S11.E10: Beat the Press

[ams1001]

6 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Thank you, Google? I can't find any in the DC area but...

https://www.holycannolis.com/

http://www.holycannoliseattle.com/

https://holycannolimaine.com/

 And thanks, Google. Now I have "a sadz" https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/holy-cannoli

My friend's husband threw her a birthday party a couple years ago and instead of cake he got something called the Holy Cannoli, which is a giant cannoli shell filled with mini cannolis. (This is from somewhere in Dutchess County NY.) I'm not a huge fan of cannoli but that thing was pretty good.

I love how Phyllis is always trying to find ways to unload the booze that doesn't sell. And her reaction to tasting the Black and Blue.

[SMama]

16 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Eldin (played by Robert Pastorelli), and excellent point!

Thank you, I loved Eldin! I remember a scene where Avery and Eldin were dressed in matching overalls and shirts, with one side unsnapped. That had me laughing so much.

[friendperidot]

Empress, I understand, I'm an old, white woman and I don't feel safe. Frankly it's the young white men in pickup trucks that scare me. Why they feel the need to blare their horn just as they pass me is beyond my understanding! I swear, the next time, I'm going to clutch my chest and fall to the ground! (on purpose) If I can scare the s**ts half as much as they scare me, good! I also plan on taking pictures of their truck and it's license plate. But that's probably not a safe thing to do. And then there's the smart a$$ elementary school children who have 6-10 of them in a group, walking all over the street and blocking car traffic and smarting off to the adults telling them to get out of the middle of the street. Brats! Who's raising these? I know, it's not really part of the show, but I think it's another symptom of entitlement that people who assault reporters seem to have been given.

[andipandi]

On the plus side peridot, if the kids are in the street they are not on your lawn!

I took a gun safety class last year, because it seemed to me that an uncivil war is coming. So I get that corky can be progressive and still carry a gun.

[pookat]

This episode rang very true for me. Like Empress1, I have felt much less safe, a fear which has been validated by an uptick in hate crimes:

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/03/01/report-rise-hate-violence-tied-2016-presidential-election

I feel for journalists and this episode really brought it home for me. This is reality being reflected, unless one watches Fox News or just can’t keep up with the fresh rounds of outrage served up daily from the current admin. This show is needed, if for no other reason than the fact that people seem more willing to believe fiction than reality these days.

Another incident of violence against the press was committed by former Trump campaign manager and chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/us/politics/trump-campaign-manager-corey-lewandowski.html

Edited December 1, 2018 by pookat

[mojito]

Big Eddie....

[Pete Martell]

This one managed to make me cringe and yet also moved me, depending on the scene. 

I know this happens all the time on sitcoms, but I wish Pat was not so frequently just there to be the token gay. Even the scene where he pretended to be a drugged-up Frank's brother, which was one of my favorites of the episode, ended up veering that way. 

The group's interaction with Diana feels so stilted and she seems to be on another show entirely. 

I'm glad that they had Avery mention that the "Wolf" network was responsible for fomenting division so it was his responsibility to try to get involved, but every time they try to compare Wolf and Fox I am reminded all over again that he just would not be allowed to do or say any of these things. He would have been fired from the network after this, if it had ever happened. I know they had to have him injured as well to demoralize Murphy, but I think they could have tried other ways. On a more positive note, the Murphy and Avery relationship works as well as ever, the scene with Frank and Avery was great (and you can actually believe the history between the characters), and Jake McDorman looks even more gorgeous with glasses. 

I still find myself cringing (see above) when the show tries to push the conflict between Murphy and the Trump administration. It feels less like astute political commentary and more like trying to get called out for some publicity. This isn't 1992, even if sometimes we may wish it was. 

The scenes with Frank were the standouts for me. Joe Regalbuto is a fine actor and I'd wondered if we were ever going to get to see that in the revival. I'm glad we did. His talking to Murphy about how he was now frightened to be a reporter in America was the type of honest, simple moment I wish we had more of on the show (or any show). 

I still think they do Faith Ford a bit of a disservice by only ever having Corky as comic relief, but I thought the gun scene was written fairly and didn't make her the butt of the joke, nor did it have the others lecture her at length for being a gun owner. I'm also glad they had the bit with Miles being worried about phone calls not turn into another oh Miles is so screwed up joke, and instead left it ambiguous. 

The best scene was the closing shot of Murphy, Frank and Corky holding each other's hands in solidarity. If this does turn out to be the last season, that would have been the perfect goodbye. 

[CatsAndMoreCats]

11 hours ago, SMama said:

Maybe Avery considered the painter/nanny his father figure. Sorry, I can’t recall the actor’s or character’s name.

