The Bullpen: Past Seasons Discussion

[BizBuzz]

Just ignore this post.  ::giggle::

[BizBuzz]

Anyone who likes Murphy Brown will enjoy this.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Awesome find, Bizbuzz! It's too bad that the producers weren't able to bring back the show during the most recent election... it would have been entertaining... that's for sure XD.

[AriAu]

Saw the episode where Murphy had her baby. Even tho I knew what was going to happen,  I truly laughed out loud at several scenes like Miles diving in case the baby just fell out and Murphy yelling that they should cut her open with a melon baller....not to mention everything that came from Eldin ("Don't want to upset you, but they stole the good stapler"). The show hasn't always aged well, but this episode did.

[Bastet]

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I love that episode.  My favorite parts are Miles diving under Murphy, Jim looking at the contraction monitor and saying, "Good lord, she's going to blow" and Murphy noticing that the baby has a little hat and saying, "Mother would have liked that."

[AntiBeeSpray]

There's going to be a 25th anniversary marathon of Murphy Brown on Mother's Day (the 11th of next month) starting at 4pm eastern time. Encore Classic will be airing a 25th anniversary reunion first and then the cast's favorite episodes. 

 

I am SO planning on watching this! :)

[Bastet]

Excellent -- while I don't get Encore, my parents do, and since I'll be at their house for Mother's Day ... guess what we're doing, Mom?  (Good thing she's a fan, too.)

[BizBuzz]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[BizBuzz]

Mothers Day Marathon

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/murphy-brown-25th-anniversary-special-tv-review-article-1.1782298

Another great article, interview with Diane English:

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/14/murphy-brown-series-finale/

[Bastet]

This is, indeed, how my mom and I spent Mother's Day.  The anniversary special was rather short and uninspiring, but it was nice to see everyone.  Almost all the episodes the cast chose were among my favorites, so it was an enjoyable line-up (that I stupidly failed to record, since - unlike my parents - I don't get Encore). 

 

From the two-part episode in which Frank and Murphy are on the seemingly doomed plane and attend their own funeral, I always think of the "And now here I am, dead!  In a dickey!" scene and Frank's ashes being swept under the rug, but I had forgotten just how side-splittingly funny Frank's attempts to record his last words were.

 

Jim Dial buying pot in the park will never not be funny, and a friend and I do the "cigar, cigarette, joint" routine to this day.

[BizBuzz]

Just watched "Mama Said" with Colleen Dewhurst as Murphy's Mom, what a fantastic episode. Colleen singing was awesome!

[Blergh]

A fairly good, funny, clever show in its time [well, especially the early pre -Avery years]. However it was SO topical that even viewers who'd lived through the 90's would have needed to have 1990's World Almanac or search engines to get the bulk of the jokes! I wonder if Bea Arthur [who lived to see "Maude" overlooked for the same hyper-topicality and heeded that lesson by pleading with "Golden Girls" writers to keep it as non-topical as possible] ever tried to reach out to Candice re topicality pitfalls before it was too late.

[StatMom]

I've been rewatching all the episodes on Encore, and lately they've had the Scott Bakula episodes. I've got to say, they had some nice chemistry. It was nice seeing the softer side of Murphy.

[giovannif7]

I also appreciated that they got Bakula out of his clothes for many of his scenes - that man was (and still is, based on his scenes in Looking) fine!

 

Today's episode had Anne Meara showing up as Eldin's mother, the one where Eldin leaves to study with a famous muralist in Spain. It's been twenty years since the episode first aired, but I still got a bit teary-eyed watching the end of the Murphy/Eldin partnership. I know Pastorelli left so he could star in another Diane English show (the one-season run-of-the-mill bike messenger sitcom Double Rush), but, IMO, the show Murphy Brown took a big hit with the loss of the Murphy/Eldin dynamic. Eldin was the only one who was completely immune to and unimpressed with Murphy's ego-based bluster and bullying, and her acceptance of him into her everyday life indicated that she appreciated the type of grounding that Eldin supplied. I love that he reappears for the series finale, but the episodes between now and then suffer for his absence.

[giovannif7]

I had completely forgotten that JFK Jr. had made an appearance on Murphy Brown, so my heart jumped when I saw him on tonight's rerun episode. Brief as it was, it was great to feel that particular mancrush all over again - before remembering what happened and reliving that sadness too. Such a tragedy.

[GrtGzu]

I can't believe Julius Carry died......don't know where I was when this happened....God, he was brilliant in his role as Mitchell Baldwin.....

