Murphy Brown revival to take on Fox & Friends

The revival of Murphy Brown is going after the cable news wars.

CBS executives revealed to reporters Wednesday morning that the return of the politically minded 1990s-era comedy series will have a new setting.

In the original, Candice Bergen’s Brown anchored a primetime news magazine.

This time, she’s going to be hosting a show called Murphy in the Morning.

Her biggest competitor will be her own son (played by Limitless actor Jake McDorman)— who’s hosting his own conservative morning news show.

When executives were asked if the setup was supposed to mirror the MSNBC/Fox News Morning Joe vs. Fox & Friends rivalry, they confirmed that was a fitting comparison.

“We fully expect a lot of people are going to come to [Murphy Brown],” said CBS entertainment president Kelly Kahl. “We felt… this could be a great piece to make this block the strongest on TV.”

The new Murphy Brown has a combination of old and new cast members, including Nik Dodani, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto, and Grant Shaud. CBS has ordered 13 episodes.

During CBS’ upfront presentation on Wednesday, the network screened behind-the-scenes footage which included Bergen declaring, “We’re taking on this world of alternative facts and fake news.”

Bergen explained there’s no footage because they didn’t shoot a pilot. “We wanted to stay really topical so we didn’t shoot a pilot because if we did we’d already be several news cycles and Stormys out of date,” she said. “[Cable news] is populated with all kinds, like the Hannitys of the world and actual journalists too.”

Murphy Brown will go into CBS’ comedy block on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Another CBS reboot, a new version of the 1980s detective series Magnum P.I., will also debut this fall. All told CBS will have a whopping five reboots in the air this fall. See the network’s new schedule.

On Tuesday, ABC unveiled its new fall schedule. While NBC revealed its fall schedule on Sunday and Fox unveiling its fall schedule on Monday. The moves come on the heels of networks canceling about 20 shows in preparation for their upfront presentations to advertisers, see the full list of axed shows.