While it certainly seems like everything old is new again when it comes to network television, sometimes those returns to the past just don’t work out. Such is the case with Murphy Brown, which returned to CBS last fall and failed to capture much of an audience. For whatever reason, the revival just didn’t work. The show felt out of place and the jokes seemed hackneyed. Sadly, this probably won’t interfere with the next old show brought back to life.
Tag / Murphy Brown
Midseason Review – Thursdays
We wrap up our look back at the new fall season’s offerings with Thursday night, traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits.
7:00
Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 15th season. A few departures at the end of last season means there will be some new (and one old) face coming to the hospital this season.
For reasons, I’ve only seen the season premiere so far. I’ll need to catch up sooner rather than later.
The Big Bang Theory – With the NFL moving on to other networks, the show returns to Thursdays for its 12th, and final, season.
Nothing really more to say at this point, as we wind down towards the end.
The Good Place – I haven’t watched the show since the middle of season 2, so who knows if I’ll even come back to it.
I’m guessing this was a cut and paste error, since I most certainly have been watching the show. With the 3rd season wrapped up and a new status quo on deck for next year, I’m looking forward to see where it goes next.
8:00
Station 19 – I never got around to watching the Grey’s spin-off last spring, but still have most of the episodes on the DVR. If I find the time, maybe I’ll go back.
Yep, still haven’t seen it.
8:30
Murphy Brown – The gang, led by Candice Bergen, return to see if they can recapture the magic from the show’s original run.
No, they cannot capture the magic. It’s almost like these shows came to an end for a reason back in the day.
9:00
Book 4 (of 52) – Just The Funny Parts
Just The Funny Parts: …And A Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into The Hollywood Boys’ Club – Nell Scovell
Television writer and producer Nell Scovell looks back at her career in this funny and biting memoir. She tells the story of her career, starting in magazines, moving to television and movies, and teaming with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on her book Lean In. Usually one of the only women in the writing room, Scovell was only the second female writer hired by Late Night with David Letterman and, following Letterman’s 2009 admission of improper “relationships” with female staffers, she wrote an essay in Vanity Fair calling his show a “hostile work environment” for women. Besides Late Night, Scovell has written for The Simpsons, The Wilton North Report, Coach, Monk, Murphy Brown, Charmed, Newhart, The Critic, NCIS, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, amongst others. She also created Sabrina The Teenage Witch, adapting the Archie Comics character for ABC.
Odds are good that you have seen a program written by Scovell at some point over the last 3 decades. She tales a serious subject, the roadblocks to a writing/directing/producing career in Hollywood for women, and wrapped it in funny anecdotes of her time bringing beloved characters to life. Hopefully this work opens more opportunities for her, and others like her.
2018 New Fall Season – Thursdays
Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits. Here’s what’s on the slate for this season.
7:00
Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 15th season. A few departures at the end of last season means there will be some new (and one old) face coming to the hospital this season.
The Big Bang Theory – With the NFL moving on to other networks, the show returns to Thursdays for its 12th, and final, season.
The Good Place – I haven’t watched the show since the middle of season 2, so who knows if I’ll even come back to it.
8:00
Station 19 – I never got around to watching the Grey’s spin-off last spring, but still have most of the episodes on the DVR. If I find the time, maybe I’ll go back.
8:30
Murphy Brown – The gang, led by Candice Bergen, return to see if they can recapture the magic from the show’s original run.
9:00
CBS Upfronts
Everything old is new this season at CBS, which will have 5 reboots on the air this fall. The week starts with 3 new shows on Monday night: The Neighborhood, about a white family from Michigan that moves to LA and ends up with Cedric the Entertainer as their neighbor, Happy Together, starring Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West as a happily married couple who begin to reconnect with their younger, cooler selves, and Magnum P.I., a modern take on the classic show with Jay Hernandez taking on Tom Selleck’s role. Bull moves from Tuesday to close out the night.
FBI, starring Missy Peregrym and Jeremy Sisto, is sandwiched between two editions of NCIS on Tuesdays. Wednesday night stays exactly the same. Thursday, freed from the NFL, stays mostly the same, with The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Mom, followed by a rebooted Murphy Brown and season two of S.W.A.T. Friday stays exactly the same. Sunday adds God Friended Me, about an atheist that gets a friend request from God on social media.
On tap for midseason, along side returning favorites Elementary, Instinct, Man With A Plan, and Life, are The Code, which taps the underrepresented area of legal law, The Red Line, about 3 Chicago families dealing with loss, and Fam, a comedy about a woman whose perfect life is thrown asunder when her sister moves in.
Gone and never to be seen again are 9JKL, Kevin Can Wait, Living Biblically, Me, Myself, & I, Scorpion, Superior Donuts, Wisdom Of The Crowd, and Zoo.