 

And the ones currently with Lily Tomlin are priceless!!!

[Gloworm]

Does anyone remeber why Grant Shaud left the show? Was he fired? I don't remember him doing anything else post-MB.

Lily Tomlin is great, of course. But the show lost something when Miles want in the mix. Maybe the show overall was running out of steam creatively by this time.

Also by this time (1996), it feels like the writers ran out of things for Jim to do but be stiff. Corky lost her personality quirks.

[editorgrrl]

Does anyone remember why Grant Shaud left the show? Was he fired? I don't remember him doing anything else post-MB.

 

I've never heard anything other than what Playbill reported at the time: "After eight seasons, Shaud left the popular sitcom to pursue other projects." Not even hIs Wikipedia page says why.

 

According to his IMDB page, Grant Shaud has done sporadic TV work: The Drew Carey Show,  Lois & Clark, Pushing Daisies, Law & Order, Curb Your Enthusiasm…

[LADreamr]

 

Just watched "Mama Said" with Colleen Dewhurst as Murphy's Mom, what a fantastic episode. Colleen singing was awesome!

 

My daughter was born a few years after Colleen Dewhurst died, and I named her Avery, because I wanted her to have that same confident, self-possessed, fuck what the world tells me I'm supposed to be spirit.  And that's exactly how she turned out.

 

Avery and Murphy were really important characters.  I'm so glad Diane English created them.

[GrtGzu]

Whatever happened to the kid who played Avery anyway?

[editorgrrl]

Whatever happened to the kid who played Avery anyway?

 

Avery Brown #2 (1997–1998) was Haley Joel Osment, the kid from 1999's The Sixth Sense. He was in six episodes during the tenth season, including the finale, "Never Can Say Goodbye: Part 2."

 

Avery Brown #1 (1994–1995) was Dyllan Christopher. He appeared in 6 episodes during seasons 7 & 8. His most recent IMDB credit is a 2013 episode of "Glee."

[LADreamr]

The very first Avery (when he was born) was Daryl Sabara, who went on to star in the Spy Kids series, as well as a ton of other stuff.

[zoey1996]

Encore Classic has started with the first episode of Murphy Brown last week; tonight's episode is the seventh episode.  I'm really enjoying watching this from the beginning, and seeing what's different and what didn't change towards the end of the series.

[Libby521]

On 10/13/2014 at 7:59 PM, LADreamr said:

The very first Avery (when he was born) was Daryl Sabara, who went on to star in the Spy Kids series, as well as a ton of other stuff.

Thank you! I have been trying to figure out who played baby Avery. What a cute kid.

[UYI]

On 10/13/2014 at 7:59 PM, LADreamr said:

The very first Avery (when he was born) was Daryl Sabara, who went on to star in the Spy Kids series, as well as a ton of other stuff.

And he just got engaged to Meghan Trainor!

I hope that the thread for the newer show comes up soon. 

[Sarah 103]

I recently watched the episode where Connie Chung shows up after Murphy Brown guests stars on a sitcom and there's one thing I really wished the episode had included. I kept yelling at my TV set for Murphy Brown to defend herself by saying "Walter Cronkite had a walk on appearance in The Mary Tyler Moore Show"  and it didn't happen. It would have been so perfect. 

[VCRTracking]

Chung was one of the better real life newsperson appearances. The rest's acting I find cringey.

I hope Paul Reubens comes back as Murphy's secretary in the reboot.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Am I the only one hoping the buzz about the revival leads to WB releasing the rest of the show on DVD, or at least cutting a deal with Netflix? I'd love to binge the leadup to the birth episode someday. (Not to mention rewatch the Quayle rebuttal.)

[scorpio1031]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 5:58 PM, The Crazed Spruce said:

Am I the only one hoping the buzz about the revival leads to WB releasing the rest of the show on DVD, or at least cutting a deal with Netflix? I'd love to binge the leadup to the birth episode someday. (Not to mention rewatch the Quayle rebuttal.)

It's the whole pay for the music used during the original eps.  It's why I will probably never see Cold Case or American Dreams again.  To me, having your music used on a show is one of the best ways to get it heard by people who may never listen to it otherwise.  And then they go and search out your other songs and you make more money.  Replacing the song just does not work - I mean, when Murphy is singing "You Keep Me Hanging On" to a cigarette - nothing else will do.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, scorpio1031 said:

To me, having your music used on a show is one of the best ways to get it heard by people who may never listen to it otherwise. 

