‘Murphy Brown’ Mocks Donald Trump in Latest Promo Videos

When the hard-hitting journalists of Murphy Brown return to CBS in September, they’ll have plenty to talk about. This week, the network released two short promo videos for the rebooted sitcom, and the characters wasted no time before taking aim at President Donald Trump. Murphy Brown has addressed pressing political and social issues in its past (it originally ran from 1988 to 1998), but judging by these promos, it seems like the series will be heavily focused on Trump and the implications of his presidency on the media.

The first promo, posted Wednesday, features Murphy (Candice Bergen) and fellow journalist Miles (Grant Shaud) texting about the trial of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman. “Eight guilty verdicts!” Murphy texts. “I won our bet. You owe me dinner.” But Miles isn’t so convinced. “That wasn’t the bet. You said he’d use an insanity defense. You lose,” he writes. Borrowing a line from Rudy Giuliani’s defense of the president, Murphy responds, “Truth isn’t truth. Where are we eating?”

In the second promo, posted Thursday morning, Murphy and her best friend Frank (Joe Regalbuto) discuss Trump’s West Virginia rally, which began just hours after Manafort was convicted. “You watch Trump’s WV rally?” asks Frank. When Murphy tells him that she didn’t, he says, “They played Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’ before he went on.” Murphy rolls her eyes, writing, “In light of Stormy, ‘Private Dancer’ would have been better.”

It’s likely that Murphy Brown won’t actually mention specific political events like the Manafort trial, Trump’s West Virginia rally, and Stormy Daniels (actually, they may mention her), but this is still an interesting strategy on CBS’ part. These promos don’t exactly play it safe: CBS runs the risk of alienating Trump supporters, who, as the Roseanne reboot proved, are big TV-watchers. It will be interesting to see how — or if — these promos affect ratings when Murphy Brown premieres in just a few weeks.

Murphy Brown returns to CBS on Thursday, September 27.