Murphy Brown 

The personal and professional misadventures of a woman working as a TV journalist.

Creator:

Diane English

Stars:

Candice Bergen, Grant Shaud, Robert Pastorelli

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 46 wins & 119 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Candice Bergen	...	Murphy Brown 249 episodes, 1988-2018
Faith Ford	...	Corky Sherwood / ... 249 episodes, 1988-2018
Joe Regalbuto	...	Frank Fontana 249 episodes, 1988-2018
Charles Kimbrough	...	Jim Dial 247 episodes, 1988-1998
Grant Shaud	...	Miles Silverberg 203 episodes, 1988-2018
Pat Corley	...	Phil 181 episodes, 1988-1998
Robert Pastorelli	...	Eldin Bernecky 158 episodes, 1988-1998

Storyline

Murphy Brown is a very selfish, stubborn, extremely hot-tempered but also talented, resourceful, clever and caring middle-aged reporter who works for FYI News Network and at the same time tries to raise her child as an unmarried, working woman. Her friends and co-workers, Corky, Jim, Frank and Miles, try to balance between her outbursts of anger and her family, personality or even financial crises. It's a difficult life for Murphy but she's got the guts to live it...

---

Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | working women | workplace | television reporter | news anchor | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Murphy Brown

Filming Locations:

Stage 4, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shukovsky English Entertainment,Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (247 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Diane English: the series creator appeared on the last episode as a doctor.

---

Quotes

Jim: Perhaps you need to be clearer.
Murphy: Clearer? Jim, the other day I rolled up my car window while she was still talking to me! I drove away and she actually ran alongside the car until she was able to pull her hair free at the onramp! I'm telling you, the woman cannot take a hint!

---

Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Quarterfinal 8 (2010)

User Reviews

Fantastic series deserving of preservation

Who would have thought that a show featuring a recovering alcoholic as the main character could have any redeeming entertainment value or provide much to laugh about. And yet, Murphy Brown did just that. As the fallen-from-grace news celebrity, she became an icon of not only how she turned her life around, but also a symbol of newswomen dedicated to excellence. The show took on subjects not normally tackled in sitcoms of that time period. Murphy was tough, because in the time frame of her rise to the top, a woman had to be tough to succeed. As this show demonstrated, this sometimes came at great personal cost.

I cannot believe that this show, which won award after award and challenged sitcoms to be more than "just funny" has not had the entire series released. In recent times, TV Land recognized it as one of the most innovative shows of its time and rightly so! The plots took into consideration real current events and brought attention to real life issues, all the while entertaining us and making us laugh and sometimes cry.

Murphy Brown was criticized by none other than, then Vice President, Dan Quayle for deciding to become a single mother, thus catapulting a fictional character into a realistic arena. And yet the character did not make the decision to become a single mother lightly. Once made, however, she stuck by that decision with all the second-guessing that goes into such a dilemma.

The show didn't take that course because it was popular with the "family values" proponents of the time, but because it was simply a reality of our society and one the show's creators and writers apparently felt was important to address. One of my favorite scenes was when Murphy had doubts about whether she was doing the right thing. She asked Eldin if he thought she would make a good mother. I believe he reassured her, but I also recall him saying, after she was out of earshot, something to the effect of "I'm not sure if you'll be a good mother, but I know I will be!" I would love to watch that episode again.

The list of guest stars alone would be a worthy reason to produce them on DVD, but truly, the entire cast deserves to be immortalized for future generations to view. As the characters grew and developed, I welcomed them into my home every week and was happy to lose myself in Murphy's world for every second. There are so many moments that come to mind, Jim Dial's very proper demeanor dissolving into laughter, Miles Silverberg's frustration in trying to control Murphy's mood swings and prevent disaster on the show to finally earning her respect, Corky Sherwood's growth from beauty queen fluff pieces to emulating her idol, Murphy Brown, to take on more newsworthy items. The friendships between Murphy and Frank and her ever-present house painter, Eldin. I could go on, but there is limited space here, after all.

A series of this caliber cannot be duplicated, but needs to be re-introduced and promoted. I've owned the first season DVD for years and would be most happy to find the entire series available. I will continue to hope for the release the series!