It is.  But most of the artists are dead or don't own the full rights to their music.  The trouble comes when really popular songs have set licensing feeds that are cost prohibitive.  Or with songs where someone must own the rights to them but no one is really sure who and therefore, rights can't be obtained for the streaming format.  So many good shows who relied on music are lost---or somewhat butchered because they've had to replace the original music.

[Bastet]

Right.  You have the issue of who owns the rights to the music and lyrics and who owns rights to the vocal performance (and they have to be licensed separately), and with respect to the former that's rarely as straightforward as it seems.  Sales of season one on DVD didn't make it cost effective, given the music licensing costs, to release future seasons, to the surprise of no one. 

I'd love if the revival sparked such interest in revisiting the original series that subsequent seasons are released via a "complete series" set, but even if a company like Lions Gate - probably the most-dedicated to keeping original content intact - obtains the rights to the original seasons and sets out to clear the music, it's unlikely we'll ever get a full release with all the original music intact.  This show is along the lines of The Wonder Years, where at long last the complete series was released on DVD with a lot of the music from the original airing re-licensed, but there was still a good chunk of it replaced because that's the only way to make it cost effective to release a music-heavy show where future DVD release wasn't included in the original music clearance contracts.

[scorpio1031]

I just read an article that said it was harder with Murphy Brown to replace music cause she would sing along with some songs.  The music was so ingrained within the episode.

[Anela]

Did they model Niles on Frasier, on Jim Dial? I'm watching the first season of Murphy Brown, and he reminds me of Niles.

[ombelico]

22 hours ago, Anela said:

Did they model Niles on Frasier, on Jim Dial? I'm watching the first season of Murphy Brown, and he reminds me of Niles.

I don't think so, or at least it wasn't a conscious decision.

On "Frasier," the casting agents saw how much David Hyde Pierce looked like a young Kelsey Grammer, and they wanted Niles to be almost identical to Frasier since the conceit of the show was to have the two sons who were complete opposites of the blue-collar father. (This is my recollection from reading the Frasier show book about 20 years ago.)

[Sarah 103]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:57 AM, Bastet said:

I'd love if the revival sparked such interest in revisiting the original series that subsequent seasons are released via a "complete series" set, but even if a company like Lions Gate - probably the most-dedicated to keeping original content intact - obtains the rights to the original seasons and sets out to clear the music, it's unlikely we'll ever get a full release with all the original music intact. 

You mean Shout! Factory. They did WKRP in Cincinnati, Freaks and Geeks, and TimeLife did Wonder Years and China Beach. As much as I would love a DVD set, I'll settle for reruns on Antenna TV. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

I think CBS All Access is doing that as well. So it's another good option. For anyone who doesn't get Antenna TV.

[Sarah 103]

On 8/30/2018 at 10:55 PM, AntiBeeSpray said:

I think CBS All Access is doing that as well. So it's another good option. For anyone who doesn't get Antenna TV.

That doesn't sound right. The songs are going to be incredibly expensive to license whether it's on DVD or streaming. The only way this makes sense is that because it's streaming, there isn't the additional expense of manufacturing and distributing a physical DVD set. 

[ombelico]

"Murphy Brown" is listed on CBS All Access, but it does not include the old episodes, only a couple of trailers and articles about the upcoming season. Presumably the new episodes will eventually be listed there as they are aired. Right now Antenna TV seems to be the only option for seeing the episodes from seasons 2-10.

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 9/1/2018 at 12:16 AM, Sarah 103 said:

That doesn't sound right. The songs are going to be incredibly expensive to license whether it's on DVD or streaming. The only way this makes sense is that because it's streaming, there isn't the additional expense of manufacturing and distributing a physical DVD set. 

Ah. Yea.

14 hours ago, ombelico said:

"Murphy Brown" is listed on CBS All Access, but it does not include the old episodes, only a couple of trailers and articles about the upcoming season. Presumably the new episodes will eventually be listed there as they are aired. Right now Antenna TV seems to be the only option for seeing the episodes from seasons 2-10.

They should list it as Murphy Brown: The Reunion, so people don't mistakenly think that it includes the old episodes as well. Ah well. I don't get it, so it doesn't matter to me.

[VCRTracking]

On 8/4/2018 at 7:41 AM, ombelico said:

I don't think so, or at least it wasn't a conscious decision.

