S11.E01: Fake News

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 hour ago, ChocButterfly said:

She wasn't wallowing on her couch with a flip phone, she was actually going to marches and staying politcally active. She was out there in the real world, as opposed to pretending doing something worthy by wasting time writting silly tweets just to stay "current". Just because someone chooses not to engage in social media, doesn't mean they're less capable  or confident than people who spend their time on it. 

You don't have to be a grandma or a very old person to not care about Tweetter. She was very aware of Tweetter and how it all works, (as she demonstrated by her tweet and the # comment) but as she hadn't used it before cause she didn't care; it's realistic that she'd need someone who had the experience to help her set an account and have the initial navegation throught the app. That's not offensive at all. Actually, I find your post more offensive, insinuating that people who have flip phones and choose not to engage on Tweeter or IG are old, less than capable and out of touch. Some of us prefer to interact more in the real world, rather than a screen.

No way she would  have been wasting her time argueing with that idiot on Tweeter. She got sucked into it by the end of the episode, just cause the circumstances brought her there, but I can understand why she'd rather not get involved into it from the begining. And she has stayed in the game, as was demonstrated at the begining of the episode, she was just coming from the Women's March.

Word. And as for her having a flip phone, I don't see why it is such a big deal. It fits her as a character to not care about technology. *shrug*

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, PRgal said:

Re flip phone: my mother-in-law is around Murphy/Candice’s age and yes, she has a flip phone.  Or did the last time I saw her talk on a cell (about two years ago).  

I'm younger than Murphy Brown, and I have a flip phone.  It's a 3G phone, which technically could access the internet, but it's not a smart phone.

[ButterQueen]

On 9/29/2018 at 3:31 PM, Kromm said:

That's not what I meant by "dated". It is certainly true that so many other shows have done jokes about current events by the time this one gets to it. But that's okay with me, if it's still funny.

By bigger concern is with the STYLE of the jokes, and on top of that the show pacing, the delivery and acting styles, the laugh track, etc.  It's all so 90s.. but not consistently in a good way. They all feel ancient, even if the subject matter is weeks old at most. They're still pros, doing that style, pace, delivery very well for what they are, but it's kind of like HALF being in a time machine. HALF because it still feels like a show from the 90s, but trying to be relevant to today.  And that left me wincing through a lot of what would otherwise have been fairly funny, I think.  

My hope is that now that the (re)intros are done that they can up the pace. Pace the thing faster. Keep with Murphy's sarcastic style, which was actually underutilized in the premier in favor of a bit more nostalgia and cheese, and show change in her that maybe she's even ornier now than in the past (with good cause).  Tone down the age jokes, even though they're obviously so old as a cast.  Have one or two every episode so it's not the unstated elephant in the room, but get them out of the way quickly each time and move on.   STOP with the Corkyisms. They worked in the 90s, but now they're almost derivative seeming now, based purely on the fact that other similar characters to her have appeared since. The stories about her past were cute in context with the humor approach of 90s shows. Now they're just annoying--and while the other characters on the show always acted like they were that was balanced against the viewing audience finding it charming.  But its all so dated I bet most viewers don't now.

The episode wasn't a total failure with Corky.  For example they were clear to show how sharp and knowledgeable she was in that exchange at the news desk where they gave her the best comeback against the stupid EPA appointee, and yet they undercut that at other points with dumb repetitive hot flash jokes.  My advice with Corky is to move on with the character.  Stop trying to find her quirk or her "thing" to milk and just write and play her straighter.  If you really need to distinguish her lines from Murphys its simple. Murphy is still the wry endlessly sarcastic one. Corky is her straightwoman to react to that, at least when they are in a scene together.  Organically hopefully something fresh to react with Corky will pop up as the episodes go on.  Her age might work under other circumstances if that wasn't so cliched.

Miles worked okay as an update. You don't really need to change that character... and so they didn't.

Frank is the character on the classic version which always worked least for me, so again he's really in the same spot. Being Murphy's "buddy" is his main characteristic, but it's limiting. Not sure there's any way to change that because it's built in to the character. 

The son is... okay. I like this actor a lot from previous things I've seen him in. That's an advantage. And I do appreciate that they didn't (so far at least) fall prey to the easy out of making him a radical Trumpist to set up the counterpoint. That wouldn't have worked here, because there's no way Murphy would raise that and everyone viewing knows that.  So the idea that's he's against her timeslot and trying to change Faux-Fox rather than being a believer was a smart writing move. The issue is it risks being boring. We shall see.

