Television fans have been anxiously awaiting this fall’s revival of the classic sitcom, Murphy Brown, since January, when CBS first announced that it was bringing back the series about the lives of fictitious TV news journalists.
According to TV Insider , CBS revealed that the revival will focus on actress Candice Bergen’s titular character’s return to a television news program, along with members of her former show’s team, “amid a divided nation, chaotic national discourse, and rampant attacks on the press.”
In addition to Bergen, three other cast members from the groundbreaking show’s original 1988 to 1998 run are also returning: Faith Ford as reporter Corky Sherwood, Joe Regalbuto as newsman Frank Fontana, and Grant Shaud as Miles Silverberg, the news magazine’s executive producer.
Then there are the three new faces on the program: Jake McDorman as Murphy’s millennial son, Avery Brown, who “shares his mother’s competitive spirit and quick wit, and is following in her journalistic footsteps”; Nik Dodani as Pat Patel, the social media director of the show within the show; and Tyne Daly as bar owner Phyllis.
On Tuesday, production began in Queens, New York, for the first new episodes of the show in 20 years.
The cast posed for official photographs, and then attended their first table read, reported Entertainment Weekly .
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And now fans are finally getting a look at the new Murphy Brown as various photos have begun to pop up on social media.
The night before the cast started work, Diane English, the show’s creator and executive producer, had its stars over to her place for dinner.
“They were not well behaved,” she wrote alongside a photo of everyone in her living room that she posted on Instagram .
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“What can I say… we’re a rowdy bunch! May the endless laughter begin,” wrote Faith Ford, who reposted English’s photograph on her own Instagram page.
An official photo of the seven-person cast was posted on the series’ verified Instagram page on Tuesday.
“The team is back together,” said its simple caption.
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Then, four snapshots from the July 24 on-set table read were uploaded to the official Murphy Brown Instagram page, where everyone looks so happy to be back at work on such a beloved television program.
Jake McDorman shared a shot of himself and his “mom,” Candice Bergen, from the table read on his own Instagram page. He lovingly has his arm around the legendary actress.
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“It’s an incredible thing when you can step away from something you care so much about, and now, 20 years later, it’s as if not a day has passed,” Diane English told EW .
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Murphy Brown returns to CBS for 13 episodes starting on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 9:30 p.m.
