Octavia Spencer to Anchor NBC Remake of Murder, She Wrote?

Murder, Octavia Spencer Wrote?

According to Deadline sources, NBC has given a pilot commitment to a reboot of Murder, She Wrote, the CBS series that ran from 1984-1996 and on which earned Angela Lansbury starred as an author-turned-amateur detective. She earned 12 Emmy nominations for Lead Actress for the role.

Spencer, who earned the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2012 for The Help, will star on the resurrected series a a hospital administrator who publishes her first mystery novel and ends up getting involved in a number of criminal investigations.

The pilot will be written by Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives, Prime Suspect).

While now a steady big screen presence, Spencer has appeared on such television shows as Raising the Bar and Ugly Betty. She also stopped by Mom this week and will recur over the next several Mondays on that CBS sitcom.

So... yeah. A remake of Murder, She Wrote. Can't say we saw that coming. What does everyone else think?

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.