Pat Patel the IT Guy is like Sitcom 101. Yes he's playing the "modern" character, but he's not really. There's been a version of him, the "You're so old and I'm here to make jokes about it" character, in shows forever.  I guess he can be there to do that, but he needs at least one other defining characteristic to keep him from being eyerollingly obvious all of the time.  When you can potentially give 50% of his lines to either an extra or Miles with only minor adjustment... that's not a good character.

As for overall stories, it's too early to tell how hard they're going to go. I hope they come up with a process where they maintain the warddrobe, actor haircuts, etc. constantly so they can add in pick up shots right before the episodes air. In other words plot the episode and script MOST of the dialogue with plug in spots they either don't shoot or shoot basic/placeholder scenes for, if nothing breaking happens to change the scene.  Then shoot more, usually just adding in extra lines of dialogue and pickup shots, to add in up to the minute references/jokes into those designated spots (or use the older footage if nothing needs a change).

I'm still watching, and may even if they don't change anything, but... this wish list really would lead to a better show.

What does the bolded mean?

I loved the show

[iMonrey]

Quote

It's very deliberate the FYI gang's new show (the name of which I cannot remember - help!)

Murphy in the Morning. From the show's point of view I can understand why they'd call it that, because Murphy is the main character and Candice Bergen is the star. However, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense from an "in world" point of view: they have essentially reunited the correspondents of FYI for a new morning show then named it after only one of them. Wouldn't Frank and Corky take issue with that? Their old show wasn't called "Murphy Brown's FYI" it was just "FYI" and the other correspondents were her equals. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 9:24 PM, hnygrl said:

THANK YOU!!!! THIS THIS THIS!!!!

THIS is what made this sitcom retread not for me! It's not about the show, it's the powers that be, using  (yet another) (supposedly) comedy to sh!t on the government. Again! Seriously? Like we don't get that alllllll daaaaaaaaaaay looooooooooong. Every damn day. ALL day.  COME ON! I DO NOT WATCH SITCOMS FOR THAT. It's supposed to be an ESCAPE from all that. I need to get AWAY from all that for awhile.

THAT is why this show didn't work for me. Thank you, North of Eden, thank you!

Murphy Brown was always highly political.  It was never an escapist sitcom.

[Chaos Theory]

When it comes to Avery’s age I simply makes it more believable that he would get his own show at 28.  The whole Brown vs Brown thing could go on for awhile and it has a lot of potential.  Keeping him 26 makes it slightly less realistic.  He would be interning.  Those two years might not seem like a lot but they would make a difference in his career  

[shoregirl]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Murphy in the Morning. From the show's point of view I can understand why they'd call it that, because Murphy is the main character and Candice Bergen is the star. However, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense from an "in world" point of view: they have essentially reunited the correspondents of FYI for a new morning show then named it after only one of them. Wouldn't Frank and Corky take issue with that? Their old show wasn't called "Murphy Brown's FYI" it was just "FYI" and the other correspondents were her equals. 

I took it as a play on Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough is the lead anchor (I guess thats what you would call him) but he has Mika and that other guy with him too.

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Murphy in the Morning. From the show's point of view I can understand why they'd call it that, because Murphy is the main character and Candice Bergen is the star. However, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense from an "in world" point of view: they have essentially reunited the correspondents of FYI for a new morning show then named it after only one of them. Wouldn't Frank and Corky take issue with that? Their old show wasn't called "Murphy Brown's FYI" it was just "FYI" and the other correspondents were her equals. 

Didn't Murphy say the network had been after her for a while, wanting to develop a show for her?  The FYI gang wasn't approached to reunite, Murphy was offered a show, and when she decided to take them up on it, she brought the old gang with her.

I don't think Frank and Corky would take issue; they weren't exactly swimming in job opportunities.  On FYI, Jim was the senior anchor, Murphy and Frank were equal, seasoned correspondents who'd joined the show at the same time (he did investigative reporting, she did live interviews to go with her packages), and newcomer Corky was the former Miss America who did the fluff pieces (and then grew as a reporter).  Because of her interview style and skill, the type of reporting she did, and the big names she made squirm in her hot seat, Murphy seemed more well known than Frank.  So I think the show title makes sense in this series' fictional world.

[chitowngirl]

On 9/29/2018 at 7:47 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

According to IMBD, the actor was in one episode in season 8, though it sounds like it was a dream and not reality. It'll be interesting to see if he's ever mentioned this season.

They have to save something for episode 2! ?

I expect they’ll have a throwaway line somewhere, either by Miles or Corky, telling the other”And that’s why we’re not married anymore!”.

[babyhouseman]

10 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Murphy Brown was always highly political.  It was never an escapist sitcom.

Politics and journalism went hand in hand on the show.  The most vivid memories I have of the show are her hijinks with presidents. Trying to get into the White House Easter Egg hunt for an interview  and getting banned. Accidentally kidnapping Socks the cat from the Clinton era. 

