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She’s (almost) back, baby! After 20 years off the air, the landmark, award-winning, soul-stirring sitcom Murphy Brown is making a comeback on CBS. The revival of the politically-aware comedy comes at exactly the right time, as Murphy and her news-team re-enter a world of fake news and worse. But after 20 years off-air, maybe you’re a little rusty on who Murphy Brown is. Maybe you loved the original show and don’t know what’s up with the revival (it’s not a reboot).
Whatever questions you have about the new season of Murphy Brown, this article aims to give you the hard-hitting facts! Let’s start with the basics:
When does Murphy Brown start?
The Murphy Brown revival debuts on Thursday, September 27 on CBS at 9:30 p.m. ET. It will be available to stream on CBS All Access starting early on Friday, September 28.
What is Murphy Brown?
Murphy Brown is only one of the most important and successful sitcoms of all time–one that’s been kinda forgotten in the 21st century because of its absence from DVD and now streaming. But I’ll get to that later!
The show–created by Diane English–focuses on the titular character, a journalist and recovering alcoholic who starts the series fresh off a stint in rehab. She’s brash and abrasive, unapologetically feminist and liberal, and is a damn good journalist too. She works for the nighttime newsmagazine FYI. The show, which ran for 10 seasons on CBS from 1988 to 1998, was uncommonly politically aware for its time. It debuted in the late ’80s when sweet family sitcoms (Growing Pains, Full House, Family Ties, etc.) were still the norm, and it stayed political even after Seinfeld ushered in a wave of hip, must see shows about nothing.
Murphy Brown was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy five times, winning twice (in 1990 and 1992).
Who plays Murphy Brown?
Candice Bergen plays Murphy Brown, and it was a big deal that she did. Bergen took the role in the late ’80s, back when movie stars didn’t go back to TV. The daughter of a fashion model and famous ventriloquist, Bergen was in showbiz from a very young age. She became a model herself in the ’60s, and then transitioned into movie stardom with roles in The Group and The Sand Pebbles in 1966. She got an Oscar nom in 1979 for the romcom Starting Over. She’s also a member of Saturday Night Live’s illustrious Five-Timers Club, having hosted the show five times between 1975 (the fourth episode!) and 1990.
Bergen has also been politically active since the 60s when she engaged in protests (one that shut down the New York Stock Exchange).
Is the new Murphy Brown reboot really a revival?
Why, I’m so glad you asked! Yes, it is a revival and not a reboot. A reboot implies that everything is totally fresh, that the previous 10 seasons didn’t happen and that we’re getting new actors in the roles of Murphy, Corky, Frank, and Miles. We are not. The new Murphy Brown is a revival, meaning the new season is Season 11 of the same run and will pick up 20 years after the original series ended. We really should stop using “reboot” as the default term for everything.
Who was in the original cast of Murphy Brown?
In addition to Bergen, the original series starred Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood, a perky anchor and former Miss America; Joe Regalbuto as investigative reporter Frank Fontana; Grant Shaud as fresh-faced and anxious new producer Miles Silverberg; stone-faced no-nonsense anchor Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough; Murphy’s practically live-in home repairman Eldin, played by Robert Pastorelli; and Pat Corley as Phil, the bartender of the DC watering hole the FYI team frequents.
Who is in the new Murphy Brown cast?
Returning for the new season are four principal actors from the original: Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood, Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana, and Grant Shaud as Miles Silverberg.
Joining them are TV legend and six-time Emmy winner Tyne Daly, who will play Phil’s sister and the new owner of the bar (Pat Corley passed away in 2006). Also working at the bar will be Adan Rocha as Miguel, a college student and Dreamer who was born in Mexico but came to the United States as a young child. Nik Dodani will play Pat, the millennial social media director of Brown’s news show. And Jake McDorman will play Avery Brown, Murphy’s son who was six years old (and played by Haley Joel Osment) when the original show ended. Avery will be a journalist just like his mother, and just as competitive.
The new season will also feature Jim Dial in a reduced role, as Charles Kimbrough is now 82. Of the original cast, Robert Pastorelli’s Eldin will also be absent as Pastorelli passed away in 2004.
Is Murphy Brown streaming?
The answer is… kind of? The whole series is not streaming, and may never make it to streaming as the original run’s frequent use of (very expensive) Motown songs has kept it off of DVDs and platforms. But CBS All Access, with a new season of Murphy Brown on the way and a generation of TV viewers mostly unfamiliar with the show, devised a workaround. Instead of putting the whole series up (which would be very expensive), they selected 18 episodes that were void of any music rights issues and put those up. So you can stream 18 episodes of Murphy Brown right now on CBS All Access, ones without any recognizable tunes in them.
