‘Murphy Brown’ Creator Diane English Lashes out at Misleading Reports of Show’s Cancellation

Murphy Brown creator Diane English was not happy after Drudge Report claimed the Candice Bergen show was canceled by CBS.

Back on Nov. 28, CBS announced that it would not order a “back nine” for the Murphy Brown reboot, although the plan was to only make 13 episodes. The show did underperform in the ratings, only averaging 6.2 million total viewers and a 0.9 rating in the key 18-49 demographic.

Although The Hollywood Reporter did not mention anything about these ratings being “historically low,” that is how Drudge Report framed it.

“Fake news. This misleading headline is what started the rumor,” English tweeted Friday. “We have solid ratings and have been the most watched entertainment program in our time slot for the last two episodes. And congrats to Candice Bergen on her Globe nomination.”

On Nov. 28, English reminded her fans the season was always intended to be short.

“Murphy Brown fans. We are NOT CANCELED!!!!! Several entertainment sites read a mid season schedule put out by CBS that did not have our show on it and the assumption was made that we were not renewed,” English previously wrote. “Our order, at our request was 13 eps. We look forward to a second season.”

Bergen earned the show’s only Golden Globe nomination last week. During the show’s original run, she won for Golden Globes in 1992 and 1989, and was nominated every year from 1989 to 1996. However, Bergen has stiff competition this year in the form of Kristen Bell (The Good Place), Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Alison Brie (GLOW) and last year’ winner, Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).

Murphy Brown‘s 11th season picked up 20 years after the show initially ended in 1998. Bergen returned as the title character, with Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto and Grant Shaud joining to reprise their original roles. Jake McDormand also joined as Murphy’s now-grown son Avery and Charles Kimbrough appeared in a few episodes as his original character Jim Dial.

The new season of Murphy Brown followed the successful reboots of NBC’s Will & Grace and ABC’s Roseanne. English said the success of Will & Grace showed her how old characters could fit in today’s partisan political climate.

“I watched Will & Grace very closely to see how they reinvented their show. And, as the days’ headlines became more and more horrific, we felt we had a real reason — maybe the only show with a real reason — to come back,” English told The Hollywood Reporter in September. “We have the ability to be really relevant and examine, in an age where people are screaming ‘fake news’ and ‘enemy of the people,’ these characters who are the press.”

New episodes of Murphy Brown air on CBS at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS. There are still four more episodes left of the season.

Photo credit: David Giesbrecht/2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc/CBS