Edited October 2, 2018 by babyhouseman

[biakbiak]

4 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

expect they’ll have a throwaway line somewhere, either by Miles or Corky, telling the other”And that’s why we’re not married anymore!”.

It’s been stated that they are just going to ignore it because Diane English hated that storyline.

[IDreamofJoaquin]

On 9/29/2018 at 3:30 AM, Pete Martell said:

Jake McDorman is 32. I think he looks like some would at 28. 

So that confirms my suspicions I feel like I'm the only one who thinks Jake McDorman looks too old. HA!

[blanchowens]

This show was so bad, I couldn’t even watch the whole thing, and I took it off my dvr schedule.  Loved the original in its day, they should have never tried to revive it.  I don’t think it will last an entire season.

[Moose135]

6 hours ago, IDreamofJoaquin said:

So that confirms my suspicions I feel like I'm the only one who thinks Jake McDorman looks too old. HA!

You're not the only one - my girlfriend, who has a 28 year old son, said "He looks a lot older than 28!"

[IDreamofJoaquin]

24 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

You're not the only one - my girlfriend, who has a 28 year old son, said "He looks a lot older than 28!"

Okay, good. I'll be friends with her.

[Chaos Theory]

If I remember correctly Corky was Murigy’s replacement when she was in rehab or something.  Management keeps her because she is pretty and popular  and fresh off the beauty pageant circuit doing puff peices.  The fact that enough time has gone by that she is having hot flashes.....we’ve all gotten old!  

[andipandi]

Candace confirmed the Trump date on Colbert this week. Said he wore head to toe maroon: suit, shoes, matching limo. She was home early.

I was really hoping the @realmurphybrown would be tweets in character. However, it appears to be Diane English doing show promo. Darn. Missed opportunity!

[BW Manilowe]

On 9/30/2018 at 7:24 PM, Skycatcher said:

Given that her new show had just debuted I'm certain her PR/IT people made sure she already had a publicized Twitter presence to capitalize on that.  If they hadn't, HR would be needing to look at resumes for competent support staff.

Her son Avery helped her establish her Twitter account, the night before her new show debuted, if not earlier, in a scene in the ep. I think she was maybe trying to resist setting up the Twitter account, but working in TV journalism himself, Avery realized social media accounts are/can be important tools of the trade & got Her eased into setting it up). She asked him how many followers he had (542,000 if I remember the scene right). He helped her with her username (Real Murphy Brown, because her name alone was taken) & password (she wanted to use “password”—the 1 word they tell you not to; he (I think) suggested “Aretha forever” (I don’t know how it was spelled, correctly or using shortcuts, like “4” instead of “for”). I had read beforehand they were going to pay tribute to her somehow in the ep (she guested in an ep of the original version &, of course, Murphy loves the song “[You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman”).

Avery also tried to discourage her from posting on Twitter that she had gone on a date with Trump (she said aloud what she was gonna Tweet as she was writing it).; if nothing else, because the way she worded it (& that she also gave so many at least alleged details about it—though who knows if they were details of the real life date Candice Bergen went on with Trump) virtually guaranteed it would go viral.

[BW Manilowe]

23 hours ago, ButterQueen said:

What does the bolded mean?

I loved the show

In most cases, when someone (like me, for example) puts stuff from a post they’re responding to in bold or another typeface than the usual in their response, that’s a way of quoting or otherwise pointing out what comment(s)/part(s) of the  post  they’re responding to in the quoted post.

On 10/1/2018 at 11:26 AM, ChocButterfly said:

She wasn't wallowing on her couch with a flip phone, she was actually going to marches and staying politcally active. She was out there in the real world, as opposed to pretending doing something worthy by wasting time writting silly tweets just to stay "current". Just because someone chooses not to engage in social media, doesn't mean they're less capable  or confident than people who spend their time on it. 

You don't have to be a grandma or a very old person to not care about Tweetter. She was very aware of Tweetter and how it all works, (as she demonstrated by her tweet and the # comment) but as she hadn't used it before cause she didn't care; it's realistic that she'd need someone who had the experience to help her set an account and have the initial navegation throught the app. That's not offensive at all. Actually, I find your post more offensive, insinuating that people who have flip phones and choose not to engage on Tweeter or IG are old, less than capable and out of touch. Some of us prefer to interact more in the real world, rather than a screen.

No way she would  have been wasting her time argueing with that idiot on Tweeter. She got sucked into it by the end of the episode, just cause the circumstances brought her there, but I can understand why she'd rather not get involved into it from the begining. And she has stayed in the game, as was demonstrated at the begining of the episode, she was just coming from the Women's March.

Small point: The site is Twitter. The messages posted there are Tweets.

[iMonrey]

Quote

It’s been stated that they are just going to ignore it because Diane English hated that storyline.

That's just dumb. The problem with these revival shows is that they seem to want to pick and choose what parts of the original series actually happened and what parts they want to pretend didn't. It's annoying as hell. We watched all ten seasons of this damn show, we remember Corky and Miles were married. Why are we supposed to pretend they weren't? I don't give a rat's ass if Diane English didn't like that story . . . it happened. There's no need to address it at any length but they shouldn't pretend it didn't happen. That's insulting to the audience.

They did the same thing with Roseanne, pretending Jackie never had a kid, and the same thing on Will and Grace, pretending they didn't go 18 years without seeing each other. I see the necessity in the latter but not the former. It's just lazy hand-waving.

[funky-rat]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 10:31 PM, ByaNose said:

The guy playing Avery looks like a GQ model but real looking. If that makes sense. Overall, it was a pretty good episode. I watched the OG except for the last 2 seasons because the show was getting stale. I could see this show going on for a few seasons. The only thing I’m curios about if it was shot in front of a live audience or not. 

I didn't like the show once Lily Tomlin came on, and only watched sporadically.  Once the horrible last season started, I bowed out, and missed the finale.

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 10:36 PM, UYI said:

It's already been confirmed that he's making a few guest appearances. 

Yes, I'm a Jim Dial-Aholic, and can't wait for Charles Kimbrough to pop up from time to time.

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 6:29 AM, BW Manilowe said:

As I remember, they were definitely in a secret (as in nobody else at work knew) relationship of some kind. I keep thinking it went as far as a secret marriage, then Miles moved away for a new job (Grant Shaud left the original series before the end) &, if they were married, he asked Corky for a divorce in a snail mail letter. I hope they revisit whatever their relationship was back then; at least to remind us how they broke up.

It wasn't a secret.  They told everyone they got married, but then they decided to live apart, and build up to their relationship, including consummating their marriage. I always felt it was a stupid sub-plot, so I won't be sorry if it goes away and never happened.

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 11:09 AM, Pete Martell said:

I thought the scenes with Avery and Murphy were the highlight of the episode. I saw a review saying Hayley Joel Osment would have made more sense as Avery. I understand why they felt that way, but I liked Jake McDorman's performance. He was naturally charming and sweet, yet had a bit of a snarky edge to him, as Murphy's son naturally would. The bit of an edge helped make what is a very sheltered, Aaron Sorkin-esque writing choice (Avery is going to go on a conservative news channel and talk to "real people" about "real issues") feel more sincere.

I disagree on Haley Joel Osment.  Since being Avery, he will forever be known as the "I See Dead People" kid, and in more recent years, he has gained a lot of weight.  I'm not criticizing him whatsoever for that, but he wouldn't be considered news anchor material for that reason alone.

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 6:28 PM, iMonrey said:

 Who was Avery's father? Did they ever say? 

I thought it was Murphy's ex-husband, Jake, but I can't 100% sure remember if they confirmed that or not - for a bit it seemed like it was either him or Jerry Gold.

On ‎9‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 5:10 PM, morgan459 said:

 I wrote my college thesis about Murphy Brown and my friends who were writing their theses on much more boring topics would come up to my room to unwind while I was watching episodes for 'research', so it was really great for a few of us to get together and see a new episode being made after all of these years. 

Fall of 1991, I was home for the weekend from my freshman year of college, and walked in to K-Mart and saw a giant poster of Murphy hanging from the ceiling, as they were doing a tie-in with CBS for some promotion.  I went to the courtesy desk and asked if I could have that poster when they were done with it. I had a serious girl-crush on Murphy - she was the embodiment of everything I wanted to be but just couldn't - and had a framed article from TV Guide about Jim Dial and Murphy on my desk.  They called me in January to come get it, and it hung on my dorm room wall.  When I moved back home, it was in my old bedroom, and was there until my mom and dad remodeled a few years ago.  Mom said she saved my posters (Beatles, Monkees, The Doors, etc).  I really hope she kept that one too.  I'll never hang it up again, but it's co-branded CBS, Murphy Brown, and K-Mart, and now might be a good time to cash out.  I doubt very many survived.

On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 5:56 PM, HazelEyes4325 said:

I actually found the flip phone to be far more realistic than Murphy jumping in with two feet into Twitter.  My father still has a flip phone (they do still make them!) and I can guarantee that he will not ever, ever go the smartphone route.  However, Murphy--who had never before used Twitter--immediately writes a tweet that a) is less than 280 characters and b) goes viral is much harder for me to believe.

