Murphy Brown Spin-Off

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Fresh off the heels of the success of "Murphy Brown," Diane English, in 1991, conceived a spin-off called "Love & War," spinning off Jay Thomas.

On "Murphy Brown," Jay portrayed Jerry Gold, a tabloid newsman who rivaled Murphy in success; for "Love & War," Jerry Gold was re-tooled and re-named Jack Stein, a Chicago sportswriter and frequent patron at a local bar/restaurant run by Wally Porter (Susan Dey).

The spin-off did some re-tooling of its own when character actor John Hancock, cast as bartender Ike Johnson, dropped dead in real life at age 51 of a massive Heart Attack on October 12, 1992 after filming 6 episodes.

John's real-life death was written into the show, and Charlie Robinson (fresh off the 8-year run of "Night Court") was cast as Ike's brother, Abe, his replacement bartender who became such after Ike passed away.

Diane left "Murphy" to concentrate on "Love" after its pickup by the CBS Television Network, where it lasted 3 seasons from September 21, 1992 - February 1, 1995, after being canceled midway through its 3rd year.

Susan Dey, who appeared as Wally Porter, was fired after the first season and replaced by Annie Potts (fresh out of "Designing Women") as Dana Palladino, the new owner of the restaurant whom Jack fell in love with after Wally dumped him.

"Love & War" was produced by Shukovsky English Entertainment and Distributed in syndication by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.

You can find the complete series (including 4 previously unaired episodes) available on Hulu.