Some Old Shows Should Stay Old Shows

Last night my wife and I streamed the first episode of the Murphy Brown reboot. To my ear any encomiums it has received have been unearned. The old, original program was never distinguished by fine acting. Candace Bergen’s delivery has always been as though she were reading from a teleprompter. The only genuinely funny person on the old program, Robert Pastorelli, is dead. You know there’s a problem when Faith Ford is carrying the comedic weight. She’s still pretty and funny but I don’t think that menopause jokes will carry the show.

At least for me poking fun at Donald Trump and Fox News isn’t enough to earn my praise. The laughs were few and far between. The show needs to up its writing game.

Almost the opposite was true of the rebirth of Last Man Standing. The writers and performers took the opportunity of mercilessly ribbing ABC and themselves and they got it out of the way from the very opening scene. Despite having replaced the only one of actresses playing one of Tim Allen’s daughters who had decent comedic timing, the show was still funny and with that single exception it brought back the entire cast. The great Hector Elizondo continues to show that he can do just about anything.

Last Man Standing didn’t just win its time slot; it won Friday night. By comparison Murphy Brown didn’t even win its time slot and dragged down the shows that followed it.

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