My mom had one until she saw a friend of hers use a smart phone to get coupons and discounts while shopping.  Then she jumped in feet first.  She did the same with Facebook.  My mom is only one year younger than Candace Bergen, so I'd buy it.

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That's just dumb. The problem with these revival shows is that they seem to want to pick and choose what parts of the original series actually happened and what parts they want to pretend didn't. It's annoying as hell. We watched all ten seasons of this damn show, we remember Corky and Miles were married. Why are we supposed to pretend they weren't? I don't give a rat's ass if Diane English didn't like that story . . . it happened. There's no need to address it at any length but they shouldn't pretend it didn't happen. That's insulting to the audience.

They did the same thing with Roseanne, pretending Jackie never had a kid, and the same thing on Will and Grace, pretending they didn't go 18 years without seeing each other. I see the necessity in the latter but not the former. It's just lazy hand-waving.

The thing with Roseanne, though, is they did wipe out at least two seasons as "Musings Of Roseanne's Creative Mind", so I can see them getting rid of some characters.  They should have gotten rid of Jerry too - that was always such a stupid subplot, and you rarely saw him anyway.

Maybe Miles and Corky are "pretending" they never were married.  I know real people who don't acknowledge former spouses, so I could see that.

[ChocButterfly]

3 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Small point: The site is Twitter. The messages posted there are Tweets.

Oh, thank you! I'm terrible with typos and spelling mistakes. In my defense, English is not my first language.  But that tells you how much I care about Twitter. I do have an account, but I rarely use it. I don't find it as useful as some do.  And I'm way younger than Murphy, I'm 42. But I do have a smart phone ;)

[Sarah 103]

On 10/1/2018 at 7:15 PM, chitowngirl said:

They have to save something for episode 2! ?

I expect they’ll have a throwaway line somewhere, either by Miles or Corky, telling the other”And that’s why we’re not married anymore!”.

That would make a fantastic running gag/joke. Whenever they get into a fight, that's the line that ends the argument. 

4 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I thought it was Murphy's ex-husband, Jake, but I can't 100% sure remember if they confirmed that or not - for a bit it seemed like it was either him or Jerry Gold.

When Murphy first found out she was pregnant, she knew based on the timing that the father was either her ex-husband Jake or Jerry Gold. She figured out that it was Jake, but I can't remember how they confirmed it. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 10/1/2018 at 8:46 AM, RemoteControlFreak said:

Candice Bergen and Donald Trump were students at the University of Pennsylvania at the same time and she says they went on one date. They're the same age. We can assume this was a reference to the real life event and that Murphy and Candice are the same age.

Sources: 

CNN - Candice Bergen and Donald Trump went on a date

Wikipedia: Candice Bergen date of birth May 9, 1946

Wikipedia: Donald Trump date of birth June 14, 1946

Actually,  she said that he wasn't a student there yet. (He transferred to Penn his junior year after2 years at Fordham.)

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 10/1/2018 at 11:26 AM, ChocButterfly said:

You don't have to be a grandma or a very old person to not care about Tweetter. She was very aware of Tweetter and how it all works, (as she demonstrated by her tweet and the # comment) but as she hadn't used it before cause she didn't care; it's realistic that she'd need someone who had the experience to help her set an account and have the initial navegation throught the app. That's not offensive at all. Actually, I find your post more offensive, insinuating that people who have flip phones and choose not to engage on Tweeter or IG are old, less than capable and out of touch. Some of us prefer to interact more in the real world, rather than a screen.

Quote

No way she would  have been wasting her time argueing with that idiot on Tweeter. She got sucked into it by the end of the episode, just cause the circumstances brought her there, but I can understand why she'd rather not get involved into it from the begining. And she has stayed in the game, as was demonstrated at the begining of the episode, she was just coming from the Women's March.

A few points to clarify ....

FIRST. It's OK  to not use Twitter. It's OK to have a flip phone. AT ANY AGE.  I did not mean to imply that people who do this are old nor that being old is a bad thing.  I meant that the show gave Murphy a stereotypical (not based on fact) grandma edit. It's a common joke that people over a certain age can't do technology and need young people to show them how to do it. 

SECOND. I'm not judging you or other non-Twitter users. I'm only judging how the fictional character Murphy Brown is written in this show.

