Created, produced, and written by Diane English, Murphy Brown debuted in 1988 during a period when women were nearly eliminated from television by all-male "buddy" shows. One of the only series to focus on a female character that year, it would become one of the most popular of the 1980s and 1990s and enter the platform of a presidential campaign.

The main character, Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen), was one of the most well developed characters to ever appear on a sitcom. At the beginning of the series, Murphy, a highly competitive journalist, had just spent time in the Betty Ford Clinic, where she overcame the drinking and smoking addictions honed during her years as an ambitious journalist. Included in the ensemble cast were her "family" of co-workers on the fictitious television newsmagazine, FYI, and Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli), house-painter-turned-permanent-fixture at home.

Murphy's co-anchor was Jim Dial (Charles...