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DVD Murphy Brown - The Complete First Season
The DVD release of Murphy Brown is particularly newsworthy. There had never been anyone on primetime quite like Murphy, the star investigative reporter for the Washington, D.C.-based television news magazine F.Y.I. As created by Diane English and embodied by Candice Bergen, Murphy was, in English's words, "Mike Wallace in a dress." On camera, she was tough, smart, and relentless. Off camera she was intriguingly flawed. In the pilot episode, her character returns to work following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. Over the course of the season, her sobriety is supremely tested by the chaotic goings-on inside the funniest newsroom since WJM on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Murphy must contend with an unending parade of ill-suited, stressed-out secretaries (a running joke throughout the series' 10 years), new 25-year-old producer Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud) whom she rudely dismisses ("While I was being maced at the Democratic Convention in '68, you were wondering if you'd ever meet Adam West"), and new co-anchor Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford), a former Miss America ("by default") with no journalistic background. Murphy is over 40 and prickly, with a penchant for vindictive practical jokes against her colleagues. In short, in the words of a lampooning cartoonist in the episode "Funnies Girl," dynamic, "pain-in-the-butt," Motown-loving Murphy is "a veritable fountain of material."
With its smart and sophisticated writing and seamless ensemble, Murphy Brown instantly established itself as one of television's gold standard series, earning four Emmy Awards for this inaugural season, including Outstanding Lead Actress for Bergen and Outstanding Writing for English. Colleen Dewhurst was also honored for her guest appearance as Murphy's equally intimidating mother in the episode, "Mama Said." A cast and crew retrospective and commentaries by Bergen and English for, respectively, the pilot and classic flashback episode "The Summer of '77" earn this set R*E*S*P*E*C*T. --Donald Liebenson
Review(s): DVD Murphy Brown - The Complete First Season
Season Two News
I remembered watching Murphy Brown when it was on TV the first time around and had to get it on DVD. Like many people, I finished Season One with excitement for the second. I looked up online to see when it's coming out and sadly found this on Wikipedia,
"The first season of Murphy Brown was released on DVD on February 8, 2005; due to low sales, no future releases are planned."
So I guess we should all buy Season One for everyone on our holiday gift lists this year.
So, Where is Season 2??
As others have said - a smart, funny, and very clever show. A definite "gold standard". So why is it taking so long to release the subsequent seasons?
Where are the rest of the shows?
Going to the vaults and releasing old tv shows on DVD is good for studio revenue, and it's good for those of us who have fond memories of tv shows that have disappeared. If the studios are going to market old tv shows, though, this is an example of marketing gone bad. Where are the rest of the seasons? I sure wouldn't have bought the first season of Murphy Brown if the other seasons weren't going to be released! At this rate, technology will change again before the next season comes out on DVD! The marketing gurus should keep in mind that some of Murphy Brown's charm was in its contemporary references, and that time may work against the market for this series.
I'm really feeling ripped off, and will be cautious about buying the first season of any TV re-release again...there are enough programs popping out on DVD, both oldies and newer series, that there's no reason to start collecting a series unless you can finish it.
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