by DCG
Suck it, Murphy Brown.
From USA Today: After the first week of the television season, Tim Allen has bragging rights over Candice Bergen.
The return of Allen’s sitcom “Last Man Standing” reached 8.1 million viewers on Fox last Friday night. That was more than the 7.5 million people who tuned into the revival of Bergen’s “Murphy Brown“ on CBS the night before.
CBS heavily promoted the return of “Murphy Brown” after two decades, and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had a cameo in the first episode.
“Last Man Standing” had been gone just a year, canceled by ABC in a decision that Allen said left him “stunned and blindsided.” But Fox brought it back, and on its first week it was the network’s most popular entertainment show, particularly impressive considering Friday is one of the least-watched nights on television.
ABC said its decision was strictly business after it decided against airing comedies on Friday, but there were political overtones. Allen supports President Donald Trump and his lead character, Mike Baxter, has been described as Archie Bunker with a college education. Some conservatives said the cancellation was proof that they weren’t valued as customers in liberal Hollywood.
The victory over “Murphy Brown” was “a very big upset,” said Marc Berman, a veteran television analyst who runs the Programming Insider.
“Murphy Brown” had the misfortune of competing against real-life politics, since the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh aired the day of its premiere, giving big boosts that evening to Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who together reached nearly 10 million viewers, Nielsen said.
DCG