Murphy Brown: Trick or Retreat


01:00 am - 01:30 am, Tuesday, May 19 on WTNH Rewind TV (8.2)

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About this Broadcast
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Trick or Retreat

Season 8, Episode 18

Miles suggests a staff retreat when even Elizabeth Taylor's presence on the set can't get disenchanted staffers into the team spirit.

repeat 1996 English Stereo
Comedy Sitcom

Cast & Crew
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Candice Bergen (Actor) .. Murphy Brown
Elizabeth Taylor (Actor) .. Herself
Faith Ford (Actor) .. Corky Sherwood
Joe Regalbuto (Actor) .. Frank Fontana
Charles Kimbrough (Actor) .. Jim Dial
Patricia Andrest Davis (Actor) .. Fran
Christopher Rich (Actor) .. Miller Redfield
Grant Shaud (Actor) .. Miles Silverberg
John Scurti (Actor) .. Manager

More Information
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Did You Know..
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Candice Bergen (Actor) .. Murphy Brown
Born: May 09, 1946
Birthplace: Beverly Hills, California, United States
Trivia: American actress Candice Bergen was a celebrity even before she was born. As the first child of popular radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his young wife Frances, Candice was a hot news item months before her birth, and headline material upon that blessed event (her coming into the world even prompted magazine cartoons which suggested that Edgar would try to confound the nurses by "giving" his new daughter a voice). Candice made her first public appearance as an infant, featured with her parents in a magazine advertisement. Before she was ten, Candice was appearing sporadically on dad's radio program, demonstrating a precocious ability to throw her own voice (a skill she hasn't been called upon to repeat in recent years); at 11 she and Groucho Marx's daughter Melinda were guest contestants on Groucho's TV quiz show You Bet Your Life. Candice loved her parents and luxuriated in her posh lifestyle, though she was set apart from other children in that her "brothers" were the wooden dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd - and Charlie had a bigger bedroom than she did! Like most 1960s teens, however, she rebelled against the conservatism of her parents and adopted a well-publicized, freewheeling lifestyle - and a movie career. In her first film, The Group (1965), Candice played a wealthy young lesbian - a character light years away from the sensibilities of her old-guard father. She next appeared with Steve McQueen in the big budget The Sand Pebbles (1966), simultaneously running smack dab into the unkind cuts of critics, who made the expected (given her parentage) comments concerning her "wooden" performance. Truth to tell, Candice did look far better than she acted, and this status quo remained throughout most of her film appearances of the late 1960s; even Candice admitted she wasn't much of an actress, though she allowed (in another moment that must have given papa Edgar pause) that she was terrific when required in a film to simulate an orgasm. Several films later, Candice decided to take her career more seriously than did her critics, and began emerging into a talented and reliable actress in such films as Carnal Knowledge (1971) and The Wind and the Lion (1975). Most observers agree that Candice's true turnaround was her touching but hilarious performance as a divorced woman pursuing a singing career - with little in the way of talent - in the Burt Reynolds comedy Starting Over (1979). Candice's roller-coaster offscreen life settled into relative normality when she married French film director Louis Malle; meanwhile, her acting career gained momentum as she sought out and received ever-improving movie and TV roles. In 1988, Candice began a run in the title role of the television sitcom Murphy Brown, in which she was brilliant as a mercurial, high-strung TV newsmagazine reporter, a role that won Ms. Bergen several Emmy Awards. While Murphy Brown capped Candice Bergen's full acceptance by audiences and critics as an actress of stature, it also restored her to "headline" status in 1992 - when, in direct response to the fictional Murphy Brown's decision to become a single mother, Vice President Dan Quayle delivered his notorious "family values" speech.Murphy Brown finished its successful run in 1997, and Bergen would make a handful of big-screen appearances in the ensuing years including Miss Congeniality, Sweet Home Alabama, and The In-Laws. In 2004 she became part of the cast of Boston Legal, another hit show that ran for five often award-winning seasons. When that show came to a close, she appeared in films such as The Women, Sex and the City, and Bride Wars - where she portrayed the country's leading wedding planner.
Elizabeth Taylor (Actor) .. Herself
Born: February 27, 1932
Died: March 23, 2011
Birthplace: Hampstead, London, England
