BuzzSugar

5 Lasting Influences of Murphy Brown on Pop Culture and Politics

Colleen Barrett — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:10:19 PST

I grew up watching Murphy Brown peripherally: too young to fully get it or care to get it, but exposed to it when my parents watched it. I knew it was an important show, though. In its 10-year run, it was nominated for 62 Emmy awards and won 18. Candice Bergen won Best Lead Actress in a Comedy five times - the standing record for a continuing role - and she withdrew her name for consideration after the fifth. It was one of the first shows to make a woman over 40 the main character, and the fact she was a powerful, unmarried journalist who eventually became a single mom was a scandalous game-changer.

Last night Candice and the show's creator Diane English sat down to talk about the impact of Murphy Brown (Connie Chung was supposed to moderate, but the weather kept her in New York) as part of the SF Sketchfest in San Francisco. It began with a viewing of the series' most famous and notorious episode - where Murphy has her baby - and then Candice and Diane talked like old friends in front of 300 or so people for an hour. And as someone who thought Murphy Brown was a real person for most of the '90s, I learned at least five things.

Brought middle-age women to TV: While CBS pushed for someone young and fun - Heather Locklear was the network's favorite - Diane English felt it was vital that Murphy be 40-ish. "There were no women over 40 on TV at the time," she said, "except the Golden Girls."
Merged current affairs into TV: "My goal was always to blend fiction and nonfiction, said Diane, "to make Candice Murphy Brown." They made fake covers of Time and Newsweek with journalist Murphy Brown on the covers, and eventually that became reality, as Candice covered the same magazines. Real journalists and politicians guest-starred, and each week DC bigwigs hoped to be name checked on the political satire. In fact, when Diane Sawyer left 60 Minutes, The New York Times ran a poll - Who Should Take Her Place? - and Murphy Brown won.
Provided a new role model for women: Women immediately took to Murphy, even before the show became hugely popular. "She had none of the traditional disease to please," said Candice. "She would just speak her mind and didn't care whether she was liked."
Improved women's position in TV industry: With Diane behind the scenes, it's no surprise Murphy Brown's writer's room had an even estrogen-testosterone balance, but that was still rare in 1988 when the show began. Diane said the opportunities for women in TV have improved drastically in the last 20 years because "men are no longer uncomfortable with women in the writer's room." Film, however, is still an old boys' club, she said, "I could spend another panel talking about women in film."

But the most lasting impact of all came when this fictional character dared to have a baby on her own, and the Republican Party took single motherhood on as its cause célèbre. Read about it below.

Diane English Goes From The Women to Fear of Flying

BuzzSugar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:32:55 PDT

The woman who spent 16 years bringing her adaptation of the 1939 female-led comedy The Women to modern audiences is diving right into her next project: an adaptation of Erica Jong's Fear of Flying. Originally published in 1973 when Jong was 30 years old, the novel was considered shocking and revolutionary. Here's the synopsis from the back cover:

Isadora Wing was afraid of flying. She was also afraid of her own beauty, brains, physical appetites, and intellectual curiosity. Then, while on a trip to Vienna with her brilliant, handsome psychiatrist husband, Isadora met the man who embodied her most erotic fantasies - and who offered her a chance to conquer all her fears. What happened to Isadora then was a wild, sexually extravagant bolt across Europe that had worldwide reverberations - in the most uninhibited, delicious, wonderfully witty, erotic novel a woman ever wrote.

According to an item in Variety, director Diane English plans to make her adaptation R-rated (I would assume so!), and "[i]f she has her druthers, she'll star the often-Oscar-nominated Kate Winslet in the role of the sex-driven Isadora Wing."

I could certainly see Kate Winslet in this role; she's stupendous at playing characters on life-changing journeys. Have you read Fear of Flying? Do you think it will translate well to the big screen?

Source and Source

The Women: Not Fizzy, Just Empty

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:34:00 PDT

Philosophically, the very existence of The Women is something that makes me cheer. As its title suggests, it's a movie full of only women - and many of them "women of a certain age," at that. Director and screenwriter Diane English spent years trying to steer her remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic to the screen, and I respect and admire her determination. A powerful remake of The Women could have sent yet another signal that moviegoers want to see women on screen in all their beautiful, imperfect, daffy, lovable, clueless, fantastic glory.

On screen, though, The Women disappoints to an almost depressing degree. It's not an outright disaster; there are good moments from nearly everyone in the gigantic cast. But it's not screwball enough to honor its '30s movie heritage, not clever enough to make for a fun night out at the theater. And its own message on women is utterly conflicted, threatening to undermine the potential positive impact of bringing an all-female movie to the big screen.

