Murphy Brown
Ten, 8.30pm
In Joy Press' insightful recent book Stealing the Show: How Women are Revolutionising Television, Diane English's Murphy Brown and Roseanne Barr's Roseanne are the twin pillars of change, a pair of 1980s sitcoms that presented a popular new vision of American women every week.
Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown of the CBS comedy MURPHY BROWN, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved Murphy Brown, Candice BergenCredit:CLIFF LIPSON
Both shows were inherently political, and both have been revived following the election of Donald Trump. Roseanne has already blown out and been rebooted, and now it's the turn of Candice Bergen's hard charging network newshound to take on the 21st century. The problem is that she's brought an awful lot of the 20th century with her. Murphy has much the same supporting cast, including reporters Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto) and Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford), as well as producer Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud); they still drink at Phil's and Murphy's assistants remain a perpetual trainwreck.
The writing has ancient sitcom rhythms, with jokes geared to older viewers, and the Trump digs are pointed but not exactly sharp – too many come with a quick explanation as a chaser. This episode is a progressive baby boomer fantasy, with Murphy infiltrating the White House briefing room and delivering a heartfelt speech about the freedom of the press to (an edited in) Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Fake News is a real issue, but so is Fake Comedy. CM
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