lauren (Lucinda Weist), a young lady from Cincinnati who plans to marry Graham, thus causing reservations on Bud's behalf.

Lauren has convinced Graham to hire Russ Connell (James Acheson) as youth-oriented program director and T. T. Baines (Christian Bocher) as disc jockey, beginning next Monday, when Howard's morning program will leave the airwaves. Russ and T. T. are on hand to adjust the station.

(Lauren, Russ and T. T. share a past in Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, as they worm their way into radio stations and manage to get the station owner to propose to Lauren, who was once engaged to Russ, and then Russ makes the move to have T. T. change the station's format, while Russ is busy blackmailing personnel, before they move their scam to another city, which they plan to do after this.) But now, Lauren claims to have fallen in love with Graham for real, and she wants free of Russ and T. T.'s scam.

Colleen Sellers (Robin Riker), Annie Lawson (Diana Canova) and Dave Pittman (Kenneth Tigar) work behind the scenes at KLOY, in sales, promotions and accounting divisions. Colleen, from Bangor, Maine, has a history of introducing headline-grabbing gimmicks, while Dave has had to borrow $45,000 from the till to pay for medical expenses, a transaction with which Annie has secretly assisted Dave, and now Russ is blackmailing these three.

One evening when Russ and T. T. emerge from a restaurant to enter their automobile, someone aims a rifle to shoot through their window, they emerging unscathed, but SFPD Lieutenant Evans (Seth Jaffe) soon arrives at KLOY to question Howard Deans, as the prime suspect, whom Jessica champions as her dear old friend.

But late one other night, someone reaches for a fireplace poker to murder a victim, not by bludgeoning, but by stabbing, by way of variety.

Jessica joins Lieutenant Evans in the resulting investigation, they discovering that more than one suspect has entered the apartment that night, he intending to nail Howard, she standing her ground to defend Howard against "Death by Demographics."

(This title also reflects the cancellation of "MSW" because of a shift in the popular direction of television viewing audiences of the day.)

This episode represents the second of two "MSW" appearances each for Robin Riker, Christian Bocher, and Seth Jaffe (both as SFPD Lieutenant Evans), the third of three each for Diana Canova, Robert Curtis Brown and David Ogden Stiers, the fifth of five for Robert Pine, and the 264th of 264 "MSW" series performances for Angela Lansbury, or at least before the upcoming four "MSW" TV reunion movies (to date).

I was very surprised that after so many episodes the final series did not in some way clue you in to the fact that "THAT'S ALL FOLKS". I enjoyed most all of the series with a few exceptions but for what ever reason after such a long and successful run I felt let down without actually being told that there would be no more. I did my own rerun of going through each season via public library (seasons 1 -12) and did my own thing with it. I enjoyed the idea of allowing the viewer the clues to figure out "Who Done It". I also loved the idea of seeing the unknowns that went on to bigger and better things. GREAT SHOW.

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.

Season 12 is for me one of the weaker and most inconsistent 'Murder She Wrote' seasons. There are very good to great episodes like "Nan's Ghost" (both parts), "Unwilling Witness", "The Dark Side of the Door" and "What You Don't Know Can Kill You". There are also bad episodes such as "Shooting in Rome", "Death Goes Double Platinum", "Something is Foul in Flappieville" and "Southern Double Cross".

"Death by Demographics" is towards the better end, if not as good as the aforementioned best episodes. It is something of a sombre end for 'Murder She Wrote' and somehow doesn't really feel like a season or show finale, there is a sense of abruptness on that front. It is a very well done episode, though the identity of the killer didn't surprise me, suspected them early on actually, and it is a little formulaic in places (one does know the outcome of the prime suspect immediately, being the same for pretty much every episode.

Angela Lansbury is terrific, as usual, as is David Ogden Stiers as a likeable character that one roots for. It is by far his best performance of the three episodes he appeared in, Season 3's "Corned Beef and Carnage" and Season 11's "An Egg to Die For" being the others, and the best episode of the three. The rest of the cast fare well too.

Excepting the for me obvious denouement the mystery is engaging, as are the tensions behind the scenes of the radio station.

Production values 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 script provokes thought and is suitably light-hearted.

Overall, nicely done episode if a sombre end. 8/10 Bethany Cox

My rating of 10 is for the entire series, not specifically for this last episode, just to be clear.

Yes, dear friends, it is an honest statement of fact: Murder She Wrote was the victim of demographics - the show's audience was not attracting enough viewers in the advertising sweet spot of those in the 20 to 35-year old age bracket (ie, "demographic" group), who are thought to be the target audience most willing to spend, spend, spend on the advertiser's products, and so, it went the way of other dinosaurs, and just...disappeared. Ah, well, c'est la vie. The happy news is we'll always have twelve wonderful year's worth of episodes to keep us company on Sunday evenings, and for that, we can be truly grateful. Peace! MFF/Honolulu 8-22-22.

What it all boils down to in this Murder She Wrote story is that the entertainment industry thinks young people are stupid. That they will buy any kind of faddish thing on the market as long as it's advertised well. Give them their most contemporary music of the moment and they will buy what advertisers who bring it to them will sell.

So after years of broadcasting a classical program, David Ogden Stiers is now being given the heave ho. But not fired exactly. As he has some months on his contract Stiers has to play stooge for the new disc jockey Christian Bocher. Like asking Alastair Cooke to be a foil for Don Rickles.

So when Bocher is killed as usual Stiers is the obvious suspect, but as it always works out he has a friend in Jessica Fletcher who is in San Francisco once again promoting another of her mysteries. This mystery as always gets figured out.

I really liked David Ogden Stiers and his character. Alastair Cooke and Don Rickles. Turn that over in your mind.

David turns in a perfect performance. A take on his MASH character without the snobby accent and more vulnerable. He is so engaging and he touches all the right notes. He did a previous turn in Murder, She Wrote as a Russian KGB agent that was very good, but this one is a great performance. The plot is a little more involved than most of the episodes and the solution is not so trivial - a great fake out by Jessica. My only complaint is that the series should have gone out at Cabot Cove, saying goodbye to all those so familiar characters. Though San Francisco is a lot better place to close out than New York City.

"Death by Demographics" is the final TV episode of "Murder, She Wrote" they aired (the previous episode was actually filmed last). But it's not exactly the end of the series, as they made four "Murder, She Wrote" movies which aired following "Death by Demographics". So, it's ALMOST the end of the line for the series. It deserved better than "Death by Demographics".

Jessica is visiting a radio station in San Francisco. Although its format for years has been classical music, it's now being changed to modern music...and the long-time disc jockey, Howard Deems (David Ogden Stiers), is shocked about the change and because he'll be losing his job. So, when someone shoots at a couple of the new talent, the police assume that Howard did it. But, being "Murder, She Wrote", you KNOW someone will soon die and the police's assumptions about the shooter will be wrong.

This is a good episode. My comments above are not because I didn't like it but because it is a great series and needed a powerful ending to the show. Following this show, four made for TV movies were made...and hopefully they'll cap off Jessica Fletcher in a more fitting fashion.

Changing a radio station's format from classical music to hard rock can seriously bring forth bad feelings, and even murder - and that's what happens to a new manager. Que: Jessica, and in her last appearance. Sob!! And it's a good episode to end with. Of course, there are better episodes, but by now the formula was pretty much set, and if Angela Lansbury was to bow out in a role that bought her world wide fame, then this is fitting one to end with.