On "Frasier," the casting agents saw how much David Hyde Pierce looked like a young Kelsey Grammer, and they wanted Niles to be almost identical to Frasier since the conceit of the show was to have the two sons who were complete opposites of the blue-collar father. (This is my recollection from reading the Frasier show book about 20 years ago.)

The brilliant part is they made Niles to be like Frasier if he never had met and hung out with the characters on Cheers for all those years.

I found this clip of Michael Chiklis talking about his guest appearance on Murphy Brown. I remember that episode where he played a misogynist comedian based on Andrew Dice Clay. He talks about how warm and welcoming Candice Bergen was to him when he came to the set and how she influenced him on how the lead of a series should behave. That they make everyone around them comfortable and it's better for the show if everyone shines not just the star.

Edited September 8, 2018 by VCRTracking

[stonehaven]

CBS All Access has selected 18 episodes of the old show to prime those to get ready for Fall...I am betting none had any real music issues though.

[Bastet]

25 minutes ago, mojito said:

 

Thanks. I remember that when he exclaimed, "She's gonna blow!" people scattered. I'm thinking that maybe Frank was the only one who stayed behind, maybe because he couldn't get away (like Murphy grabbed him). But it's vague....

She went into labor in the middle of a live interview.  Eldin was her coach, but – this being TV – they couldn’t find him.  They left Corky and Frank on the air and had Jim take her to the hospital.  On the way to the hospital, Frank went to her house to pack a bag, but packed a bunch of underwear, bras, nylons, and a stapler (“I was just thinking how I wanted to put on all my underwear and staple something!”).  The FYI gang was in and out of the hospital room, and in the hallway with her when she was walking to try to move things along. 

They all ran out of the room when it was time to push.  Eldin – who’d had the urge to drive to Maryland for crab cakes – finally shows up when Murphy is at the “I can’t do this” stage and, after some initial fumbling, gets her to focus (by singing Chantilly Lace) and Avery is born.

Murphy is nervous to be alone with him after everyone leaves, but has a nice little talk and then sings Natural Woman to him when Frank wants to film something (he’s been filming interviews with everyone for Avery to see when he gets older, and wants the final scene to be of the new mother and baby).  The singing and the song was Bergen’s idea.

[Bruinsfan]

Also, when Jim looked at the monitor and said that classic "She's going to blow!" line Murphy was holding Frank and Miles by their ties, and when the contraction hit she thrashed around like Linda Blair in The Exorcist and nearly strangled both of them. This show sure didn't support the sitcom conceit that all a woman has to do is get stuck in an elevator for ten minutes to deliver her baby.

[Bastet]

Here's an oral history of that episode, from about a year ago.  I didn't learn anything new, but it was a good read, and I like the honesty that the show wasn't ever the same once Murphy became a mom.

[biakbiak]

On 7/12/2018 at 8:40 PM, scorpio1031 said:

It's why I will probably never see Cold Case or American Dreams again. 

Perhaps you put it out in to the world on SMartTv, though at least some of the music has been changed. 

[magicdog]

Quote

Did they model Niles on Frasier, on Jim Dial? I'm watching the first season of Murphy Brown, and he reminds me of Niles.

Jim's character was largely based on the old school/first generation of TV journalists of the 60s-70s.  Very no-nonsense and serious about their delivery.  At the time I thought of Jim as very much based on former WABC anchor, Bill Buetel.  He was a legend to many New Yorkers of that era.

Here's a clip of him and long time co-anchor Roger Grimsby:

 

[SrOfficial]

I hated that they resorted to the pregnancy thing on this show.  Did not work for me.

[UYI]

On 9/29/2018 at 5:54 AM, magicdog said:

Jim's character was largely based on the old school/first generation of TV journalists of the 60s-70s.  Very no-nonsense and serious about their delivery.  At the time I thought of Jim as very much based on former WABC anchor, Bill Buetel.  He was a legend to many New Yorkers of that era.

Here's a clip of him and long time co-anchor Roger Grimsby:

 

 

I read once that Jim Dial was largely based on long time WCBS-TV (New York) news anchor Jim Jensen. 

[magicdog]

1 hour ago, UYI said:

I read once that Jim Dial was largely based on long time WCBS-TV (New York) news anchor Jim Jensen

A pastiche to be sure, but definitely influenced by the era both reporters/anchors came up in. 

[Kohola3]

I just found the reruns from what has been posted and have started to rewatch them. Man, there isn't an episode so far that I didn't laugh out loud.  Really brilliant.