"Murphy Brown" ended 14 years ago after 10 seasons on the air, but the iconic sitcom still lives on in hearts of fans and the cast alike ... and on TV, as well. Take the April 19 episode of NBC's "30 Rock," titled "Murphy Brown Lied To Us," for example. The episode followed Liz Lemon's (Tina Fey) desire to have a child post-40 years old.
In its heyday, "Murphy Brown" tackled everything from rehab to single motherhood, creating headlines and becoming a pop culture phenomenon along the way. Recently, TV Land honored the cast and creator Diane English with the Impact Award at the 10th Annual TV Land Awards, which will air on Sunday, April 29 at 9 p.m. ET.
"Well, the show was so perfect for its time," series co-star Joe Regalbuto (who played Frank Fontana) told The Huffington Post on the red carpet at the TV Land Awards, which were filmed earlier this month. "You had a woman come out and speak about warts and everything, the whole bit. There was a deep friendship between all these people and the folks we got to see and meet on the show."
In addition to Candice Bergen in the title role were Regalbuto's investigative reporter Frank, Faith Ford as perky Corky Sherwood and Charles Kimbrough rounded out the team as veteran anchor Jim Dial.
"My fondest memory is the mornings when we came together," Kimbrough said. "It was like school, you know when you trade off about the shows you saw the night before on TV, what's going on in your life, what the commute was like that morning to get to the studio. It was just the daily stuff that becomes very, very special to you."
The series nabbed two Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series and one Golden Globe during its lengthy run. Bergen was honored with five Emmys and two Golden Globes for her performance as Murphy Brown. Many have called the character one of TV's most important ever, changing the face of women on the small screen. Kimbrough said the honor from TV Land acknowledges that very fact.
"It's wonderful. It's a wonderful acknowledgement of the show itself, of the quality of the show, of Diane English and the writers' work," he said. "It was principally a writer's show, plus Candice. The rest of us were very happy to be along for the ride ... I like the fact that a lot of the country, a lot of expert opinions said, 'Well, this may work in San Francisco and New York,' and it was a coast-to-coast success and it made me very happy."
"Murphy Brown" may have ended, but the "FYI" crew would still be hard at work, according to those in front of and behind the camera.
"They'd be doing the same things of course, but it would actually be more fun now because of all the great political stuff with this election coming up," Ford said. "They'd be all up into that."
Series creator English agreed. "Where are they now? They're doing exactly the same thing," she said. "That show is still on the air, just like '60 Minutes.'"