This show is the creation of Diane English & it shows. Every script reflects her values, her morals, & this has been the major work in her life. She will never equal it again.
The reason the show worked was the talent of the cast ensemble. Everyone knew Candace Bergen has talent. The surprise is how many folks this show discovered. Grant Shaud for one has never equaled his performance in this in any other show. Faith Ford was another great discovery.
The show is set in a television newsroom. A lot of the network news insiders considered it a favorite show of theirs during it's run. It definitely influenced the media generation which it was meant to serve.
That is why you rarely see it re-run on TV now. The political satire that was it's forte is now as ancient to this generation as an expired piece of meat. It is no longer funny & teenagers now would not relate to it.
This generation is being driven away from being self-righteous snobs which are what most of the characters on Murphy Brown were. That is because Diane English very often put her own reflection in the mirror into the characters she drew for this show. While it was effective then, that effect is no longer in vogue.
On Johnny Carson's last show, his monologue made a statement about being a surrogate father for Murphy's just born child. Considering we are pretty much on the verge of having a group of grownups who have never heard of Johnny, nothing better illustrates why the shelf life of this show has expired.
It was topical & funny then, & good to look back on for the folks who remember Murphy.
The reason the show worked was the talent of the cast ensemble. Everyone knew Candace Bergen has talent. The surprise is how many folks this show discovered. Grant Shaud for one has never equaled his performance in this in any other show. Faith Ford was another great discovery.
The show is set in a television newsroom. A lot of the network news insiders considered it a favorite show of theirs during it's run. It definitely influenced the media generation which it was meant to serve.
That is why you rarely see it re-run on TV now. The political satire that was it's forte is now as ancient to this generation as an expired piece of meat. It is no longer funny & teenagers now would not relate to it.
This generation is being driven away from being self-righteous snobs which are what most of the characters on Murphy Brown were. That is because Diane English very often put her own reflection in the mirror into the characters she drew for this show. While it was effective then, that effect is no longer in vogue.
On Johnny Carson's last show, his monologue made a statement about being a surrogate father for Murphy's just born child. Considering we are pretty much on the verge of having a group of grownups who have never heard of Johnny, nothing better illustrates why the shelf life of this show has expired.
It was topical & funny then, & good to look back on for the folks who remember Murphy.