CBS originally wanted Heather Locklear to play Murphy Brown
![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.datalounge.com/images/dl-default-og.png)
Diane English pushed for Candice Bergen even though Candice was 41 and Heather was in her late 20’s at the time and a big TV star.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | February 2, 2021 6:53 AM |
Joyce Boulifant was 2nd runner up.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | February 1, 2021 1:14 PM |
OP has been in a coma for 40 years.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | February 1, 2021 1:18 PM |
Good choice. Heather couldn’t play educated.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | February 1, 2021 1:23 PM |
Heather attempted to play a lawyer on an episode of "Two and a Half Men."
She sucked, and that's being very kind and generous.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | February 1, 2021 1:25 PM |
She was good as a cunt on Melrose Place.
But as Murphy Brown? No.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | February 1, 2021 1:33 PM |
What about Tanya Roberts?
by Anonymous | reply 6 | February 1, 2021 1:35 PM |
I read somewhere Heather Locklear turned down MB to play Lady MacBeth at the Old Vic.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | February 1, 2021 1:52 PM |
Someone in their 20’s was a little young to play a seasoned reporter like Murphy Brown was supposed to be.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | February 1, 2021 1:54 PM |
That's why I've turned down the reboot.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 1, 2021 1:55 PM |
The show would have been even worse.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | February 1, 2021 1:57 PM |
Lucy was offered the role but Gary talked her out of it.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | February 1, 2021 1:59 PM |
Who would they have cast instead of Faith Ford then? They probably would have gone more charactery.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | February 1, 2021 1:59 PM |
I've been watching the camptastic TJ Hooker, and Heather's useless character. Stacy was taken hostage in almost every episode.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | February 1, 2021 2:00 PM |
I was offered the role but my other commitments kept me from accepting.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | February 1, 2021 2:00 PM |
If Heather had been cast as Murphy Brown, Corky probably would've been an older character, whose star is fading (a Barbara Walters type).
by Anonymous | reply 15 | February 1, 2021 2:02 PM |
If Heather accepted the role, "Life Goes On" Corky was on tap to play Corky.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | February 1, 2021 2:06 PM |
WTF? That would have completely negated the whole premise..
I never understood Heather Locklear's career, anyway. She was cute but a terrible actress, yet for years she was starring on two primetime shows at the same time. There are a lot of prettier bad actresses (and better actresses who are at least as attractive) in Hollywood, so what was with the insistence on making her a huge star?
by Anonymous | reply 17 | February 1, 2021 2:38 PM |
R17 she’s beautiful, had a very high q score and was one of the nicest and most professional people in the business.
Not the most beautiful woman but the camera loves her.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | February 1, 2021 3:09 PM |
[quote]She was cute but a terrible actress
I would say the same thing about Candice Bergen.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | February 1, 2021 3:16 PM |
I was up for the part but sadly I was tied up in a contract with “Charlie’s Angels.” - Kate Jackson
by Anonymous | reply 20 | February 1, 2021 3:18 PM |
I was the real first choice, but I turned it down. I was being told I was a shoo-in for a role in Seinfeld that went to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. That BITCH!
by Anonymous | reply 21 | February 1, 2021 3:22 PM |
I was approached about the role but my beliefs kept me from taking it.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | February 1, 2021 3:24 PM |
Susan Dey was asked, but she never got back to anyone.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | February 1, 2021 3:26 PM |
Shelley Hack as Corky Sherwood Forest.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | February 1, 2021 3:26 PM |
So was Julianne Moore, seriously.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | February 1, 2021 3:27 PM |
The role of Murphy Brown was developed for JoBeth Williams.
Had Williams done it, the part would have been better acted, but would not have had the frisson of a star playing against type.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | February 1, 2021 3:29 PM |
I had the script but Candice stole it from me!
by Anonymous | reply 27 | February 1, 2021 3:30 PM |
It’s the screens that got small!
by Anonymous | reply 28 | February 1, 2021 3:32 PM |
R26 What are you doing? Posting the truth? Yes JoBeth Williams was who the part was created for (I know because I was friend with her manager at the time). But you're not supposed to post the truth on DL! You're only supposed to post whatever's going on in your misinformed head!
by Anonymous | reply 29 | February 1, 2021 3:33 PM |
Locklear wasn't terrible on Melrose Place. She was a shot in the arm to that series.
I've seen clips of her early days on "Dynasty" and I was surprised to hear that she had a terrible voice at the outset of her career. It's rare for a screen actor in the modern age to fix their voice after they become famous.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | February 1, 2021 4:22 PM |
The role was offered to me, but I turned it down. You're welcome Candice.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 32 | February 1, 2021 4:46 PM |
Heather was good on Spin City.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | February 1, 2021 5:46 PM |
Murphy was going to be a single mom and we were up for the part, but decided to go to Full House instead.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | February 1, 2021 5:51 PM |
Candice was only 41 when it premiered???? Wow, people really did look so old back then.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | February 1, 2021 5:52 PM |
If a Murphy Brown type show were on now Heather would be perfect as a Fox News blonde take off.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | February 1, 2021 5:55 PM |
I liked the show, but the way the critics carried on about it, you would have thought it was Meryl in Sophie's Choice. Every year they were giving her the Emmy it seemed. And then when Al Gore criticized her by saying that single parents shouldn't have children, the hype got really ridiculous.