Wouldn't surprise me.  Eldin (R.I.P.) is probably the one who most influenced Murphy to go forward with her pregnancy.  His childlike excitement at "we're having a baby! this is a very good thing!" still makes me tear up when I see it in reruns. 

[theredhead77]

8 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I thought the gun scene was written fairly and didn't make her the butt of the joke, nor did it have the others lecture her at length for being a gun owner.

I really appreciated that she held her gun barrel down, finger off the trigger instead of waving it around while talking with her hands and placed it back into her purse, gently instead of tossing it in.

[willowk]

21 hours ago, SMama said:

Maybe Avery considered the painter/nanny his father figure. Sorry, I can’t recall the actor’s or character’s name.

That is what I've always figured. Eldin cared for him as a baby, and they had the character return at the end of the original series run. I always imagined Eldin was the day to day caretaker for Avery as he grew up while Murphy worked.

[HyeChaps]

I was surprised that Murphy even had a bag of peas in her freezer. 

[Ailianna]

She didn't say how long they'd been there!

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

I was surprised that Murphy even had a bag of peas in her freezer. 

She probably bought them when she saw/heard what happened. Plus, I see it as a throwback to when she was using frozen peas against her breast after her biopsy in season 10.☺️😄

[Bringonthedrama]

On 11/30/2018 at 10:04 AM, AriAu said:

 it really has not evolved to that level of violence against the press, even Trump's favorite target.

Inaccurate. In this age of "the press is the enemy of the people," a gunman walked into the Capital Gazette newsroom in June (2018) in Annapolis, MD and opened fire, killing several journalists and a sales assistant. The reason: he was angry about coverage of a criminal harassment charge brought against him.

A writer who had been contacted by the gunman said on record to salon.com that the gunman "was politically influenced by the alt-right."

For approximately a day, Trump denied the request from the mayor of Annapolis to lower American flags to half-staff nationwide.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/annapolis/bs-md-annapolis-attack-what-we-know-20180629-story.html

(I will forever remember this horrific news because I am a former newspaper reporter and I live not far from Annapolis. )

[Sarah 103]

18 hours ago, willowk said:

That is what I've always figured. Eldin cared for him as a baby, and they had the character return at the end of the original series run. I always imagined Eldin was the day to day caretaker for Avery as he grew up while Murphy worked.

Eldin was the nanny while Murphy worked. There was a great episode where Eldin insists on having his say in the hiring process and when he rejects every candidate, Murphy eventually gives him the job. 

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

She probably bought them when she saw/heard what happened. Plus, I see it as a throwback to when she was using frozen peas against her breast after her biopsy in season 10.☺️😄

Knowing Murphy, it could have been the same bag. 

[Kohola3]

On 11/30/2018 at 10:32 PM, friendperidot said:

I swear, the next time, I'm going to clutch my chest and fall to the ground! (on purpose) If I can scare the s**ts half as much as they scare me, good!

Sadly, they'd laugh and drive away.

[friendperidot]

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Sadly, they'd laugh and drive away.

or come back and rob me.

[Panopticon]

On 12/1/2018 at 10:53 AM, theredhead77 said:

I really appreciated that she held her gun barrel down, finger off the trigger instead of waving it around while talking with her hands and placed it back into her purse, gently instead of tossing it in.

I was expecting the cheap punchline of the gun going off by accident just as Corky talked about how to be a responsible gun owner. I was glad they didn’t go there.

[motroro]

I LOVE Murphy Brown!  I love that she's pushing the envelope of what is true in reality and what is fake news...even if it means her making up fake news to support her point.

...am i in lock step now?  SMH

[Anela]

On 11/30/2018 at 11:13 AM, AntiBeeSpray said:

Why am I not surprised? I'm ashamed of Vanity Fair spreading this. It's not anywhere near cancelled. As far as I'm concerned that article is clickbait. They just spreading more stuff about people being 'tired' of politically minded shows.

 

I know someone who was celebrating that it was cancelled, that's what brought me here (and on a quick google search). I told him it wasn't cancelled, that a lot of shows only run for thirteen episodes. The Good Place has a limited run every year, and isn't cancelled. 

Re: does this kind of thing really happen. Yep, along with the other things mentioned here, wasn't there a French newspaper that was shot up a couple of years ago? I have a friend who is a journalist, and she's been increasingly upset with people who just ignore the way the media is getting treated, and these shootings that are happening. 

