Angela Lansbury is still in a snit. Loyal viewers of her once-hit series, "Murder, She Wrote," have been angered mightily.
All because that series was moved out of its once-cushy Sunday night time slot and shuffled off to Thursdays, where it has pretty much died in the ratings.All of which would be big news except for one fact. Economically speaking, "Murder, She Wrote" has been a walking corpse for years now.
Keep in mind, we're not talking about the quality of the show. Nor are we talking about either the talent or the personal magnetism of Lansbury. You won't find a classier person working in TV today.
But what Lansbury has apparently missed in her 11 seasons on the air is that network television is a business. And that business consists of selling advertising and attempting to make a profit.
Speaking in terms of that business, "Murder, She Wrote" hasn't been holding up its end of the bargain for the past several seasons.
Last season, "Murder" was a top-rated series in household ratings. But household ratings mean little or nothing in terms of advertising.
Advertisers are interested in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. Some reach even younger, to viewers between the ages of 18 and 34.
Not much of anybody wants to appeal to viewers over 50.
The theory is that once you reach 50 you suddenly become impervious to advertising. You're old and set in your ways and no commercial can make you buy a different product.
Once again, this is not fair. It's not right. It's actually pretty darn stupid.
And it has a lot to do with the fact that most of the Madison Avenue types who actually buy television advertising time are in their 20s.
Nonetheless, the 18-to-49 demographic is a reality that television programmers have to live with. CBS executives actually went out of their way in the past few years to try to convince ad agencies that older viewers are still valuable.
They failed.
The success of the CBS Television Network as a business depends on finding programming that appeals to the 18-to-49 demographic.
"Murder, She Wrote" doesn't.
Yes, the show was in the top 10 in household ratings last season. But it was tremendously unattractive to advertisers, who paid far more for lower-rated shows like "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and even the now-canceled "seaQuest" because those shows attracted more 18-49 viewers.
"Murder, She Wrote" has fallen to the mid-60s in the weekly rankings since moving to Thursdays this season. But that's just about right where the show has ranked in the most important - and most economically desirable - demographics for years.
And, let's face it. After more than 200 episodes, "Murder, She Wrote" and its premise has worn more than a bit thin. Eleven years is an enormously long run for any television show and one that both Lansbury and CBS should be proud of.
But television is a business. It's a business that has made Angela Lansbury rich, famous, loved and respected.
And television is a rather cruel business. The phrase "What have you done for us lately?" is particularly significant when it comes to the ratings.
It's all well and good for Lansbury to give interviews in which she proclaims how hurt she has been by CBS in the past few months. But it also might be good if she remembered the enormous sums of money she's been paid by that network over the past decade.
Of course, Lansbury made a lot of money for CBS during the long run of "Murder, She Wrote." It used to be more of a symbiotic relationship, however, with the actress and the network making money for each other.
These days, Lansbury and "Murder, She Wrote" aren't doing much for CBS.
Is this nice? Is it pleasant? Is it the sort of behavior one might expect at a dinner party?
No. Of course not.
But it is the kind of behavior one might expect in the corporate boardroom. And to lose sight of the fact that network television - all television - is a business with a bottom line is to set yourself up to be hurt and angry.
Lansbury has vowed that this will be the final season for "Murder, She Wrote." And CBS executives have made no big effort to get her to stay - the kind of dollars-laden efforts they made in years past when the show was still financially viable.
But the woman who has epitomized class and charm on television should have the good sense to see the financial realities and go out with grace and dignity - not go out biting the hand that fed her for more than a decade.