But these claims don’t fit the evidence. The Hollywood Reporter notes that CBS plans to place the comedy sitcom “Fam” in the 9:30 pm spot previously held by “Murphy Brown” starting Jan. 10. If “Murphy Brown” is slated for renewal, why would CBS fill its spot with another show?
It’s for this reason that few believe CBS’s claim, including conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.
“CBS has canceled Murphy Brown. Historic low ratings. CBS is saying (paraphrasing), ‘Hey, there’s no news here. We’re canceling it after 13 weeks. It was only a 13-week order. So we’re just not renewing it. We’re not canceling anything,’” he said on the radio Wednesday.
“That’s their story, and they’re sticking to it. You know as well as I do that if Murphy Brown had been a hit, that they’d be trying to do another Roseanne version of it except not get rid of Candace Bergen.”
“The Connors” is an ABC reboot of the popular sitcom “Roseanne,” which was cancelled earlier this year after lead actress Roseanne Barr mocked former Obama administration aide Valerie Jarrett with a joke that some deemed to be racist.
The fact that CBS isn’t actively trying to keep “Murphy Brown” alive the way ABC tried to keep “Roseanne” alive suggests it has very little — if any at all — interest in maintaining the show.