It’s 2018, another year made up almost solely of reboots, remakes, and rehashes of my once-sacred childhood that consume the various pieces of media young me loved so deeply. These attempts to revive characters from the past have been both fair and foul, but I can admit to you here and now that nothing is more exciting to me (and my mom) in the reboot department than the return of FYI’s front woman, Murphy Brown!
(Scroll down to watch the trailer for the new season)
Photo Source: Murphy Brown on CBS screenshot by Crystal Spears from The Game of Nerds
Murphy Brown, an investigative journalist / feminist hero of the late 90s and her return to television are being portrayed as a response to the modern political climate — so, you know. Trump. Corky Sherwood, played by Faith Ford, returns to FYI a little more jaded by the world after hosting Wake Up, America only to lose her position to a younger, more buxom newswoman.
Executive producer Miles Silverberg, played by Grant Shaud, returns as well after several years working for The View, which Miles describes when he says that “every day was like the Game of Thrones, minus the fur vests.” Poor Miles. Frank Fontana, played by Joe Regalbuto, returns after a stint of undercover work that includes dressing up as a white supremacist and evidently turns out poorly. Though the whole team believed they needed a break from the fast-paced lifestyle of investigative journalism, they’re back and hungry to present the news, especially now that the news is so scary.
No word yet on Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough, and sadly Murphy’s longtime painter-turned-nanny Eldin Bernecky, played by Robert Pastorelli will be absent from the new season after the death of the actor in 2004. I’ve been wearing mismatched socks ever since Eldin told me it’s what artists do. If you remember that moment then you are truly a serious fan of the show.
Photo Source: Murphy Brown on CBS screenshot by Crystal Spears from The Game of Nerds
Launched by Murphy, Miles, Corky, and Frank as a response to the new world order, FYI has a lot of new characters to help to bring the old folks into the 20th century including a techie millennial and Phyllis, the sister of beloved bar owner Phil (now deceased) of Phil’s, FYI‘s favorite watering hole.
From Brown’s struggle to find a decent, non-smoking non-Nazi secretary to the struggle between the patriarchy of the late 90s and today, this reboot seems to have modern times and modern struggles in mind as the characters and the actors tread in the footsteps of other political comedies and dramas with its own seriously funny serious tone.
