Crappy film

Beautiful, moving film.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

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!

Correction: Murphy Brown's pregnancy was the result of one-time sex with a lover from her past. I remember this distinctly because she is also an older mom. I believe she is supposed to be 42 at the time. She talks about friends at her age desperately going to fertility clinics to get pregnant and says something like: "And I do it one time...ONE TIME" It was natural conception. Dan Quayle didn't like the fact she was a single mother. There was no insemination about it as bluethunder35 states. Murphy's pregnancy season also had some of the funniest (because they struck chords of truth about the amazing process of becoming a mother) scenes in the annals situation comedy -- such as Murphy buying a whole slew of home pregnancy tests. Then you see them all lined up in her bathroom as they all indicate positive and she is stunned. Or when she attends a birthing class and comes to the conclusion "this is really going to happen."

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.

"Murphy Brown" is the CBS longest running sitcom from 1988-1998 with Candice Bergen as a journalist who recovers from the Betty Ford Clinic and she worked at "FYI" with Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough) who is the main anchor of "FYI" with Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto) who always wear a toupee on his head in the early episodes of the show ashe stopped wearing a toupee in the later episodes, Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford) who is a beautiful young woman who joins Murphy,Jim,and Frank. Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud) is a excecitive producer of "FYI" who was later replaced by Kay Carter-Shepley (Lily Tomlin) with Phil the bartender (Pat Corley) Eldin the painter (Robert Pastorelli).I saw some of the episodes on the CBS network run, Syndication reruns, and curently airing on Lifetime.A great SITCOM.I give it *****.