Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury will undergo replacement surgery Thursday on her left knee, but the operation was scheduled prior to a fall she took in front of 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl Friday, where she appeared in a concert marking the 75th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim.

Tributes to Angela Lansbury, William Shatner, legendary producer Sherwood Schwartz, and the casts and creators of several shows such as "The Wire" and "Arrested Development" will highlight the 21st Annual William S. Paley Television Festival, sponsored by the Museum of Television & Radio. The festival will run March 3 to 16 at the Directors Guild of America. Opening the festival is a discussion featuring writer-producer J.J.

Game, match and it's all set. After an absence of more than two decades, Angela Lansbury will return to Broadway this season to co-star with Marian Seldes in "Deuce," a new play by Terrence McNally ("Master Class," "Love! Valour! Compassion!"), directed by Michael Blakemore. Lansbury and Seldes will play retired tennis players who meet again at the U.S. Open. The production will begin previews in April and premiere May 6 at the Music Box Theatre, said production spokesman Jim Byk on Monday.

Seven years ago this month, it looked as if Jessica Fletcher had finally solved her last case. The elegant lead character of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest-running detective drama in television history, had spent the previous dozen years untangling crimes while traveling the country promoting her popular series of mystery novels. But with more than 250 episodes in the can, series star Angela Lansbury appeared ready to ease Jessica into retirement. Make that semiretirement.

November is TV's month for intrigue and conjecture--from the spate of programs renewing skepticism over the assassination of John F. Kennedy to an NBC movie speculating about the 1983 Soviet downing of a South Korean jetliner. "Shootdown," airing at 9 tonight on NBC Channels 4, 36 and 39, is especially strong when exploring the personal grief of a mother who has lost her son to tragedy. Thank Angela Lansbury for that.

How much does CBS love Angela Lansbury this Valentine's Day? Let it count the ways. On Sunday night, the last-place network, well-known for its cost-cutting methods, threw a blow-out, big-bucks ballroom bash in honor of the "Murder, She Wrote" star, who had been feeling taken for granted of late--complete with three-tiered cake and all the trimmings.

ABC removed the three lowest-rated shows on prime-time network televison Tuesday, canceling newcomers "Homeroom" and "Living Dolls" and placing the veteran "Mr. Belvedere" on hiatus. CBS, meanwhile, was happy to announce that Angela Lansbury had agreed to return for a seventh season of "Murder, She Wrote" next year. As the star of the CBS entertainment division's only Top 20 show, Lansbury commanded another lucrative resigning deal similar to last year's haul.