The new Murphy Brown looks as creaky as an abandoned riverboat in a Scooby-Doo episode

I don’t base my entertainment choices on politics. I don’t boycott musicians or actors over their political beliefs, I don’t confine myself to art I agree with, and some of my very favorite pieces of film and music were created by people with who I disagree vehemently. If I did base my pop-culture consumption on politics, I think I’d go insane. That’s simply no way to live. For example, I think Tim Robbins’ absolutely scathing anti-GOP satire “Bob Roberts” is utterly brilliant.

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I say this only to make you understand that I don’t think the following clip of the new Murphy Brown reboot is terrible because it’s anti-Trump, or anti-Republican, or pro-Democrat. If it was funny, I honestly wouldn’t care about its political leanings. It is, however, painfully “not funny.” It’s a creaky, groaning, mess that appears to have been made by people who think “political relevance” is more important than the comedy they’re supposed to be making. Everything feels forced and jokes land with the thud of a ten pound slab of beef being dropped four feet onto a concrete block. They’re stuck in the past, and they seem pissed that you’re not stuck there with them. So, without further ado, here’s the first look at the “new” Murphy Brown that literally no one outside the cast was asking for….

If you’re like me, you could barely get through that. The rictus grin on your face is less about laughs and more about horror. Seriously, I could be wrong, but it looks like CBS is about to drop the biggest bomb since the end of WWII.