Murphy Brown Season 5 Episode 10 Winners Take All
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00:00I don't know, Courtney.
00:05Yes, you do, Murph. You can get this.
00:07We both know your future success depends on it.
00:11Is it...
00:12Big Bird?
00:13No!
00:15It ain't Big Bird. It has no feathers, no beak.
00:19It's Cookie Monster.
00:22How do you ever expect to teach your child to read?
00:26Try this one.
00:30Topo Jijo?
00:38Okay, people. I've got an announcement to make.
00:41Well, not so much an announcement as a favor to ask.
00:45A tiny favor. A favorite, really, for the network who pays us so well to do a job we love so much.
00:54Steady.
00:55Okay. Now, I know how you felt in the past when you've been asked to attend tribute dinners which honor others in our business.
01:01Oh!
01:01But this one happens to be at the Museum of Broadcast Arts, which would mean a trip to exciting New York.
01:11Yes, New York, the city that never sleeps.
01:14They would if they had to sit through one of these stupid dinners. Am I right, guys?
01:17Okay, okay, fine. I'll tell them you're not interested.
01:22Too bad, really, because the show they happen to be honoring this year is FYI!
01:26Huh?
01:27You're kidding.
01:27But if you're not interested, I...
01:29Give me that or I'll break your glasses.
01:31An evening with FYI honoring 15 years of excellence in journalism.
01:38What an honor!
01:38You know the best part?
01:40The award also honors the invaluable contribution of the producer as well, which means I'm going to be right up on that stage along with you.
01:46Me, who hasn't won an award since my senior class voted me most likely to hemorrhage.
01:52So, Miles, how much is the cash award, and do we have to split it with you?
01:57There's no money involved, and this is not an attractive sight of you.
02:01Now, the evening will begin in an auditorium of adoring fans asking us questions,
02:06followed by a film retrospective celebrating FYI's past 15 years,
02:10then a dinner and a VIP reception at the Four Seasons.
02:14No one gives money anymore.
02:17It's so amazing.
02:19First Miss America, now this.
02:21You guys realize we are now a part of history?
02:23We're going to live forever in the museum archives.
02:25To be honored with the likes of Edward R. Murrow, Chet Huntley.
02:29The best part, I didn't have to die to get it.
02:32Peter Jennings was wrong.
02:35Okay, guys, I'm going to need clips from the show to put in the retrospective.
02:39Why don't each of you make a list of what you think are the top five pieces we've ever done,
02:43and I'll edit something together.
02:44Well, you know, there's Murphy's Gorbachev piece.
02:46That was brilliant.
02:48Well, thanks, man.
02:49Oh, what about your mafia story?
02:51And then there's Jim's Love Canal piece.
02:53Oh, well, let's not forget Corky's.
02:59Profile of Mrs. Fields and her cookies.
03:03And, uh, since we're being honored as a team,
03:11the last clip I included was our group location show from the Berlin Wall.
03:16Well, there it is.
03:1820 minutes, just like they asked for.
03:21So, what do you think?
03:23I love it.
03:24It's very nice.
03:24Okay, then.
03:25I'll just send this off to New York, and they can send it off.
03:28Uh, Miles, um, I was just wondering, I guess you decided not to use my crack house piece?
03:34I thought your Pentagon piece was much stronger.
03:38He's right, Frank.
03:38Much more powerful.
03:40Besides, I'm sure Miles had to make many tough choices,
03:43just as he chose to use clips of me,
03:45primarily from what appears to be the dawn of television.
03:50Well, Jimbo, uh,
03:52most of the footage of you doing actual stories
03:55is from the earlier days when you went out on assignment more.
03:58Oh, I like the footage, Jim.
04:00It offered an interesting glimpse back in time.
04:03Although it was more than just a glimpse, really.
04:06It was more of a look.
04:08A long look.
04:09A very long look at the early days of FYI.
04:14I guess that's why there's not much of me in it.
04:16Well, Corky,
04:18you've only been with the show for the past four years,
04:21while others of us have obviously been here
04:24since the days of wide lapels and long sideburns.
04:29Let's remember that this film represents all of us as a team.
04:33If we just pick it apart and focus on ourselves,
04:36then we'll miss the essence, the grandeur
04:39of what FYI has come to stand for.
04:41You've got one minute and 17 seconds more than anyone else.
04:44You timed it?
04:46Well, maybe that's because Miles recognizes
04:48that my stories tend to carry a little more,
04:51you know, weight.
04:52More weight?
04:54And who are you all of a sudden, Jenny Craig?
04:58Hey, look, this is not a problem.
05:01We're talking about a few minor adjustments.
05:04Let me go get some coffee.
05:06We'll bounce some ideas around.
05:08And in no time, we'll have something
05:09that'll make everyone in this award-winning team happy.
05:13Okay?
05:15Okay.
05:20Guys, I didn't mean to suggest
05:22that my stories are more important than anyone else's.
05:24Of course not, Slugger.
05:26And Corky, when I pointed out
05:27you were the newcomer to the group,
05:29that doesn't mean you're any less valuable.
05:31Thanks, Jim.
05:33And I know I haven't been here as long as you
05:35and Murthy and Frank.
05:39Where is Frank?
05:41Oh, jeez.
05:43Is he obvious or what?
05:44Look at him, trying to get more of his stuff in the film.
05:48You guys just wait here.
05:51I'll handle this.
05:52It's not like I don't want to take anything away from you.
05:58That's not the kind of guy I...
05:59Oh, hi, guys.
06:01Just to come out here getting some coffee.
06:03Yeah, coffee's what I'm getting out of here.
06:05Me too.
06:05Here for some more coffee.
06:07Coffee by Aunt Fanny.
06:08Well, if you give him what he asks for,
06:11then I expect the same.
06:13And to begin with,
06:14I want you to put in my commentary
06:15on German reunification
06:17and dump the footage
06:18while I was experimenting with that perm.
06:20Oh, I'm asking you for it.
06:24It's a beautiful time.
06:25It's a beautiful time.
06:26I want you to play it.
06:27It's a beautiful time.
06:29Well.
06:32I can see where this is going.
06:34And that is too bad.
06:40Because it would have been nice
06:42if we could have worked on this together.
06:45This being an award honoring a team.
06:51But I guess I'll just have to do it myself.
06:55Unless, uh, anybody has a suggestion.
06:58Well, we could grow up,
07:03put our petty egos aside,
07:05and work together for the common good.
07:11Oh, you're serious.
07:14I feel relieved by me.
07:16Good.
07:16I knew you'd see it my way.
07:18I'll take notes.
07:19Who'd like to start?
07:20Well, I'll go first,
07:21since I seem to have gotten the most time.
07:23I'll give up my airline safety story.
07:27No, wait.
07:29My EPA scandal.
07:31That was a masterpiece.
07:33My Brando interview.
07:36I can't give up Brando.
07:37Okay, Frank's turn.
07:39Come on, Murphy.
07:40You've got to give up something.
07:41I really want to use my crack house piece.
07:43Oh, come on, Frank.
07:44We already have you running out of an embassy,
07:46jumping out of an airplane,
07:47and swimming through shark-infested waters.
07:50If we're not careful,
07:51our 15-year retrospective
07:52is going to look like a rerun of MacGyver.
07:54Hey.
07:55Hey.
07:56People like action.
07:59My stories are why a lot of people,
08:00most people,
08:01tune into FYI.
08:03Oh.
08:03Oh.
08:05And how many times were you honored
08:07by the Museum of Broadcast Arts
08:09before I got here, hmm?
08:11How many?
08:13Let's hear the number.
08:16Zero, is it?
08:18Well, I think we all know what that means.
08:20We got this award because of me.
08:23Oh, give me a break.
08:25So the squeaky wheel's going to get the grease.
08:27Is that how it works?
08:28A good old Jim's supposed to politely sit back
08:31and keep quiet.
08:33Wouldn't be right to blow my own horn.
08:35Well, I'm the one who holds this show together,
08:37and I'd like to see any of you last two minutes without me.
08:40Blow, blow, blow.
08:41I want my expose on black market Barbie dolls in,
08:46and I want it in now.
08:52Let me say again how thrilled we are
08:59to have you with us
09:00at the Museum of Broadcast Arts,
09:04or MOBA,
09:05as we like to call it.
09:06Thank you, Mr. Milliken.
09:09I don't mean to gush.
09:11Oh, what the heck?
09:12I'm gushing.
09:13I've been a fan of your show
09:15ever since it premiered.
09:16September 21st, 1977.
09:19Wow.
09:20You remember the exact date.
09:22Amazing, huh, guys?
09:23Amazing, yeah.
