Murphy Brown: What You Need to Remember About How the Original Series Ends

The intrepid reporter at the heart of the series, played by Candice Bergen, goes through a lot over the course of the original series's 10 seasons. In the then-finale, Murphy undergoes surgery after a season-long battle with breast cancer. While under the anesthesia, Murphy "interviews" her journalist hero, Edward R. Murrow, and God himself. Her surgery confirms that she is cancer-free, and when we last see her, she returns home to pick up her life right where it leaves off.

The friendly rivalry between Frank and Murphy is one of the core relationships of the original show. Through all the ups and downs of her relationships, their platonic friendship stays steady — he's even present at the birth of Murphy's son. Which is why, in the series finale, when Murphy announces she's not leaving FYI, no one is more delighted than Frank. Plus, he gets a date with Julia Roberts!

One of the mainstays of Murphy Brown isn't even in the FYI newsroom. Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli) is the oddly philosophical painter and handyman who spends six seasons painting Murphy's house (it's a long story). Pastorelli left the show after seven seasons, but for the finale, a cameo was in order. When a newly cancer-free Murphy returns home at the end, Eldin pops up once again with a proposal: an offer to touch up her house.

It's the cardinal rule of newsroom-set TV shows: there must be at least one character who's a little more old-school and daydreams about the "good old days" of legendary anchors of old. (Please see Chuck Pierce on Great News.) For Murphy Brown, this character is Jim Dial, the anchor at FYI. When Murphy considers resigning, Jim gets reflective about his own career and worries that he's stagnated. By the finale's end, though, he's ready to move forward and step up to be the anchor he's always wanted to be.

By the time the series ended, perky ex-pageant queen Corky (Faith Ford) has been through the wringer: two marriages, a long-distance relationship, and plenty more. In the finale, she's shaken by her friend Murphy's health scare and possible resignation. The last time we see her, though, she's with the rest of the FYI gang, reminiscing about all the good times they've had together so far.

No workplace series is complete without a nearby bar or cafe where the cast can congregate, and no fictional bar is complete without a friendly-but-gruff bartender. Phil (Pat Corley) knows everything about everyone in Washington, down to the most ridiculous details. His character seemed to be killed off in season eight, but in the finale, he reappears, revealing that he'd been forced to disappear because he finally knew too much about the wrong people. He finds time, though, to pop back up and dispense a bit of advice to a frightened Murphy.

Miles (Grant Shaud) starts out the series as the overachieving youngest staff member who is the butt of the joke more often than not, despite being one of the smartest people in the room. Shaud left the show in season eight, two years before it ultimately went off the air. The last time he's seen, he's married Corky but leaves town for a new job. Miles will be rejoining the cast in the revival, although it remains to be seen how his character's absence will have affected his relationships with his old team.