Murphy Brown: Season 07 (1994)

Few other TV sitcoms could boast Murphy Brown's distinction of opening its seventh season with an episode guest-starring both Senator Barbara Boxer and TV's "Captain Kangaroo." This initial episode also introduces Dyllan Christopher in the role of Avery, the son of TV reporter Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) -- and considering that Avery was "born" only three years earlier, how that boy has grown! New to the series this season is actor-producer Gary Marshall as Stan Lansing, the new head of the network carrying Murphy's TV newsmagazine show "FYI." It is clear from the get-go that Lansing and Murphy will never see eye to eye, especially since he is far more interested in staging wild ratings-grabbing publicity stunts than in straight journalism. The limit comes when, upset that Murphy has hired and fired 76 secretaries in the past seven years, Lansing forces our heroine to engage the services of his own nephew Andrew, played by Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman). Obnoxious though he is, Andrew does too good a job to get himself canned -- and it is obvious that he will remain a thorn in Murphy's side for several episodes to come. In other developments, Murphy's house painter, Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli), who still hasn't finished decorating her living room after all these years, leaves the series to accept an opportunity to pursue a stellar art career in Europe. Also, Murphy's co-worker Corky (Faith Ford) has divested herself of her husband Will, and has begun dating vacuous anchorman Miller Redfield (Christopher Rich). And in another affair of the heart, swaggering international reporter Peter Hunt (Scott Bakula) finally proposes to Murphy -- but will she accept? This season, Murphy Brown won the second of two Emmy awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi