Television series

Murphy Brown

Name: Murphy Brown
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 1988
Cast: Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto, Charles Kimbrough, Grant Shaud

Comedy
Light-hearted

A whip-smart, twice-divorced, hard-drinking-in-recovery star reporter for a TV newsmagazine tries to run her newsroom and her love life with the same relentless competence. It's a big, brassy 80s-into-90s multi-cam sitcom — laugh track and all — but the jokes are sharper and the politics realer than that format usually allows. Great for anyone who wants their comfort sitcom to occasionally punch upward.

TVMaze rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love workplace sitcoms where sharp, talky banter between colleagues carries the laughs and the newsroom politics feel lived-in, the way they do in the best of the Aaron Sorkin-style ensemble shows.

Skip it if you want a show that stays light and quick, since its jokes are wordy, its topics often lean on the headlines of its era, and some episodes lean heavily on the politics of the day.

What it asks of you: It asks for half an hour a week across many seasons, with patience for dialogue-heavy scenes and a willingness to follow long running arguments between characters who rarely stop talking.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Mary Tyler Moore Show1970

The blueprint. A single career woman holding her own in a newsroom full of oddballs, decades before Murphy did it, and just as funny and warm.

But Gentler and less topical — don't expect the sharp political bite Murphy Brown trades in.

Frasier1993

Same era of appointment-television wit: a vain, brilliant professional, a tight ensemble, and dialogue built for people who like words used well.

But Radio psychiatry, not journalism — the world and stakes feel much smaller and cosier.

30 Rock2006

A TV workplace run by a driven woman surrounded by lunatics, but cranked up to absurdist speed with jokes stacked three deep on every line.

But Frantic, joke-per-second pacing instead of Murphy's slower, more grounded rhythm — very different energy.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Murphy Brown

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

His Girl Friday1940

Murphy is a direct descendant of Hildy Johnson: the smart, unmarriageable-by-choice woman journalist who talks faster and thinks quicker than everyone around her.

The fast-talking female reporter holding her own among loud men in a newsroom — Murphy Brown's actual ancestor, decades before television existed to house her.

But Black-and-white screwball rhythm and rapid-fire 1940s patter take real adjustment if you're not used to the style.

Sports Night1998

Sorkin's first newsroom show, walking the same line between comedy and real feeling, with a similarly obsessive, talented cast of professionals.

But More earnest and less overtly political — it's sports, not hard news, and quieter about it.

Cheers1982

Same producers' pedigree of ensemble banter, barroom camaraderie standing in for newsroom camaraderie, and characters you'll want to hang out with weekly.

But No news satire at all — it's pure hangout comedy, so skip it if the media angle is what you want.

Veep2012

If Murphy Brown's political jabs were your favorite part, this turns the volume all the way up — savage, profane, and unrelentingly cynical about Washington.

But Far meaner and filthier — Murphy's satire has a warm center this show deliberately refuses to have.

Grace and Frankie2015

Another sharp, funny show about a formidable older woman refusing to slow down, with the same appetite for mixing comedy with real life stuff.

But Domestic and personal rather than newsroom-driven — the professional satire angle mostly disappears.

The Larry Sanders Show1992

A meaner, more cynical cousin — the TV business itself as comedy fodder, with the same interest in vanity and ego behind the broadcast.

But Single-camera, no studio audience, much darker about show business than Murphy Brown ever gets.

Just Shoot Me!1997

A lighter, breezier magazine-office comedy for when you want the newsroom-ensemble format without the political homework.

But Considerably fluffier — it trades Murphy's satirical teeth for straightforward workplace-romcom jokes.

Page One: Inside the New York Times2011

Where Murphy Brown satirizes newsroom vanity and ego for laughs, this documentary shows the same species of people for real, and the stakes are less funny.

A real newsroom, in crisis, trying to figure out what journalism is even for anymore — the actual, unglamorous version of what FYI only pretends to do.

But No jokes, no romance, no ensemble chemistry — just anxious media professionals arguing about their industry's survival.

Page One: Inside the New York Times poster

Flight2012

Murphy's own recovering-alcoholic past is played for one-liners; this film asks the same question about high-functioning addiction with none of the safety net.

Denzel Washington as a supremely competent professional whose addiction threatens to unravel everything he's built — the show's boozy backstory taken dead seriously.

But This is a heavy, unflinching drama about alcoholism, not a comedy — tonally about as far from Murphy Brown as possible.