On 11/30/2018 at 10:32 PM, friendperidot said:

Empress, I understand, I'm an old, white woman and I don't feel safe. Frankly it's the young white men in pickup trucks that scare me. Why they feel the need to blare their horn just as they pass me is beyond my understanding! I swear, the next time, I'm going to clutch my chest and fall to the ground! (on purpose) If I can scare the s**ts half as much as they scare me, good! I also plan on taking pictures of their truck and it's license plate. But that's probably not a safe thing to do. And then there's the smart a$$ elementary school children who have 6-10 of them in a group, walking all over the street and blocking car traffic and smarting off to the adults telling them to get out of the middle of the street. Brats! Who's raising these? I know, it's not really part of the show, but I think it's another symptom of entitlement that people who assault reporters seem to have been given.

I hadn't thought of that. A couple of years ago, when we were walking the dogs late one Sunday night, after visiting my mum in the hospital (just before she died), some guys in a massive pick-up truck went roaring by, and hollered something out at us. I was so pissed, and tired of that kind of shit, that I almost went running after them. I had my dog, though, and wasn't just going to leave him there. 

On 12/2/2018 at 1:12 PM, Bringonthedrama said:

Inaccurate. In this age of "the press is the enemy of the people," a gunman walked into the Capital Gazette newsroom in June (2018) in Annapolis, MD and opened fire, killing several journalists and a sales assistant. The reason: he was angry about coverage of a criminal harassment charge brought against him.

A writer who had been contacted by the gunman said on record to salon.com that the gunman "was politically influenced by the alt-right."

For approximately a day, Trump denied the request from the mayor of Annapolis to lower American flags to half-staff nationwide.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/annapolis/bs-md-annapolis-attack-what-we-know-20180629-story.html

(I will forever remember this horrific news because I am a former newspaper reporter and I live not far from Annapolis. )

Yeah, I thought of this one, too. This was the one that had my friend so upset the last time - a journalist, who works in the D.C. area. 

[Bringonthedrama]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

 

 wasn't there a French newspaper that was shot up a couple of years ago? I have a friend who is a journalist, and she's been increasingly upset with people who just ignore the way the media is getting treated, and these shootings that are happening. 

 

Yeah, I thought of this one, too. This was the one that had my friend so upset the last time - a journalist, who works in the D.C. area. 

Yes, however Trump is encouraging hostility towards American media outlets, which was the point of this episode. I agree with your friend.  A decade or so ago, two of my relatives would say they were proud re: my writing/reporting. Now they both verbally attack those who won't "be fair" to him, including me. I recently commented on the FB page of one of them, saying that the comments from two of the FB friends (strangers to me) were correct.  Did not express an opinion. Another FB friend of this relative (also a stranger to me) responded to me, "How does it feel to be under the control of the MSM zombies?" and yet another stranger asked why I don't love America, and suggested I leave. My relative did not acknowledge or defend me. She absolutely believes the reporter who had his press pass taken away by the WH deserved it.  

"Murphy Brown" did not go overboard on the threats to the press. If anything, it was understated. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Bringonthedrama

[Anela]

2 hours ago, Bringonthedrama said:

Yes, however Trump is encouraging hostility towards American media outlets, which was the point of this episode. I agree with your friend.  A decade or so ago, two of my relatives would say they were proud re: my writing/reporting. Now they both verbally attack those who won't "be fair" to him, including me. I recently commented on the FB page of one of them, saying that the comments from two of the FB friends (strangers to me) were correct.  Did not express an opinion. Another FB friend of this relative (also a stranger to me) responded to me, "How does it feel to be under the control of the MSM zombies?" and yet another stranger asked why I don't love America, and suggested I leave. My relative did not acknowledge or defend me. She absolutely believes the reporter who had his press pass taken away by the WH deserved it.  

"Murphy Brown" did not go overboard on the threats to the press. If anything, it was understated. 

 

I know. It's just that politics is forbidden, and I haven't watched the episode yet - I didn't know that it was on last week - so I didn't know what I could say. I remember the hostility at his rallies, two years ago. A friend overseas was worried then, thinking that people would get hurt. I could go on a huge rant, and I'm not a journalist. I was right there with my friend, because two people were acting like Trump hadn't wound anyone up re: the news, and we were arguing with them. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Anela

[CatsAndMoreCats]

22 hours ago, Anela said:

I know. It's just that politics is forbidden, and I haven't watched the episode yet - I didn't know that it was on last week - so I didn't know what I could say. I remember the hostility at his rallies, two years ago. A friend overseas was worried then, thinking that people would get hurt. I could go on a huge rant, and I'm not a journalist. I was right there with my friend, because two people were acting like Trump hadn't wound anyone up re: the news, and we were arguing with them. 

