judybenton
Murphy Brown is one of my all time favorite situation comedies. Candice Bergen is a comedic genius, and I wish I could see more of her. The rest of the cast did a great job, too.The series tackled real problems with insight and humor such as an unmarried mature woman becoming pregnant, alcoholism, and cancer, to name a few.The summer of 2000, I was battling breast cancer, chemo, nausea, and hair loss when reruns of Murphy's breast cancer experience were shown. It was so true to life but yet so funny. It helped me tremendously! Laughter is indeed the best medicine. These episodes should be shown during chemo treatments.I implore whoever is in charge of such things to please market DVDs of the entire Murphy Brown series. It should not be allowed to slide into oblivion.
policy134
This was perceived as something of a sensation back in the late 80's and early 90's. What is strange is that while other sitcoms who were pushing the envelope got virtually no attention, like Married with Children, Murphy Brown was considered cutting edge.What the sitcom actually introduced was that you could portray a woman, who was successful in her job, even though she was pushing middle age and to top it all of she was single. In that respect you can say that the sitcom was out of the ordinary. Just think of Claire Huxtable without 5 children.What was not so great about this was the fact that Murphy Brown relied heavily on stereotypes, at least in the beginning of its run. Aside from Murphy Brown herself there was Phil, the understanding but gruff bartender, the airhead journalist who usually got by on her looks and the jealous co-worker who was as stiff on camera as William Shatner.Oh, yeah. In case you forgot this took place in a newsroom and was one of dozens of shows that aired in the 90's that did. Starting with the feature film "Broadcast News" TV-shows milked this setting for all it was worth in the 90's.Every once in a while they found an interesting hook in this show like having Murphy Brown get a new secretary (this was before the term assistant became the right term) every week. Of course, this was spoofed on Seinfeld but in itself this was the most funny thing about this show.The show was famous for tackling issues but usually it was done in such a straightforward manor that you could just as easily have made this a 50 minute drama series instead.So not that this was the worst sitcom ever, but I couldn't get many laughs out of the situations portrayed here. Just to name a few Murphy Brown was a recovering alcoholic, she gave birth as a single mother (ha-ha), her best friends were a bartender and a man she hired to paint her house.
Syl
Murphy Brown's intelligence and comedic wit is pure genius and fun to watch. Lifetime began airing the repeats for a while until 2000 which is a shame because it is such a high quality, well-written, and extremely well-acted show overall. While Candice Bergen plays the title character, she never uses her status to ruin the show. She allows her excellent supporting cast including Faith Ford, Grant Shaud, Jim Regalbuto, and the guy who plays Jim Dial. When Grant Shaud left the show, the show brought Lily Tomlin who did an excellent job. I loved Garry Marshall and Pat Corbett as Phil, the local bar owner and the guy that knew everything in Washington D.C. There are several hilarious episodes with guest stars like Barry Manilow serenading Baby Avery, the wonderful Colleen Dewhurst as the memorable Avery Brown, Murphy's mom, Darren McGavin as her father, Broadway Legend Marian Seldes as her aunt during a fabulous Christmas episode. I am sad that Robert Pastorelli passed away recently but he was memorable as the house painter/artist and nanny for Avery. Somebody told me that guest stars shaked the cast for making their experience to be the most pleasurable during their stay. Murphy Brown lasted 11 years for several reasons--it's great cast and staff of writers like Diane English.
Tenant_Uen
I can't believe there are only so few comments on this unbelievably funny show! It must be that it ended too early before audiences remember to put their comments on IMDB. I heard many people commend ¡§Friends¡¨ or ¡§Mad About You,¡¨ but I find little fun when I actually watch these shows. ¡§Murphy Brown¡¨ is by far the most intelligent and hilarious series I¡¦ve ever watched, maybe the only sitcom ever interests me, because I generally prefer more serious shows such as ¡§Homicide: Life on the Street¡¨ or ¡§thirtysomething.¡¨ Murphy Brown has all the incredible cast. I especially prefer the interaction between the cranky Murphy and the panicky Miles. I¡¦m not sadistic, but I always roll to the floor every time Murphy torments Miles with her disastrous ideas. Like one IMDB user says, I really miss all of the characters. When can they make a show like this?