‘Murphy Brown’ Returns to Fight New Culture Wars

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/a...ce-bergen.html

In one of the first episodes of the rebooted “Murphy Brown,” the show’s title character, back at it after all these years, faces a dilemma.

Murphy, a celebrity TV journalist, is being pushed by network executives to conduct an interview. It’s a chance to interrogate a Steve Bannon-like character who is a former senior adviser in the Trump White House and has a book to sell. “A ratings bonanza,” her boss insists.

Should Murphy, played once again by Candice Bergen, seize the opportunity to cut the character down to size before a national audience? Or should she simply refuse to give his nativist views a platform?

Two weeks after that episode was filmed, The New Yorker came under heavy fire for inviting Mr. Bannon, a former senior adviser to Mr. Trump, to its annual festival, criticized by staff and readers alike for daring to give him a soap box. That flare-up is just one reason producers and the stars of the series believe that “Murphy Brown” is as relevant now as it was in the 1990s.

“Over the last few years, it would get brought up and we would just dismiss it,” Ms. Bergen, 72, said in a recent interview about rebooting the show. “We thought, what was the point? But then we thought, hmm, it just seemed the time was right, which is, of course, because of the election.”

“The only thing I can thank him for,” she continued, referring to President Trump, “is to have given us unplowed fields of material.”

The sitcom “Murphy Brown” returns to CBS after a 20-year absence on Sept. 27. Like other recent reboots, including “Roseanne,” “Will & Grace,” “Full House” and “Twin Peaks,” most of the original cast has returned.

But “Murphy Brown” is re-entering a TV space very different from when it first aired three decades ago, and it may face the biggest obstacles to success out of any of those recent revivals.

Consider: TV news is currently a less trusted institution than banks, the medical system and the criminal justice system, according to Gallup, far different from the 1990s. Can “Murphy Brown,” and its comedic celebration of TV journalism, resonate in this environment?

Fans who want to catch up on the original series will find it nearly impossible to stream thanks to expensive music rights issues (Motown songs were prominently featured in older episodes). Warner Bros., the show’s producer, recently struck a deal to have 18 of the original run’s 247 episodes to stream on CBS All Access (one of the smaller services) for a few weeks. But is that enough exposure to stoke interest?

And, perhaps most important, the show will have a definitive point of view — it will be anti-Trump and decidedly pro-press. Can that work on CBS, the home of Middle America’s favorite shows like “NCIS,” “Blue Bloods” and “Criminal Minds”?

“They’re not going to watch us anyway,” said Diane English, the creator of “Murphy Brown,” referring to Trump supporters. “I don’t think we’re looking to bring them into the tent.”

Ms. Bergen added, “We don’t want to shut down half of the country, but I think we just see that someone has to take them on.” (By them, she’s referring to the Trump administration.)

[hch]

right on

[Svenfan1234]

I can't wait

[AB]

Looking forward to seeing Murphy Brown again.

[MA]

I'm hoping that the show does well.

[TMC]

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[KRW]

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Murphy Brown now.