THIRD. Murphy Brown is not just any 70-something. She's a journalist. A communicator. She lives in Washington DC and for her entire career has been an active part of the Washington media-politics scene. Twitter is embedded in that environment, and not just by people who use it to argue with the current president of the United States. There may be a few Washington political journalists, even recently retired ones, who don't have a Twitter account, but they are very few and far between. It is inconceivable that Murphy would not be on Twitter and be masterful with the medium. That the writers chose to portray her differently is completely contrary to how Murphy has always been written and to the current state of digital communications and the role it plays in journalism and politics. The writers would have been truer to the Murphy character if the episode showed her as an early and frequent Twitter user with a loyal following because of her insightful, clever, and opinionated Tweets. They could have used her popularity on Twitter as the jumping off point for television execs wanting her to get back on TV.

Edited October 3, 2018 by RemoteControlFreak

[Morrigan2575]

Watched this yesterday and enjoyed it. It started out rather clunky and I was worried but, it got much, much better after Murphy went to Miles' apartment.

I loved all of the Murphy/Avery scenes, they had a great rapport. I especially loved the final scene.

The show ended on a really high note for me, a classic Murphy Brown smack down.  The only one to ever top Murphy (on TV) IMO was Julia Sugarbaker who had the most epic smackdowns on TV.

[Kohola3]

6 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

The only one to ever top Murphy (on TV) IMO was Julia Sugarbaker who had the most epic smackdowns on TV.

She was the absolute best.  She could make people cringe with just a glance.  Love Murphy's smackdowns as well, just a different approach.

[Irlandesa]

10 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

Murphy Brown is not just any 70-something. She's a journalist. A communicator. She lives in Washington DC and for her entire career has been an active part of the Washington media-politics scene. Twitter is embedded in that environment, and not just by people who use it to argue with the current president of the United States. There may be a few Washington political journalists, even recently retired ones, who don't have a Twitter account, but they are very few and far between.

I could see how, in the early days of Twitter, she might have had an 'official" show account that she didn't run.  But she hasn't been on TV for a while.  Now that she has decided to go back and get in the game, she joined Twitter. For that reason, it made sense that she didn't have it already.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Irlandesa

[cmahorror]

45-yrs old and still have a flip phone. Why? Because I just need it to make calls and text - anything else I can do on my IPod. My only problem with my flip phone is the texting - it replaced my sliding keyboard phone which I loved and they don't make anymore.

I really enjoyed this episode. Murphy has always been a political show and I had no doubts that the revival wouldn't change that. Avery and her have a great chemistry and I enjoyed the fact that, while they are both starting new shows, both shows are different in their approaches. Avery is doing more of a man on the streets thing while Murphy's is a sit-down round table, more traditional show. I hope that they bring up secondary viewings (DVR and streaming numbers which can be calculated for days after the original airing) because that could significantly change who actually ha the higher share. I could honestly see people tuning in for Murphy live while recording or streaming Avery's and watching it later because she is a known quantity and he is not.

[AntiBeeSpray]

6 hours ago, cmahorror said:

45-yrs old and still have a flip phone. Why? Because I just need it to make calls and text - anything else I can do on my IPod. My only problem with my flip phone is the texting - it replaced my sliding keyboard phone which I loved and they don't make anymore.

I really enjoyed this episode. Murphy has always been a political show and I had no doubts that the revival wouldn't change that. Avery and her have a great chemistry and I enjoyed the fact that, while they are both starting new shows, both shows are different in their approaches. Avery is doing more of a man on the streets thing while Murphy's is a sit-down round table, more traditional show. I hope that they bring up secondary viewings (DVR and streaming numbers which can be calculated for days after the original airing) because that could significantly change who actually ha the higher share. I could honestly see people tuning in for Murphy live while recording or streaming Avery's and watching it later because she is a known quantity and he is not.

Word. I have a smartphone, but I don't use it for much else than a couple of games, texting and phone calls. I don't do anything fancy with it. I listen to music either on my laptop or on my ipod.

Yep. Word. It'll be interesting to see how things unfold there.

Edited October 4, 2018 by AntiBeeSpray

[RemoteControlFreak]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I could see how, in the early days of Twitter, she might have had an 'official" show account that she didn't run.  But she hasn't been on TV for a while.  Now that she has decided to go back and get in the game, she joined Twitter. For that reason, it made sense that she didn't have it already.

 

It actually does not make sense if you have knowledge about how Washington politics and media and the people involved in it works. Her ignorance about Twitter is completely out of character for Murphy Brown.

Obviously, a number of posters here don't have smart phones and don't use Twitter but I'm pretty sure none of these people are recently retired high-profile Washington broadcast journalists, known for their strong opinions and quick wit when discussing current events and politics.