I still can't fathom how she won so many awards. She was good, but there nothing revelatory about her character until the last year or two when her character got diagnosed with cancer. That was some of her finest acting, but by then they moved on to giving it to that shrew from Mad About You.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | February 1, 2021 6:05 PM |
Someone should ask Heather this on IG. I don't believe she would've been the first choice at age 27. Besides which, she was most likely still under contract to Aaron Spelling for 'Dynasty', in which she appeared until '89 (a year after 'Murphy Brown' premiered). Aaron would've cut a bitch for breaking their contract to go to a CBS show.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | February 1, 2021 6:06 PM |
R38 It was DAN QUAYLE, you FAT WHORE.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | February 1, 2021 6:20 PM |
I was one of the three people who liked and watched the reboot. It took them until about halfway through the season to find their footing, though, and CBS had already made up their mind by then.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | February 1, 2021 6:21 PM |
Candice Bergan was obviously the better choice for playing an experienced journalist.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | February 1, 2021 6:26 PM |
R41: I liked the reboot too. The only show that made sense to reboot because of the current events at the time.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | February 1, 2021 6:28 PM |
[quote] Candice Bergan was obviously the better choice for playing an experienced journalist.
I couldn't see anyone else in the part now. It just seemed like such a good match.
And Bergen doesn't have a huge acting range, but she does annoyed comedy and that Eve Arden sort of dry wit fantastically, and she's been game to fall on her face or ass in a lot of things since. Though she does have a sort of generic Bitchy Rich Bitch character now - she played it on the Connors a few weeks ago.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | February 1, 2021 6:34 PM |
Candice Bergen is a lousy actress.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | February 1, 2021 6:34 PM |
r43 I saw 1 episode and it was so bad compared to the original.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | February 1, 2021 6:35 PM |
The first few were really shaky, for sure. That was the problem, by the time ep 4 or 5 rolled around the critics had given up.
The Steve Bannon ep was a mistake, just made it all look very one note and wasn't funny.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | February 1, 2021 6:39 PM |
I see what you did there, Republican shill, R38. It was DAN FUCKING QUAYLE.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | February 1, 2021 6:56 PM |
R39, Locklear was not given first-choice. She was never even offered the role. CBS wanted Locklear, but Diane English held fast for Bergen.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | February 1, 2021 7:07 PM |
And this is old news. One of the funniest moments in a documentary about the show from ten or twenty years ago, was when Bergen brings up Locklear as the networks choice.
Bergen's deadpan as she recounts how CBS perferred Locklear to her shows a mastery of underplayed humor that she rarely displayed on the program.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | February 1, 2021 7:09 PM |
I loved Murphy back in the day- it was my favorite show of all time.
I really wanted to like the reboot- but something was missing. All the sparkle and intelligence that defined Murphy was gone, and while there were some sparkles of it, it really seemed like Candice just didn’t want to be there and was phoning it in. I honestly stopped watching it one or two episodes before it was over.
With everything going on, it didn’t shock me that there was a reboot. I guess I will just focus on my memories of Murphy Brown.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | February 1, 2021 7:19 PM |
The first choice for Murphy Brown was Daphne Zuniga, not Heather Locklear.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | February 1, 2021 7:19 PM |
Heather would have been great in that role.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | February 1, 2021 7:21 PM |
I met Heather Locklear when she was playing Sammy Jo on Dynasty. I was in college and thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen in my life. Also, she couldn’t have been nicer.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | February 1, 2021 10:51 PM |
Heather Locklear was gorgeous in her prime. I personally think she was too young to play that role as written. I was introduced to her in the nineties by my hairdresser and I have to say she is the most down to earth sweetest celeb I have ever met.....
by Anonymous | reply 56 | February 1, 2021 11:12 PM |
Well Candice Bergen was proposed to be the first lady correspondent on 60 Minutes, but that did happen, so I guess it all just happens as it should.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | February 1, 2021 11:15 PM |
Never watched it. I never watched "Melrose Place" either.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | February 1, 2021 11:59 PM |
JoBeth Williams would have been horrible. No comic timing. Just an irritating presence. Bergen was never a great actress (and the first to admit it) but she really clicked with doing the character.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | February 2, 2021 12:09 AM |
Candice was beautiful in her youth. Was she a big partier back then, like so many were?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 60 | February 2, 2021 2:42 AM |
I think Heather Locklear was a better actress than Candice Bergen, but that’s just me. At least she knows how to naturally deliver a line.
Obviously she wasn’t the right type for the part, and was way too young - so I don’t even know if this is true.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | February 2, 2021 6:14 AM |
Too, I said know to the roll of Murphy Ornage- twice. Know one wood believe me as a sexy stareved journelisp who had to fit too be tooken seriouslilly. I illam a trannied actress butt not a magic purson
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 62 | February 2, 2021 6:53 AM |
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5Fwb29sY2WBbq%2FBrGSoqpmctq%2Bty6WwZq%2BRo8GmsIyhnJqsmJq%2FbrjOnKKlnZGnerW7jKmjmrFdosKzvMeyZJuqn6y7