Arguing does no good.  I'm reminded of the old cliche:  "Never try to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and annoys the pig."  (No offense to pigs.  At least they have the intelligence of a three-year-old child.)

[Kohola3]

I just watched the rerun of the episode titled Send in the Clowns and it was interesting to see that, even back then, there were attacks on the press and the First Amendment.  In that episode they weren't physical attacks but then, at that time, there wasn't a maniac stirring things up.

[BW Manilowe]

On 11/30/2018 at 11:05 AM, Rowsdower said:

He described Frank as "practically my uncle." This fictive kinship with Murphy's colleagues (to whom he refers as "Aunt" or "Uncle") was established in the 1992 episode depicting Avery's birth.

They’re running (at least part of the week) the breast cancer storyline, which also had a school-age Avery played by Haley Joel Osment, on AntennaTV. I caught 1 of the episodes recently—the 1 where Murphy went in for a biopsy or lumpectomy, & she was telling Avery she had to do that at the hospital the next day but she’d probably be back home by the time he got back from soccer practice. She also mentioned Frank &/or Corky to him, I think in some way to do with the procedure, & she didn’t use “Uncle” or “Aunt” in front of either of their names—just called them by their first names like Murphy would as an adult.

I’m wondering why they decided to retcon it so Murphy’s old co-workers are called “Aunt” & “Uncle” by Avery (& Murphy, in referring to them around the now adult Avery) now (implying they were called that since he was a kid), when there’s evidence in the old episodes that school-age boy Avery apparently called Murphy’s co-workers & friends just by their first names, like Murphy did, with no honorific, like “Aunt” or “Uncle”, in front of their names. Maybe it’s another Diane English retcon from the era when she left the show, like Miles’ & Corky’s marriage & subsequent divorce. (Shrugs)

[Bastet]

When I address my aunts and uncles, I always include the title, but when speaking about them to my parents, I may say Aunt So-and-So or I may just say So-and-So. 

[BW Manilowe]

On 11/30/2018 at 4:02 PM, proserpina65 said:

Oh man, of all episodes during which to fall asleep and miss the end, it had to be this one?  Not a comment on the quality of the episode, which I was enjoying, so much as a sign of how tired I was last night.  The last thing I remember is Murphy going soft on the idiot she was interviewing on the show, and his commenting (after Miles talked about him) "I can hear you" or "I'm right here" or something to that effect.

You can watch it on CBS.com or their app. Personally I think the app is easier.

[BW Manilowe]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:01 PM, Empress1 said:

Me too, as a woman of color. I was telling my therapist that one of the things I used to love to do is walk (city dweller) while listening to music and I don't feel safe doing that anymore - I feel like I need to have my wits about me. I mean, as a woman you always need to have your wits about you, but it feels more important now.

I fucks with House Hunters AND Hoarders. Hoarders makes me want to get rid of everything I own. "I need one long-sleeved shirt, one pair of pants, one bra, one plate, one spoon, one knife, one fork, one cup, and that is all."

And someone shot up a newsroom in Maryland and killed 5 people this year. I have a friend who is a reporter for a daily and it's taken a toll on her. (She doesn't cover anything controversial anymore - she used to cover crime but she burned out - but still. All it takes is one nut and being in the wrong place at the wrong time ...)

I absolutely love that Frank is Avery's Uncle Frank. I think that's so sweet. I loved the cannoli scene. I just love the idea of single mom Murphy giving Avery an unconventional but loving family. There's also something so nice about how Murphy calls Avery her "kid." It just fits, like of course that's what she calls him.

The producer with dreadlocks is one of my favorites. "Where'd they find this brother?"

I’ve recently seen some episodes set during Murphy’s pregnancy on AntennaTV (like the 1 where Jim went with Murphy when she had her amniocentesis, or whatever prenatal test they performed back when Murphy was supposed to be pregnant that isn’t as risky as an amnio but gives the same info you look for in an amnio). She’s been calling him “my kid” since before he was born. I remember she also went on a “My kid’s a son?!” rant, when she found out the gender after the prenatal testing, because she was so sure she was having a girl.

[PRgal]

On 11/30/2018 at 2:45 PM, theredhead77 said:

Thank you, Google? I can't find any in the DC area but...

https://www.holycannolis.com/

http://www.holycannoliseattle.com/

https://holycannolimaine.com/

 And thanks, Google. Now I have "a sadz" https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/flavor-graveyard/holy-cannoli

And Toronto, too.  They have a real website, but it's kind of meh...

[Camera One]

I didn't find this episode too funny.  I could hardly look at Frank injured like that.  

