Murphy Brown CBS Review

Joe Regalbuto, Grant Shaud, Candice Bergen and Faith Ford in Murphy Brown.
Photo: Jojo Whilden / CBS

The television is awash with reboots, rework and rework now. This fall alone brings us a new Magnum, P.I., another Charmslightly re-tuned Last man standing, and The conners, the reinvention of Roseanne, which was relaunched less than a year ago. But there is something about bringing back Murphy Brown, which makes his return to CBS announced Thursday night, it seems ok, even if it adds another resuscitated sitcom to the pile.

When Murphy Brown The White House was occupied by a conservative Republican president and vice president, one of whom was known to misspelt things; signs of a growing wave of feminism in Congress were beginning to emerge; and the nation was consumed by the debate over a Supreme Court candidate accused of harassment by a woman who testified publicly before Congress. New Murphy Brown debuts in a landscape that contains parallels. The first episode will air on Thursday night, the same day that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is expected to testify before Congress about allegations that Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her during high school. If these factors do not allow you to earn a profit in Circle of Life Bingo, I am not sure what you would do.

It's obvious from the start Murphy 2.0 Diane English, creator of the series, and her fellow writers welcome this kind of relationship. The first episodes of Murphy Brown announces not only that Murphy is back by putting it in a historical context – the first time we see Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, she is wearing a sweatshirt adorned with the phrase "Original Nasty Woman" – they immediately establish the comedy's intention to denounce Brown's declared feminism against today's politicians. "Oh, you bring it!" Brown screams in the first episode of his new TV news, Murphy in the morningwhen Donald Trump suddenly starts dragging her on Twitter. Lest anyone forget that this journalist has already traded beards with senior officials of the administration, she adds, "Hashtag Dan Quayle!"

Unlike the most recent Roseanne, which was a largely political series that often tried to portray itself as something other than that, Murphy Brown declares its intentions to challenge the current Republican establishment and the way the media includes it. It's a partisan show and I respect it for not softening its limits in an attempt to appeal to the masses, especially to CBS, the network responsible for NCIS-the nation in a near stupor. At the same time, Murphy Brown is so determined to tear Trump and other aspects of contemporary culture that sometimes we have the impression that the series is ruined to allow this, instead of telling stories about topics of contemporary art. 39; news.

On the positive side, the natural chemistry between the main actors is still alive. Just about everyone: Bergen as Murphy; Joe Regalbuto as an investigative journalist and Brown's best friend, Frank Fontana; Faith Ford as fellow journalist Corky Sherwood, who has lost her cool with the passage of time; and Grant Shaud as Miles, the TV producer who has managed to grow even more. (The anchor Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough, is not a regular, but he will make at least one appearance this season.)

This quartet, originally thrown by their work on the network's current program FYI, reconnect to share seats at the glass table on Brown's new morning cable program. The catch? Murphy in the morning will be released in the same niche as the new show that has just been given to Murphy's son, Avery Brown (Jake McDorman, who starred in Unlimited), a progressive guy who got a platform on the Wolf network. (It's supposed to be a riff on Fox News, in case you do not know it.) It's a funny assumption that's also a bit hard to believe: there's no possibility that Fox News or even a shot Press Release Fox delivers one of the most valuable sections of his program to a guy who walks in Washington DC wearing a Pod Save America t-shirt. But this configuration allows Murphy Brown create a conflict between mother and son, a dynamic reinforced by the warm and competitive atmosphere generated between Bergen and McDorman. The two complement each other quite well.

That said, there are still many things that do not work – or at least not yet – in this new Murphy-verse. The first episode is arguably the most chaotic of the three provided to critics, mainly because it focuses on setting the circumstances FYI back into each other's orbit, and also introduce some new additional characters. (Tyne Daly joins the cast as Phyllis, now owner and operator of Phil, Murphy's favorite hangout, with Nik Dodani of Atypicalwho plays the social media editor for Murphy in the morning.) While the actors intertwine well, the stimulation is sometimes interrupted and the jokes are a bit too virulent to stay current. In general, the comic targets in the new Murphy Brown may be a little bit obvious: Murphy is a Luddite when it comes to social media, Miles is so panicked by the chaos in contemporary America that he sneaks into an apartment at the ### Inside Watergate, Frank is triggered by the word "Nazi" etc.

It is obvious that English & Co. is trying to give Murphy the opportunity to bring in Trump and other members of his administration, and they orchestrate the first episodes in this way, sometimes to the detriment of logic. In the second episode, "I (do not) like Huckabee", Murphy, banished from the White House, makes his way into the newsroom to ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders – who makes an appearance through the magic of interspersed images and real – an extended monologue of a question. It's a risk that a person as intelligent and ethical as Murphy probably does not take it, but Murphy Brown is ready to do that because it gives Candice Bergen, still as strong in her defining role in her career, the chance to stand up and say to Trump's spokeswoman, "Why are you lying?"

Things go better in episode three, the best of the initial batch, in which Murphy wonders whether or not he should interview Ed Shannon, an obvious performer for Steve Bannon, played by David Costabile. Billions and breaking Bad celebrity. It's useful to think that the situation in this chapter of the comedy is more credible – it's easy to imagine that Murphy's bosses ask him to interview Shannon for scoring purposes – and that the face-to-face of Murphy with Shannon is less There is also a valuable conversation at the heart of this episode about the responsibility that journalists should assume in this bizarre political environment. As Jim says, who gives advice, "you do not have to give the same time to someone who claims that Tom Hanks runs a ghost government." It's clear that Murphy Brown has the potential to become a smarter and better oiled machine as the new season progresses and the actors and crew build a stronger foundation.

"Vintage Murphy Brown – that's what I wanted to see on TV," Miles told Murphy after watching her conversation with Shannon. That's what I expect from long time fans of Murphy Brown will want to see too, and they will probably be happy on this front. Murphy's attitude and sensitivity of the series have not changed much, even though the times have certainly changed. The appearance of a special guest star – whose scene was deliberately excluded from the first episode shown to critics to keep the surprise – could also make the first a sort of chatter.

In addition, Bergen seems to have a balloon. In the kicker that ends the first episode – the one where Trump refers to Brown as "Old Murphy" during their live TV Twitter war, which results in strong ratings for Murphy in the morning – Murphy says with deep satisfaction: "Old Murphy, my ass." She understands a truth that reflects much of the current television landscape: everything that is old apparently has the ability to be at least somewhat new .