Edited October 4, 2018 by RemoteControlFreak

[UYI]

On 10/2/2018 at 3:49 PM, iMonrey said:

That's just dumb. The problem with these revival shows is that they seem to want to pick and choose what parts of the original series actually happened and what parts they want to pretend didn't. It's annoying as hell. We watched all ten seasons of this damn show, we remember Corky and Miles were married. Why are we supposed to pretend they weren't? I don't give a rat's ass if Diane English didn't like that story . . . it happened. There's no need to address it at any length but they shouldn't pretend it didn't happen. That's insulting to the audience.

They did the same thing with Roseanne, pretending Jackie never had a kid, and the same thing on Will and Grace, pretending they didn't go 18 years without seeing each other. I see the necessity in the latter but not the former. It's just lazy hand-waving.

They were never quite clear on whether that was was the case, actually, and apparently they were supposed to introduce Andy again before the cancellation was announced in May. Maybe now that The Conners is starting up, he'll return.

I will say that would be a more egregious error than retconning Miles and Corky's brief marriage, though, but YMMV and all that good stuff, I guess. 

[Bastet]

19 minutes ago, UYI said:

They were never quite clear on whether that was was the case, actually, and apparently they were supposed to introduce Andy again before the cancellation was announced in May. Maybe now that The Conners is starting up, he'll return.

FYI (no pun intended), the answer to that can be found in the media thread of The Conners forum.

11 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

Obviously, a number of posters here don't have smart phones and don't use Twitter but I'm pretty sure none of these people are recently retired high-profile Washington broadcast journalists, known for their strong opinions and quick wit when discussing current events and politics.

Maybe she just didn't feel like Twitter was the right venue for it; she wouldn't have needed it as a platform when she was on the air (and I can definitely see her being a "my reporting speaks for itself, and it needs more than 140 characters to do so" person if the network tried to get her to establish a social media presence in order to help promote that show), and then after, she just didn't want to engage in that form of discourse.  Now, though, it was presented as integral to getting the new show she wanted to do off to a good start, so she let Avery set her up, got all caught up in the one-liner snark, and will want to use it in a better way going forward.  It works for me (a non-user), and I appreciate that she wasn't stereotypically befuddled by it (saying "pound sign" instead of "hashtag" and stuff like that); she had the general familiarity with it any of us sentient beings do, whether we use it or not for various reasons, and picked it up quickly. 

[BlossomCulp]

I wasn't sure, it had a slow start and I thought much as I wanted to watch Murphy Brown again could I stand to see Trump being featured, even negatively.  Happily I stuck with it because it got so, so good!  I'm in for this season that's for sure.  hashtag; Dan Quayle.  Oh my god.  Thank you Murphy I needed that!!!  A timely reminder  that all things pass.

Edited October 5, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[ChocButterfly]

12 hours ago, LadyKenobi said:

Poor Candice seems like she's going to drop over dead at any moment (and I never quite understood why she was always described as so! beautiful!! even during the first run; I always thought Corky was much prettier.) I mean props to her for not having a lot of plastic surgery, but honestly I hope she isn't ill in some way

What? What are you talking about??? She looks great, she's 72!!! 

[the-grey-lady]

Corky's response to Murphy having dated Donald Trump ("Please tell me that was back when you were drinking.") and the natural Murphy/Avery banter ("Head like a melon!") were really nice touches. Like a few others, I thought the early scenes felt stilted, but this cast has a ton of chemistry, and I fully expect them to settle into their roles in the weeks to come.

[izabella]

On 10/5/2018 at 12:11 AM, LadyKenobi said:

(and I never quite understood why she was always described as so! beautiful!!

Try googling young Candace Bergen.  She was in her 40's when she did Murphy Brown, during a terrible time for hair styles and fashion.

[BlossomCulp]

23 hours ago, ChocButterfly said:

What? What are you talking about??? She looks great, she's 72!!! 

And still beautiful IMO.  I love her and Jamie Lee Curtis for showing us that even in Hollywood some women are prepared to look their age - gorgeously so - but still their age.  

[BlossomCulp]

33 minutes ago, LadyKenobi said:

CB just has not aged particularly well, and her voice in particular is depressing.

I'm really not sure what you mean about not aging well.  She's 72.  What do you consider aging well because I work with a lot of older people and most of them do not look anything like Candice Bergen!

Edited October 12, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[Chaos Theory]

Although the joke was funny thinking about it logically Murphy Brown wouldn’t have a flip phone not if she kept up with politics and even if she had retired she would have.  Now twitter is a different matter and I could go either way with that.   She might have had a twitter account someone else ran for her and once she retired there was no need for it but now with her being back on the air and basically starting from scratch she needs it again.  

Yes the old people don’t get technology joke was funny but in retrospect it doesn’t make sense considering who Murphy Brown is and does and lives.  

