Date of airing: December 19, 1988 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 21.0 million viewers, 15.0/23 in Households
written by: Diane English
directed by: Barnet Kellman
Oh, hello there, seventh episode of the season that was most likely to be the third episode of the season, considering Murphy’s comment that Eldin had been painting her “kitchen” for three weeks now... I hate it when network executives think they can shuffle around episodes, even if they look very much stand-alone from the outside, but maybe there is a reason that this episode found a later airdate. After all, this episode's premise is unusual for a multicamera sitcom, so one might wonder if the network executives had a bit of an issue with a hostage situation in a program that is supposed to be funny.
Then again, the late fall premiere of the series might be a reason as well. But yeah, I think it is the hostage situation. Damn, during the recent Christmas episode, Murphy had to deal with three kids being orphaned by their mother who decided to run away. In this episode, a gunman walks into the studio and turns this into a 1988 half-hour comedy version of Jodie Foster's MONEY MONSTER, but without the conspiracy stuff that filled up the backstory of the 2016 thriller. Now I really am unsure if MURPHY BROWN was supposed to be a sitcom with mature content and premises, or if the writers just decided to go nuts in this show and just write it like the ideas come to them. I mean, turning a hostage situation into a sitcom? Yeah, this could be a funny idea when talked about in the writers' room, but I never imagined it could actually be filmed like this.
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| Two breaking news events in the same screenshot: a gunman and a TV anchor without pants. |
The thing is, this episode was in fact funny. Henry’s initial reason to force Murphy to make the statement might have been ridiculous and just another punchline (the hostage situation was already horrendous enough to include an actual tragic reason for Henry’s prepared statement), but the reactions of each FYI member towards Henry and his inability to be a proper hostage taker gave me joy a couple of times. I laughed when Frank stood up and had to explain the cliche of TV anchors not wearing pans (his long-running excuse could have been even longer, if he had not been interrupted). I laughed that Murphy became more and more crazy as the hour went on, really just wanting to smoke a cigarette and calm herself down. And I laughed when Corky decided to take matters into her hands and flirt with Henry, only to not take his rejection very well. Honestly, Henry must have been a closeted gay man, because there is no way that any dude in this 1980s show could have rejected Corky the way Henry did.
What a shame the episode did not go into Henry being gay at all and that his closeted lifestyle was not the reason for his taking hostages. This way, MURPHY BROWN could have immediately shot up in the charts of all the liberals and progressives in late 1980s America, especially after George H.W. Bush was just elected President. MURPHY BROWN could have delivered a sociopolitical stance this early in its lifetime, telling its audience that being gay does not mean the end of the world (although the AIDS epidemic may have printed that picture in everyone's mind during the late 1980s and early 1990s).
By the way, I am wondering if that part of real-life America will come to fruition at some point in the series. Murphy did mention Amy Carter (President Jimmy Carter's daughter who was nine years old when she moved into the White House) during the beginning of the episode, and during production of this half-hour, Carter was still President and the 1988 general election most likely did not happen yet, even if the results were clear when this episode aired. Not to mention that the Betty Ford Clinic got a mention again, which means I am pretty much waiting for real-life events to take over the narrative of the series in an episode or two.
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| Corky has had enough of this hostage situation. |
With all the hostage thingies going on, I was surprised to see that the episode took a natural turn at the end and brought a nice scene of recognition and respect for both Miles and Murphy. It turns out the guy is an actual professional, and leading on Henry with lies about skyrocketing Nielsens was the best thing he could have done since he took the job as executive producer, and I did love that Murphy reciprocated by respecting Miles for that move. The two have been fighting with each other for a few episodes now, so it was time that the two came to a kind of understanding here, especially when it comes to Miles’s job performance. At this point, Murphy should be able to accept Miles as her boss, no matter how young he is and how inexperienced he seems. Because this episode has clearly proven that Miles is able to protect his staff.