Meg Ryan stars as Mary Haines, whose life comes complete with adorable daughter, fabulous luncheons, and blooming garden she planted herself. If there are cracks in that shiny veneer, she'd hardly notice; as a friend, Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith), points out, she's too busy filling them in. So it knocks her flat when she finds out - thanks to her gossipy manicurist (Debi Mazar) - that her husband is having an affair with the Saks perfume "spritzer girl" (Eva Mendes). That betrayal would be bad enough, but before long, there's another one, courtesy of her best friend Sylvie (Annette Bening), who sells out Mary to save her own floundering career. The Women does fine with that broad sketch of a plot. It's in the details that the movie loses its footing, so

read more. Some of the movie's issues lie in the direction, which isn't confident enough to pull off some of the more screwball elements. English also doesn't seem to know how to use Bette Midler, who has a brief cameo that is delightful to watch but doesn't contribute much to the story, and Debra Messing and Smith are hardly in the movie. The whole look of the film is flat - understandable given its relatively small budget, but far from engaging for a viewer. What The Women gets right is Mary's devastation at Sylvie's betrayal; losing her husband wouldn't have been so bad if the whole mess hadn't taken her friend along with it. The few scenes with the friends together are a treat, especially when they're plotting their confrontation of (and revenge against) the spritzer girl. Mendes basically just has to act hot and stupid, and she does that well. And Candice Bergen is amusing as Mary's mother, who dispenses advice that seems to be from another era. Or is it? The Women seems confused about its own thoughts on women's roles. And while I can live with the ultimate outcome of Mary's journey to find herself (though I thought it was far too easy and predictable), what I can't condone is the movie's treatment of Mary's daughter Molly, who is basically a living representation of Why Women Hate Themselves. In her first scene, she tells Mary she's on a diet because she's fat; Mary laughs it off . Over the course of the movie, she starts smoking to keep from eating, burns tampons because she hates being a girl, and laments that she doesn't understand why magazine editors like Sylvie send such mixed signals to women. Sylvie's ultimate response when confronted with all of Molly's baggage? "I'm a hypocrite. Life is complicated." That's all? Sadly, that empty, cop-out response is far too apt a metaphor for The Women as a whole. Photos courtesy of Picturehouse

Movie Preview: The Women Starring. . . Lots of Women

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:30:48 PDT

I was interested in this remake of the 1939 film The Women when there was initial casting news about it (Debra Messing, Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Candace Bergen, etc. etc.), but after the incredible success of the Sex and the City movie, I'm even more excited about the opportunities for movies directed at a female audience. If nothing else the SATC movie might have indicated to filmmakers and studios that (hello!) it's possible to actually have a female-centric film do well at the box office. In other words: women can be valuable audience members, too, you know.

Anyway, from the new trailer it looks like there's The Woman (Meg Ryan) and all her girlfriends discover that there's The Other Woman (Eva Mendes) but the women don't know how to tell her about this other woman. True to the original, there don't appear to be any men in the movie. This new trailer isn't phenomenal, but it still looks like a reasonably funny movie about female friendship (and rivalry).

The Women opens September 12. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think,

Designer on the Rise: Misha Nonoo

Noria Morales — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 23:53:06 PST

After the Peter Som show, we went to the top floor of Milk Studios to check out a contemporary line called Nonoo. We were pleasantly surprised to find an easy, refined collection of chic lbd's, tailored trousers and jackets. The big names at New York Fashion Week - Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Rodarte - might get the attention, but it's the young up-and-coming designers who can really make a name for themselves this week. In our mind, that's what makes Fashion Week so special. So, fashion-lovers and and would-be designers, here's our interview with chic young designer Misha Nonoo, whose Fall collection marked her fifth season and first showing during Fashion Week. Keep an eye out for her clothes at Intermix!

FabSugar: Tell me what the inspiration was for this line.
Misha Nonoo: It was my English heritage and roots. I became quite fascinated by British aristocracy; their unique blend of eccentricitly, charm, humor. I read alot about Lady Caroline Blackwood, who was muse to Lucien Freud and poet Robert Law. I found it so inspiring how these women were so elegant, so strong, so witty, and they had their own sense of style. I wanted to create something where someone would feel sophisticated and strong when they wear my clothes.

FS: Who is the kind of girl who you want to see wear your clothes?
MN: I would love to see somebody like a Diane Kruger. She has a great sensibility, she’s very true to herself. I think she would take anything and make it her own. And that's what my collection is all about.

FS: How are you going to celebrate after the show is over?
MN:I’m going away for the weekend tomorrow, to a house in Hudson (upstate New York).

FS: Do you have a go-to item in your closet?
MN: Normally it's always a jacket, but now it’s a pair of pants. They're leg-lengthening, you pair them with a nice blouse and a jacket and that's it. You're done.