[Bastet]

6 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Although the joke was funny thinking about it logically Murphy Brown wouldn’t have a flip phone not if she kept up with politics

As someone who has a flip phone and very much keeps up with politics (possibly to the detriment of her mental well-being, but that's another issue), I'm curious how one precludes the other.

[wendyg]

blossomculp: So much depends on the luck you've had with health. Bergen apparently had a stroke while she was working on BOSTON LEGAL and successfully kept it a secret for quite some time, but I would imagine it's part of why she is physically slower and speaks slower. The range of my friends in their 70s includes some who are *incredibly* active - play tennis, go pole-walking, work full-time - and one whose health problems have left her reliant on a mobility scooter to get around.

[LisaM]

Finally had a chance to watch. I loved every second. Loved Hillary's cameo and especially her email address. 

So glad to see the gang back together. I agree that the scene at Phil's was a bit flat. Hopefully that will get better over time. 

Murphy and Twitter = a perfect match.

[BlossomCulp]

3 hours ago, wendyg said:

blossomculp: So much depends on the luck you've had with health. Bergen apparently had a stroke while she was working on BOSTON LEGAL and successfully kept it a secret for quite some time, but I would imagine it's part of why she is physically slower and speaks slower. The range of my friends in their 70s includes some who are *incredibly* active - play tennis, go pole-walking, work full-time - and one whose health problems have left her reliant on a mobility scooter to get around.

Absolutely - but even with health issues I think Candice Bergen is beautiful and if I can look that good at 72 I will be a very happy senior.  That said I think she looks at least somewhat realistically her age which is a good thing IMO.  I totally get why actors try to retain their youth even longer than the average person does but IMO anyway a point gets reached where you end up getting way more crap for looking too  young.  Of course this proves the old rule that you just can't win with your looks especially if you're a woman.  Someone's going to comment on your appearance no matter how you look.

Edited October 13, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[festivus]

1 hour ago, BlossomCulp said:

Of course this proves the old rule that you just can't win with your looks especially if you're a woman.  Someone's going to comment on your appearance no matter how you look.

True. Have I read anything about how Frank or Miles look? I don't think so. It does happen for both though, I've been watching a lot of revivals like X-Files and Will & Grace and there are always comments. My question is: How do you* expect people to look 20 years later? I mean, we can't all be Eric McCormack and somehow look even better 20 years later. I think everyone on this show looks good and like they should for their ages.

*anyone not one person in particular

[Wings]

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

As someone who has a flip phone and very much keeps up with politics (possibly to the detriment of her mental well-being, but that's another issue), I'm curious how one precludes the other.

I think the gist of Murphy with a flip phone is having internet with her at all times would be logical.  Not necessarily about politics alone. 

[Lorna Mae]

On 10/2/2018 at 3:50 PM, funky-rat said:

I disagree on Haley Joel Osment.  Since being Avery, he will forever be known as the "I See Dead People" kid, and in more recent years, he has gained a lot of weight.  I'm not criticizing him whatsoever for that, but he wouldn't be considered news anchor material for that reason alone.

 

Exactly: it would be stunt casting. When he was 9 and the character was 7, he looked like he could be Candace Bergen's son, but now he looks more like...John Goodman's son. (Too bad he's a little too old to play Jerry Conner!) Besides that, he's gone in a different direction as an actor. Young Skinner on the X-Files revival, for instance. A lot of edgy or broad comedy roles: whatever it takes to eclipse ISDP. 

On 10/2/2018 at 8:34 PM, Sarah 103 said:

That would make a fantastic running gag/joke. Whenever they get into a fight, that's the line that ends the argument. 

When Murphy first found out she was pregnant, she knew based on the timing that the father was either her ex-husband Jake or Jerry Gold. She figured out that it was Jake, but I can't remember how they confirmed it. 

I remember the line word-for-word: "Whoa, a little credit here! I was not 'running around' -- I was with one man! One man...one time." And that was Jake. Funny thing is, there was one episode during either her pregnancy or Avery's first year where Jerry tried living with her, as a blended-family kind of deal, but they found out that two abrasive people can't share a household. Anyway, there was no "either": it could only have been Jake. 

[Not4Me]

Finally caught up and watched. I’ve been skeptical of the revivals lately but this was surprisingly enjoyable. While I understand that Jim is out, it was great to see the cast again, even though they’re aging, the chemistry is still pretty timeless. I think my favorite part was watching Murphy throw caution to the wind with her first tweet about Drumpf while Avery watched with a younger generational concern for the Pandora’s Box she was unleashed. It was a very Murphy thing to do, and very much a cute generational joke that worked. And I enjoyed Corky’s rationale for buying Ivanka’s garbage shoes (hey, they were only $1, right?).

Edited October 24, 2018 by Not4Me