Trivia: Elizabeth Taylor was the ultimate movie star: violet-eyed, luminously beautiful, and bigger than life; although never the most gifted actress, she was the most magnetic, commanding the spotlight with unparalleled power. Whether good (two Oscars, one of the first million-dollar paychecks, and charity work), bad (health and weight problems, drug battles, and other tragedies), or ugly (eight failed marriages, movie disasters, and countless scandals), no triumph or setback was too personal for media consumption. Born February 27, 1932, in London, Taylor literally grew up in public. At the beginning of World War II, her family relocated to Hollywood, and by the age of ten she was already under contract at Universal. She made her screen debut in 1942's There's One Born Every Minute, followed a year later by a prominent role in Lassie Come Home. For MGM, she co-starred in the 1944 adaptation of Jane Eyre, then appeared in The White Cliffs of Dover. With her first lead role as a teen equestrian in the 1944 family classic National Velvet, Taylor became a star. To their credit, MGM did not exploit her, despite her incredible beauty; she did not even reappear onscreen for two more years, returning with Courage of Lassie. Taylor next starred as Cynthia in 1947, followed by Life With Father. In Julia Misbehaves, she enjoyed her first grown-up role, and then portrayed Amy in the 1947 adaptation of Little Women. Taylor's first romantic lead came opposite Robert Taylor in 1949's Conspirator. Her love life was already blossoming offscreen as well; that same year she began dating millionaire Howard Hughes, but broke off the relationship to marry hotel heir Nicky Hilton when she was just 17 years old. The marriage made international headlines, and in 1950 Taylor scored a major hit as Spencer Tracy's daughter in Vincente Minnelli's Father of the Bride; a sequel, Father's Little Dividend, premiered a year later. Renowned as one of the world's most beautiful women, Taylor was nevertheless largely dismissed as an actress prior to an excellent performance in the George Stevens drama A Place in the Sun.In 1956, however, the actress reunited with Stevens to star in his epic adaptation of the Edna Ferber novel Giant. It was a blockbuster, as was her 1957 follow-up Raintree County, for which she earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Taylor's sexy image was further elevated by an impossibly sensual performance in 1958's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; another Tennessee Williams adaptation, Suddenly Last Summer, followed a year later, and both were highly successful. To complete the terms of her MGM contract, she grudgingly agreed to star in 1960's Butterfield 8; upon completing the film Taylor traveled to Britain to begin work on the much-heralded Cleopatra, for which she received an unprecedented one-million-dollar fee. In London she became dangerously ill, and underwent a life-saving emergency tracheotomy. Hollywood sympathy proved sufficient for her to win a Best Actress Oscar for Butterfield 8, although much of the good will extended toward her again dissipated in the wake of the mounting difficulties facing Cleopatra. With five million dollars already spent, producers pulled the plug and relocated the shoot to Italy, replacing co-star Stephen Boyd with Richard Burton. The final tally placed the film at a cost of 37 million dollars, making it the most costly project in film history; scheduled for a 16-week shoot, the production actually took years, and despite mountains of pre-publicity, it was a huge disaster at the box office upon its 1963 premiere. Still, the notice paid to Cleopatra paled in comparison to the scrutiny which greeted Taylor's latest romance, with Burton, and perhaps no Hollywood relationship was ever the subject of such intense media coverage. Theirs was a passionate, stormy relationship, played out in the press and onscreen in films including 1963's The V.I.P.'s and 1965's The Sandpiper. In 1966, the couple starred in Mike Nichols' controversial directorial debut Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, arguably Taylor's best performance; overweight, verbally cutting, and defiantly unglamorous, she won a second Oscar for her work as the embittered wife of Burton's alcoholic professor. Their real-life marriage managed to survive, however, and after Taylor appeared opposite Marlon Brando in 1967's Reflections in a Golden Eye, she and Burton reunited for The Comedians. She also starred in Franco Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew, but none were successful at the box office; 1968's Doctor Faustus was a disaster, and later that year Boom! failed to gross even one-quarter of its costs. After 1969's Secret Ceremony, Taylor starred in The Only Game in Town, a year later; when they too failed, her days of million-dollar salaries were over, and she began working on percentage.With Burton, Taylor next appeared in a small role in 1971's Under Milk Wood; next was X, Y and Zee, followed by another spousal collaboration, Hammersmith Is Out. In 1972 the Burtons also co-starred in a television feature, Divorce His, Divorce Hers; the title proved prescient, as two years later, the couple did indeed divorce after a decade together. With no film offers forthcoming, Taylor turned to the stage, and in 1981 she starred in a production of The Little Foxes. In 1983, she and Burton also reunited to co-star on Broadway in Private Lives. Television also remained an option, and in 1983 she and Carol Burnett co-starred in Between Friends. However, Taylor's primary focus during the decades to follow was charity work; following the death of her close friend, Rock Hudson, she became a leader in the battle against AIDS, and for her efforts won the 1993 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In 1997, the actress once again became a featured tabloid topic when she underwent brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. The same year, she received attention of a more favorable variety with Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life, a TV special in which she was paid tribute by a number of stars including Madonna, Shirley MacLaine, John Travolta, Dennis Hopper, and Cher. Taylor would continue to make her voice heard when it came to issues that she felt strongly about. In 2003, Taylor refused to attend the Academy Awards out of protest against the Iraq War. Taylor also worked tirelessly in the name of AIDS research, advocacy, and awareness, even appearing in a 2007 staging of the A.R. Gurney play Love Letters opposite James Earl Jones to benefit Taylor's own AIDS foundation -- a performance that earned over a million dollars for the cause. Sadly, Taylor was increasingly plagued by health problems, undergoing cardiac surgery in 2009 to replace a leaky heart valve. On March 23, 2011, she passed away from congestive heart failure. She was 79.
