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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 27 sepTember 2018
CBS' 'Murphy Brown' is back, ready to 'make some noise'

By LYNN ELBER
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Last
season's short-lived "Rose-
anne" revival blew an air
kiss to President Donald
Trump in its debut episode
before it reverted to finding
laughs in family and work-
ing-class woes, not politics.
Expect "Murphy Brown," an-
other reborn 20th-century
sitcom, to be consistently
faithful to its own roots.
Washington tumult, social
issues and the role of jour-
nalism will be central when
the sitcom starring Can-
dice Bergen as a tough TV
reporter returns 9:30 p.m.
EDT Thursday on CBS, said
creator and executive pro-
ducer Diane English.
The series is "here to make
some noise," English said
in an interview, sketching
out a few of topics to be
featured in the season's 13
episodes: "We're doing an
immigration episode, we're
doing a midterm-elections
episode. We're doing a Me This image released by CBS shows Candice Bergen, left, and Tyne Daly in a scene from "Murphy Brown." Political, social issues and
Too episode," she said. the role of journalism will be central when the sitcom, starring Bergen as a skeptical TV reporter, returns Thursday on CBS.
The debut half-hour is "so Associated Press
ambitious and so fearless,"
Bergen told a TV critics' views, English said. debate — this before the or an independent, can Watching "Will & Grace"
news conference. "During "He has paid attention to advent of social media find interesting," she said. manage a successful
the taping, I turned to Joe the people who feel that and its incendiary effect on The Louisiana-born Ford comeback piqued her in-
(Regalbuto, her co-star) at they were passed over and anything and everything, said she reminds her po- terest, but it was the after-
one point and I said, 'This he's their voice, to some and before public distrust litically "middle-ish" family math of the 2016 election
show has no fear of any- degree. The way he cre- of journalism became more back home that the joke is that made the difference.
one.'" ates his own show gives entrenched. frequently on the show's im- "I started really thinking se-
In the revival, former net- a voice to people that English, herself a sparing perfect characters. riously about it as things
work reporter Murphy is are the forgotten and the user of online platforms "We are all flawed as hu- in our country got worse
now on cable with the people who the elites, in (she enjoys Instagram and man beings ... we all make and worse," she said. "And
frothily titled "Murphy in quotes, call 'the flyovers,'" finds it largely friendly, but fun of ourselves, and so the I thought, 'You know, all
the Morning." Along for the she said. has harsh words for Face- whole point of it is to make these shows are coming
ride at the fictitious CNC An advantage the new book) said she's prepared people laugh at whatever back but ours is the one
news channel are her old series has over the 1988- for backlash. is going on right now," Ford that has the real reason to
"FYI" news magazine col- 98 original comes courtesy "I am very aware of the said. English, with credits come back.' We are about
leagues, including Regal- of technology, with digital fact that we're in a differ- including a 2008 version the press. We always were
buto's Frank Fontana, Faith recording allowing refer- ent world. But as in the old of Clare Booth Luce's play a politically and culturally
Ford's Corky Sherwood and ences to real-world news to days, we never really cen- (and 1939 film) "The Wom- relevant show."q
Grant Shaud's Miles Silver- be updated close to air, an sored ourselves in terms en," initially hesitated when
berg. impossibility in the old era of the kinds of stories we Warner Bros. studio execu-
Murphy and her colleagues of film. would tell and the positions tives approach her about
"are trying to present the The original "Murphy Brown" that we would have char- bringing it back amid other
facts in a straight down the wasn't shy about intersect- acters take," she said. "So, successful revivals — which
middle way," English said. ing with reality, most no- yeah, we're in a very divi- included "Roseanne," until
"Their show is issue-oriented tably after the 1992 presi- sive climate right now, but star Roseanne Barr's racist
and facts, with no personal dential campaign in which we're still going to be the tweet killed it. (ABC is rolling
opinion." Dan Quayle, vice presi- show that we always were." the dice this season on its
Jake McDorman ("Shame- dent to George H.W. Bush, That means topical, funny spinoff, "The Conners," mi-
less") joins the cast as Mur- lambasted the unmarried and, importantly, "no vitriol nus Barr.)
phy's son, Avery, a reporter Murphy's pregnancy as in the scripts. That's some- "When you've been on the
at the competing and a mockery of fatherhood thing I want to keep my air for 10 years and people
conservative Wolf — ahem and a Hollywood raspberry antenna up about. And, call you an iconic series,
— news channel. He's lib- to American morality. hopefully, through humor do you want to go back
eral, but his work outside The top-rated, Emmy-win- shed some light on some and take that risk that you
of the Washington beltway ning series fired back in things that any reasonable might ruin it or it wouldn't
"bubble" has given him an an ongoing tiff that gener- person, whether you're a be as good as it was at one
appreciation for different ated headlines and fierce Republican or a Democrat time?" English said.