Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, we’ll be looking at Universal’s theme park “adaptation” of one of the most successful television shows of all-time.
Via Gold Derby
Though the Primetime Emmys, celebrating the best in television, will probably look a little different this year since everyone will need to stay at home, they will still be proceeding on the same day as planned, September 20. Though that’s a little ways away, the nominations will be coming out next Tuesday, July 28th. With all of the television that everyone has been watching lately, this year’s ceremony could be one of the most watched ever because people will have a little more skin in the game.
Via Film Daily
However, today we’ll be jumping to Emmys of the past and looking at Murder, She Wrote and its place at Universal Studios Florida. For the second through fourth seasons of the show, it was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, while Angela Lansbury received an Emmy nom for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series all twelve seasons that the show was on the air. I can understand it not winning for the best drama series, but the fact that Angela Lansbury didn’t win once in twelve tries is hard to believe. You’d think they would just give it to her for the last season the show was on the air, but alas she never found the gold.
Outside of being a critical hit, the show was also an audience favorite, not placing lower than 13th in the ratings with the exception of its final season (when it was shifted to an entirely different day). With all of these factors in mind, it was a no-brainer to include an attraction involving the show at Universal Studios Florida when it opened June 7, 1990.
Via Orlando Informer
The first months at Universal Studios Florida were kind of a disaster with attractions like Kongfrontation and Jaws: The Ride experiencing extreme technical difficulties. They needed attractions that could just eat people and the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Theatre was the perfect attraction to do just that.
The Murder, She Wrote Mystery Theatre was very similar to the Special Effects Stage Shows that have popped up in the domestic Universal parks. Guests served as “executive producers” for an episode of Murder, She Wrote, witnessing with most of the stages of post-production. Guests would go from room to room seeing how editing, ADR recording and sound effects worked amongst various other things.
As a whole, the show was relatively pedestrian, with the future incarnations of the show that we see today having really improved on the concept and made it a lot more engaging. But for what it was, it was enjoyable and definitely served its purpose of giving guests something to do that had little chance of breaking while holding a lot of people. Every theme park needs attractions like that because not everything can be an E-Ticket.
Via Xena Fan
In 1996, the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Theatre closed to make way for Hercules and Xena: Wizards of the Screen. The show was going off the air, so it was time for the theme park attraction to move on as well. It served a valiant purpose during a tough time in the park, so it deserved to go out when it did before it could become too outdated.
Well, that’s all for today, but here’s what we’ll be discussing next time.
- This attraction officially closed a couple of weeks ago even though it had not been open for a few months before that.
- This attraction was a parody of another attraction in the same land.
- This attraction was at Walt Disney World.
Disney Meme Dump! | Fandom
Via Disney Wiki
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!