Questions answered

For starters, why are ‘Last Man Standing,’ ‘Murphy Brown’ back?

You’ve got your remote control in hand and a bewildered look on your face. You could have sworn that “Murphy Brown” went off the air more than 20 years ago.

So why then is CBS running ads featuring Candice Bergen and the old “FYI” gang?

Also, weren’t Tim Allen and many of his fellow Donald Trump supporters throwing a fit just last year because Allen’s sitcom was canceled by ABC?

Why then is “Last Man Standing” actually still standing?

Yes, the fall television season can be a major source of mind-boggling confusion. There seems to be a million shows on a gazillion channels, even more if you count the streaming sites. Reboots are all over the place. Shows that you thought were dead are suddenly springing back to life.

With that in mind, we’ll attempt to answer some of your burning questions going into the fall TV season: — Be serious. Is “Murphy Brown” really back on the air?

Yes, the iconic sitcom returns for a new run this week — it debuted at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 27 on CBS with most of the original cast intact. That includes Bergen as the title character, Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood, Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana, and Grant Shaud as Miles Silverberg. Another familiar face — Tyne Daly — is also part of the cast.

The premise? Amid “a divided nation, chaotic national discourse and rampant attacks on the press,” Murphy has decided to return to the airwaves with a roundtable cable news show. — What’s up with Tim Allen’s show?

It appeared that “Last Man Standing” was gone for good when ABC axed the sitcom in May 2017, igniting a furor in the process. Many of the show’s fans thought Allen was being punished for his conservative, pro-Trump views. (The character he played was also a conservative “man’s man” who occasionally knocked President Obama).

But when ABC’s reboot of “Roseanne” did so phenomenally well, it made programmers wonder if they’ve been ignoring conservative, bluecollar viewers for too long. And that prompted Fox to revive “Last Man Standing.”

The show returns in its old time slot — 8 p.m. Friday Sept. 28. — Speaking of “Roseanne,” what’s going on there?

After Roseanne Barr sent out a racist tweet in late May, ABC canceled the highly rated reboot. But the network didn’t want to totally let go of a valuable asset, so it decided to do a spin-off called “The Conners” with all the “Roseanne” regulars except Barr.

We don’t know much about the new show and have yet to see any footage, but Barr recently leaked that her character will die of an opioid overdose. “The Conners” debuts at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16. — Why does NBC have such a crush on the Windy City? Are they Cubs fans?

We don’t know who the Peacock bunch roots for, but they do like their Dick Wolf Chicago-set dramas. And this season you can find them all grouped together on Wednesday nights. “Chicago Med” kicks things off at 8 p.m., followed by “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” — all having premiered on Sept. 26.

But get this: The shows will converge in a three-way crossover on Oct. 3 and on that night, “Chicago Fire” will lead things off. (More fall TV confusion!).

With the “Chicago” shows clogging up Wednesdays, “Law & Order: SVU” will move to Thursdays at 10 p.m. for the first time in its 19-season history. —— Are they really doing a “Magnum P.I.” without Tom Selleck?

Believe it or not, they are. Jay Hernandez (sans mustache) plays the Ferraridriving, Detroit Tigers-loving Thomas Magnum on the new CBS series, which debuted at 9 p.m. Sept. 24.

It’s all part of the reboot plague that has spread across prime time. (The CW is also doing a new-look “Charmed” that already has been slammed by fans and critics). But CBS is the biggest offender with five — count ‘em, five! — reboots on its schedule. In addition to “Magnum” and “Murphy Brown,” there’s “Hawaii Five-0, “MacGyver” and “S.W.A.T.” — Why can’t I find “Brooklyn Nine Nine” on the Fox schedule?

Because back in May, Fox dumped Andy Samberg’s comedy cop show after five seasons. But hold the eulogies. Just one day later, NBC rescued the show from the television graveyard and gave it a 13-episode order.

Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until midseason to see those new episodes.

CBS Joe Regalbuto, left, as Frank Fontana, Grant Shaud, as Miles Silverberg, Candice Bergen, as Murphy Brown, and Faith Ford, as Corky Sherwood, share a scene in a new episode of “Murphy Brown” on CBS.

FOX Tim Allen and Amanda Fuller star in “Last Man Standing,” which has moved from ABC to Fox.