Dandridge had joined the cast in a recurring capacity and that Bette Midler, Brooke Shields, John Larroquette, Katie Couric, and Peter Gallagher would appear in guest starring roles. Before the premiere of the season, it was reported that the first episode would feature a guest appearance from a prominent individual. The identity of the guest was being kept secret until the episode aired with the network going so far as to not include the scene in which they appeared in screeners for the press. Upon the episode's release, it was revealed that the guest star was in fact former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Release Marketing On April 6, 2018, the first photograph of the cast of the new season was released. On May 16, 2018, the first trailer for the series was released. On August 5, 2018, a promo for the season was released featuring the cast going through the table read of the season premiere. On August 23, 2018, another promo for the series was released featuring Brown and Fontana mocking Donald Trump. Distribution In Canada, the season premiered on September 27, 2018, on CityTV. In Australia, it premiered on November 26, 2018, on Network Ten. Reception Critical response The season was met with a mixed response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 42% with an average rating of 5.88 out of 10, based on 45 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "This just in: while the nostalgia and wit are welcome, Murphy Browns dated messaging tactics feel heavy-handed and smug, leaving this formerly formidably timely series feeling like a reboot reaching for the headlines." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 53 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In a negative review, Varietys Daniel D'Addario was critical of the revival saying, "Murphy Brown 1.0 was a sitcom about what it took to make a good news show — the compromises that go along with that, not all of them journalistic. The supporting characters, once quirky and helpful pals to Murphy, now seem drained: They only pipe up when they have something to say about Trump." In another unfavorable evaluation, Rolling Stones Alan Sepinwall was similarly dismissive of the season giving it two out of five stars and saying, "The