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Oh, man does Murphy Brown age well.
When it first arrived on the scene, Candice Bergen's sitcom seemed on the surface to be just another permutation of The Mary Tyler Moore Show - a single woman with a high-power occupational position tries to make heads-or-tails of the constantly swirling world around her - but over the course of ten seasons, the show became both quintessential sitcom and mainstream lightning rod for everything liberally-based that was happening in America.
Could you ask for much more in a TV show?
Dan Quayle's moral attacks - based on Murphy's single motherhood - came once the show had become a bona fide hit, so those empty threats have very little to do with these first few episodes. But the vice president's words are difficult to ignore when checking out this first season - yet not in a bad way.
The truth of the matter is that you cannot ignore Murphy Brown. Any show that is popular enough to merit a major political leader using it as a Senate-wide campaign means that people everywhere know what it is, and that in itself is arguably the most a TV show can ask for. Regardless of implicit artistic quality - which this writer thinks Murphy Brown has in spades - the fact that Candice Bergen evolved from TV star to veritable feminist social icon cements Murphy Brown's status as classic, endemic television.
And if one steps back from the symbolic imperative of the show, it's obvious that this series is a Hell of a well-oiled machine. Diane English - the producer also responsible for the more flippant but still enjoyable My Sister Sam - treats the subject matter and narrative of Murphy Brown with a perfect mix of storytelling responsibility and loosey-goosey irreverence. These first-season episodes - that we've all seen a million times since the show's debut - all seem fresh and new again.
Quayle/Bush supporters [Or, for that matter, Bush/Cheney supporters - Ed.] may not put this one at the top of their list of things to watch, but for the rest of us, this is late 80s/early 90s television at its most biting.
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Murphy Brown looks great here. Color quality is what is most immediately noticeable; both saturated hues and flesh tones are given wonderful heft and separation. Line quality is also damned solid - the quality stands heads and shoulders above most other TV-on-DVD titles that have come out recently. Black levels are also strong.
Beware, though; at around 24 minutes into the first episode, a bizarre haze of bluish vertical lines appear. They only last for about a minute, but their appearance is nonetheless quite distracting. There may be a few examples of dust and blemishes on the print of other episodes, but be warned that the blue menace is large and in charge on this first episode.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
The 2.0 stereo mix here is also pretty nice. Dialogue is natural sounding and well apportioned and the show's infrequent but effective use of effects and atmospherics are thrown in the mix with a nice sense of gusto. Sure, the laugh tracks here are a bit out of control, but that's a fault with the format of situation comedy on television, not with this mix.
Also included are English, French, and Spanish subtitles, and English closed captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
While not overflowing with bonus features, the three supplements on this first season box of Murphy Brown are nevertheless amazingly informative. The first screen-specific audio commentary in this set involves Candice Bergen, who talks about the show's pilot, "Respect". With a wonderful sense of earnest understatement and in an open and honest fashion, she discusses not only the platitudes but also the behind-closed-doors events in Murphy Brown. Bergen makes a wonderful guest for a half-hour commentary.
Murphy Brown creator Diane English also offers a wonderful commentary on "The Summer of '77". While perhaps not as warm and cozy as Bergen, English really elucidates the more production-oriented facets of the show in a straightforward and hilarious way. Both of these commentary tracks are grade-A.
The half-hour documentary on the show, Murphy Brown: An FYI Exclusive, is also revealing, but not as intimately staged as the commentary tracks. We get copious interviews, great retrospective footage, and a wonderful sense of history about good ol' Murphy.
Again, there's not a lot here, but you're definitely getting more bang for your buck.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Final Thoughts
Murphy Brown fans rejoice; this first-season box set was well worth the wait. A great transfer, an above-average sound mix, a short but sweet set of extra features, and a relatively low list price of $29.98 - you can't go wrong. Recommended.
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