Murphy's quest to make Avery's first Xmas a special one is interrupted by two surprise house guests: her father and her Aunt Brooke.
Of the four holidays offerings of MURPHY BROWN, this is the best and the funniest. Marian Seldes steals the show as Murphy's much-married, flamboyant, uppity Aunt Brooke. She loves name-dropping everyone from Pavarotti to Barry Manilow (whom she saw in a leopard skin thong on the beach in St. Tropez back in 1979) and refers to Eldin - from whom she wants to commission a nude sketch - as "Elvis".
Murphy has gone more than a little overboard on the Xmas décor, which makes Frank ask, "Which way to the slot machines?". Corky spends the whole episode stress-eating in the wake of her separation from Will. Things come to a head at Xmas Eve dinner when Aunt Brooke stabs Murphy's Dad with a fork and he pushes her face into the fancy dessert. When the two reconcile the next morning and seem to start developing a weird attraction to each other, Murphy's not sure if she prefers them when they're fighting.
It's too bad that Colleen Dewhurst had passed away by this point, as we never got an Xmas episode with her in it, but Seldes really makes this one as good as it is.
Worth seeing at least once. 7/10.
Of the four holidays offerings of MURPHY BROWN, this is the best and the funniest. Marian Seldes steals the show as Murphy's much-married, flamboyant, uppity Aunt Brooke. She loves name-dropping everyone from Pavarotti to Barry Manilow (whom she saw in a leopard skin thong on the beach in St. Tropez back in 1979) and refers to Eldin - from whom she wants to commission a nude sketch - as "Elvis".
Murphy has gone more than a little overboard on the Xmas décor, which makes Frank ask, "Which way to the slot machines?". Corky spends the whole episode stress-eating in the wake of her separation from Will. Things come to a head at Xmas Eve dinner when Aunt Brooke stabs Murphy's Dad with a fork and he pushes her face into the fancy dessert. When the two reconcile the next morning and seem to start developing a weird attraction to each other, Murphy's not sure if she prefers them when they're fighting.
It's too bad that Colleen Dewhurst had passed away by this point, as we never got an Xmas episode with her in it, but Seldes really makes this one as good as it is.
Worth seeing at least once. 7/10.