‘Murphy Brown’ Pokes Fun at ‘Roseanne’ Cancellation in Premiere Episode

Murphy Brown got a Twitter account during the revival’s premiere episode, so of course the sitcom threw a dig at Roseanne Barr’s social media activity leading to the cancellation of her own reboot series.

During the premiere, Murphy (Candice Bergen) is instructed to open a Twitter account to help boost her new morning news show. After Avery helps her set up the account, she reveals the contents of her first tweet.

“I once went on a date with Donald Trump,” Murphy said aloud as she typed on her phone. “He made us split the check.”

Stunned, Avery (Jake McDorman) says: “You… went on a date with Trump? You never told me that.”

“Well Avery, some things are just too much to process for a child’s mind to process,” she responds.

After sending her first tweet, Murphy is delighted and tells her son she is good on the social media lessons and she can handle it herself. Avery, however, has one final warning for her.

“Just think before you tweet mom, shows have been canceled for less,” he says before he walks away, as the live audience “oohs” at the Roseanne burn.

The joke is a clear reference to the shocking May cancellation of the Roseanne reboot, the No. 1 comedy of the 2017-18 television season, after Barr tweeted a racist remark toward former White House aide Valerie Jarrett.

Despite it breaking ratings records, ABC made the decision to cancel the series leading to weeks-long speculation as to what would happen to the cast and crew, who had already committed to a second season.

In June, the network announced spinoff series The Conners, which is set to premiere Tuesday, Oct. 16 on ABC. The new series will reunite the cast of the Roseanne reboot, as well as some new faces, as the family adjusts to life without the show’s former lead character.

Murphy Brown spent much of its first episode dissing President Donald Trump, as its first scene included Murphy’s initial reaction to his election with her yelling “NOOOO,” before the show flashed forward to the present. Later in the episode, Murphy even gets into a Twitter war with a fictional Trump in the first episode of her new cable show.

As a show revolving around the production of a morning cable news program, we can expect Murphy Brown to continue to reference and poke fun at other political and pop culture moments.

Murphy Brown airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS.