Movies - TV
How The
'90s Sitcom Murphy Brown Beefed With Vice President Dan Quayle
By VALERIE ETTENHOFER
Gaffe-prone Vice President Dan Quayle proved to be a gift to the media cycle when he decided to engage in kabuki theater with a fictional TV character in 90s sitcom “Murphy Brown.”
While serving in George H.W. Bush's administration, Quayle referred to an episode in a speech where Murphy Brown chose to have her baby as a single career woman.
He said, "It doesn't help matters when prime-time TV has Murphy Brown [...] mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another 'lifestyle choice.'"
Series creator Diane English replied via statement, “If the vice president thinks [single motherhood is] disgraceful [...] he'd better make sure abortion remains safe and legal.”
As the Dan Quayle-Murphy Brown debacle rippled across pop culture and politics throughout the summer, Quayle defended his comments
by claiming Hollywood
glamorized illegitimacy.
The story was also front page news, with the New York City Daily News famously running the questionably paraphrased headline "QUAYLE TO MURPHY BROWN: YOU TRAMP!"
Viewership of the episode rocketed to 70 million or about 41% of United States TV-watchers at that time, for which the cast and crew thanked Quayle when collecting their Emmys.