Faith Ford (Actor) .. Corky Sherwood
Born: September 14, 1964
Birthplace: Alexandria, Louisiana, United States
Trivia: Sweet, Southern Faith Ford is perhaps best known as perky anchorwoman Corky from the long-running sitcom Murphy Brown. After growing up in Virginia, where she honed her passion for acting in school plays, Ford headed off to New York at the age of 17 to pursue a career in show business. She began landing appearances on shows like Webster and the soap opera Another World before changing coasts and trying her luck in Hollywood. She landed a recurring role on the drama thirtysomething, and shortly following, she landed the now-iconic role of Corky on Murphy Brown. Ford stayed with the show through all of its nine seasons, using her downtime to try out other projects like the family movie North. When Murphy Brown ended its run, Ford executive produced and starred in the series Maggie Winters, which got excellent reviews but sadly lasted for only one season. Ford had no shortage of projects, however; she was cast in the hit show Norm in 1999, and in 2003, she took a starring role in the ABC series Hope & Faith, playing a typical, Midwestern mom whose world is turned upside down when her movie-star sister shows up at her door. The popular series lasted until 2006, when Ford started looking for a new project. She found what she was looking for with 2007's comedy series Carpoolers, a show about the hilarious and strange goings-on between a group of men who drive to work together.
Joe Regalbuto (Actor) .. Frank Fontana
Born: August 24, 1949
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Trivia: Joe Regalbuto has been seen in films since 1982, when he played an investigative reporter in Costa-Gavras' Missing. Before his big-screen debut, Regalbuto played shifty Wall Street lawyer Elliot Streeter in the 1979 TV series The Associates. His other TV roles included Toomey, the CPA assistant to bumbling detective Tim Conway in Ace Crawford, Private Eye (1982), and Harry Fisher in Knots Landing (1985-86 series). Regalbuto also labored in what one journalist described as "relative obscurity" on the TV-movie circuit, playing such roles as William C. Sullivan in 1987's J. Edgar Hoover. In his most famous characterization, Joe Regalbuto travelled full circle from his Missing days, playing investigative reporter Frank Fontana on the TV sitcom Murphy Brown (1988- ).
Charles Kimbrough (Actor) .. Jim Dial
Born: May 23, 1936
Trivia: Tall, bookish-looking American actor Charles Kimbrough attended Indiana University and Yale before his first off-Broadway appearances in All for Love and Struts and Frets. Beginning in 1966, Kimbrough and then-wife Mary Jane were principal players of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, a troupe which included such celebrities-to-be as Michael Tucker and Judith Light. Kimbrough briefly abandoned Milwaukee for Broadway in 1969, garnering excellent revues for his appearance in the 1970 Stephen Sondheim musical Company. He returned to the Milwaukee Rep in the early '70s; so popular were Charles and his wife that, when they left Milwaukee for good in 1972, an original musical was specially commissioned for the Kimbrough's final rep appearance. Remaining active in plays, commercials, and films (The Front [1976], The Seduction of Joe Tynan [1977]), Kimbrough established himself as a reliable if not overly famous presence. Charles Kimbrough finally became a fullfledged celebrity in 1988 with his weekly appearances as newsmagazine anchorman Jim Dial on the Candice Bergen sitcom Murphy Brown.
Patricia Andrest Davis (Actor) .. Fran
Christopher Rich (Actor) .. Miller Redfield
Born: September 16, 1953
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas, United States
Trivia: Was initially a journalism major at the University of Texas before switching to theater. Started his acting career in New York, performing in Broadway and off-Broadway plays. Used his salary from Another World to finance plays he was producing in New York.
Grant Shaud (Actor) .. Miles Silverberg
Born: February 27, 1961
Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
John Scurti (Actor) .. Manager
Birthplace: Northport, New York, United States
Trivia: Attended high school with Edie Falco, and appeared opposite her in their production of My Fair Lady, she as Eliza, and he as her father, Alfred P. Doolittle. First met Rescue Me costar Denis Leary on the set of 1993's Who's the Man? Also worked with him on 1994's The Ref, striking up a longtime friendship. Collaborated with late filmmaker Ted Demme on the films Who's the Man? (1993), The Ref (1994) and Beautiful Girls (1996). Has written episode scripts for Rescue Me.

Before / After
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Murphy Brown
01:30 am