Edited December 9, 2018 by Camera One

[Moose135]

20 hours ago, Camera One said:

I didn't find this episode too funny.  I could hardly look at Frank injured like that.  

I don't think they meant this to be a real sidesplitter.  The original had episodes that weren't always loaded with jokes but made you think about, or make you feel uncomfortable about, an issue.

[Bruinsfan]

And it did have the Holy Cannoli moment between Frank and Avery, which while not particularly funny was at least upbeat and a good showcase of the relationship between the characters.

[motroro]

Thank God for Murphy Brown.  I don't believe that I've read about any more physical attacks on American journalists from Trump Supporters since this episode aired.  They were really getting beat down there for a while....seemed like every day there was another story about an MSM reporter in America getting attacked and ending up in the hospital.

SMH

[Nidratime]

Quote

Additional seasons remain possible, but it's true that the show's Nielsen ratings performance has been unspectacular.

I watch the show "On Demand" because it conflicts with other shows I watch and sometimes the actual news that I watch on MSNBC, so I don't know if they count "On Demand" views in Nielsen.

[ljenkins782]

On 11/30/2018 at 2:24 PM, theredhead77 said:

Quote

The way Murphy was portrayed reacting to Frank’s situation didn’t ring true.  The show can’t have it both ways.  Is she a tough news person or not?

Or is she a tough news person who was shook to her core / traumatized after learning (and seeing the aftermath) of her colleague and "family" beaten to a bloody pulp by a mob instigated by the [TV show] POTUS?

Rang pretty true to me.

There's a precedent to this in the original run, she also got tentative after a guest died on her while she was grilling them. The part of it that didn't ring entirely true to me was the fact that she was interviewing ONE guy on her TV set with all of her own people around her. It was hardly a mob scenario, like what Frank had faced. Unless they were saying she was softballing it due to fears of people who watch the show (but it seems like the types who attacked Frank wouldn't be watching her show or network anyway).

Quote

And of course Murphy likes Hoarders! :P (Unlike Avery, though, I could NEVER find myself sucked in to that show; it depresses and grosses me out too much. I'll stick to House Hunters, thank you.)

I'd never seek it out on my own time, but I've come across it in hotel rooms when there is nothing else on (seriously, why is hotel room TV so bad? I always end up watching either Weather Channel programs about catastrophes, Forensic Files episodes, or shit like this) and I get sucked in.

Avery getting hooked on it made me laugh, that's me watching any competitive reality show that I had no previous interest in. One episode (just enough for me to learn a few names and find someone to like and someone to hate) and suddenly I'm all in.

Frank in the hospital bed made me very sad, he suddenly looked very frail and old. Joe Regalbuto has aged beautifully and seems spry and agile usually, but they did a good job making him seem vulnerable in this one. 

[theredhead77]

17 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

There's a precedent to this in the original run, she also got tentative after a guest died on her while she was grilling them. The part of it that didn't ring entirely true to me was the fact that she was interviewing ONE guy on her TV set with all of her own people around her. It was hardly a mob scenario, like what Frank had faced. Unless they were saying she was softballing it due to fears of people who watch the show (but it seems like the types who attacked Frank wouldn't be watching her show or network anyway).

I don't think she was afraid of literally being physically attacked at that moment. I think she went soft because she was thinking about what happened to Frank and the new culture of attacking the press, sometimes physically ande was concerned about provoking the people who hate the media into beating another member of the press out of anger. The types who attacked Frank may not watch the network but they certainly watch shows that will show MITM clips and talk about how horrible the "MSM' is.

[Annber03]

11 minutes ago, ljenkins782 said:

The part of it that didn't ring entirely true to me was the fact that she was interviewing ONE guy on her TV set with all of her own people around her. It was hardly a mob scenario, like what Frank had faced. Unless they were saying she was softballing it due to fears of people who watch the show (but it seems like the types who attacked Frank wouldn't be watching her show or network anyway).

Yeah, the second reason seems more accurate. I think she just didn't want to risk doing anything that would give the "Don't trust the media" crowd more reasons to rile people up and encourage them to attack and threaten reporters in general. I doubt the guy who sent the pipe bombs to CNN a couple months ago, for instance, actually watched that channel. But if he was being fed a steady stream of "CNN is the enemy, don't trust them" by those he did follow and listen to, that was enough for him to want to go after them. 

Quote

Avery getting hooked on it made me laugh, that's me watching any competitive reality show that I had no previous interest in. One episode (just enough for me to learn a few names and find someone to like and someone to hate) and suddenly I'm all in.

That was me with "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars". Had no interest in those shows when they first came out. Then my sister started watching the second seasons of both, I started catching them along with her, and boom, I became hooked :D.