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Reflecting on Arkansas 30 years ago as Murphy Brown prepares for second debut | Craig's Twist

Murphy Brown is making a comeback tonight on THV11 nearly 30 years after it originally debuted on Nov. 14, 1988.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Murphy Brown is making a comeback tonight on THV11 nearly 30 years after it originally debuted on Nov. 14, 1988.

Want to hear a weird coincidence?

The University of Arkansas is getting ready to play Texas A&M this Saturday. Thirty years ago, when Murphy Brown first aired, Arkansas had just beaten Texas A&M. Maybe the luck of Murphy Brown is still good.

Back then, Bill Clinton was our governor and a star on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. In 1988, at the Democratic National Convention, he had gone way long in his nominating speech for Gov. Michael Dukakis and Johnny Carson made fun of that for weeks.

Our governor would appear with Johnny and laugh at himself.

The area we now know as the Clinton Library looked completely different in 1988. The library we know now was in a seedy part of town.

In the 1988 presidential election, the week before Murphy Brown's debut, George Bush Senior has beaten Dukakis. Arkansas voted for Bush, but five of the six congressmen from Arkansas were Democrats.

There was a Ray Winder Field. There were four Razorback games that year in War Memorial. Chenal Valley was just a gleam in its developer's eye.

Your THV11 anchors in 1988 were Anne Jansen, BJ Sams and Joe Quinn. Your current male anchor was a morning DJ. Your female anchor, Dawn Scott, was a senior in high school.

That was the world as we knew it and Murphy Brown made a name for herself from commenting on that world. Comedy is the shortest distance between two points. It can help define issues and bring to light the irony of our time. But how will age enter into all of this, which is now a factor on Murphy Brown?

We're about to find out.

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