09:23I'll never forget it.
09:259 o'clock, 8 central.
09:27You had your premiere
09:28right after the short-lived,
09:29but in my opinion,
09:31vastly underrated,
09:33Mulligan Stew,
09:34starring Lawrence Pressman
09:36as Mike Mulligan,
09:37Eleanor Donahue as his wife, Jane,
09:38and Julie Ann Haddock as...
09:42Melinda!
09:46Well, I can see you're
09:48a true fan of television,
09:49isn't he, guys?
09:50True fan.
09:51If I could impose,
09:53I know you're asked all the time,
09:55but I would love
09:56a picture of all of you.
09:59Please, no imposition at all.
10:01Guys?
10:01Yes.
10:02Yes.
10:06Just press that button
10:12right there.
10:19Smile.
10:25Now, in just a few minutes,
10:28you'll hear me introduce you
10:29through this speaker.
10:30Then it's out the door,
10:32into the auditorium,
10:34and our evening shall begin.
10:36Ho, ho, ho!
10:41Is this great or what?
10:45Staying at the plaza?
10:48A stretch limo
10:49to take us
10:49to our own
10:50MOBA night?
10:51Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
10:53with our own
10:54MOBA hors d'oeuvres?
10:56Huh?
10:58Ooh!
10:59Big crowd!
11:01MOBA crowd!
11:03These people love us.
11:05Cheers, man. I'm still hungry.
11:06I didn't think that was possible after all those peanut you had on the plane.
11:09Let's see. You had yours.
11:11Then you took mine while I was sleeping.
11:13Then you took my replacement bag when I went to get a magazine.
11:17My other replacement bag while I was...
11:19Oh, jeez, Frank, I am so sick of hearing about you and your lousy peanut sent me.
11:22It's the most...
11:23Please, let's not do this.
11:27Sure, our week wasn't without its little ups and downs.
11:31But let's just put that all behind us and enjoy this night.
11:35What do you say?
11:39Thanks a lot.
11:41Thanks for leaving without me.
11:44I waited in the Oyster Bar for half an hour.
11:47And then I tried to get a cab.
11:50But you can't get a cab in Manhattan on Saturday night.
11:53So I had to walk, which is when I lost my heel in a sewer grade
11:58because I had to jump out of the way of a bicycle messenger
12:01and say that you threw a sausage at my head.
12:06Why were you waiting in the Oyster Bar?
12:08I mean, we all met in the lobby.
12:10When you didn't show, we figured you came over on your own.
12:13Jim told me we were meeting at the Oyster Bar.
12:16I did, though.
12:17You must have misunderstood.
12:20You're probably right, Jim.
12:22Somebody as new to journalism as I am
12:25couldn't possibly know the difference
12:27between the place where you pick up your hotel key
12:30and the place where you suck down raw seafood.
12:34Remember the time we all went to that Mexican restaurant in Virginia
12:37and made our own tortillas?
12:39That was fun, wasn't it?
12:39I'm always being left out.
12:42I have the worst parking place,
12:44the smallest dressing room.
12:46What do I have to do to get a little respect around here?
12:49You can't wait for what you want, Corky.
12:51You have to take it.
12:52I thought you would have learned that
12:53after four and a half years of working with Murphy.
12:56You want somebody to run out of time?
12:57Take it.
12:58You want somebody else's story?
12:59Take it.
13:00What?
13:00I never took a story from you.
13:02Take, take, take.
13:03You're a taker.
13:05You lord, you people are behaving like children.
13:08You're journalists.
13:10What's your sense of decorum?
13:12What would you think if you heard Ed Murrow or Chet Huntley
13:15squabbling over a bag of nuts?
13:21I guess I'd be surprised, Jim.
13:25Because they're dead!
13:26Dead, Jim!
13:28Look around!
13:28It's the 90s!
13:30Am I the only one who's tired of hearing story after story
13:33about the old days?
13:34She's right!
13:35Shut up!
13:38Keep you lying!
13:39I am sorry, Nick.
13:42Don't ruin this evening!
13:44Stop it!
13:46You hear me?
13:46Stop it!
13:49I have had it.
13:52I am sick of stroking your egos and babying you.
13:57Who ran all over town looking for desk chairs
14:00with adjustable lombar support?
14:02Me.
14:03Who always has to tip the luggage, guys?
14:07Me.
14:08And everywhere we go, people know it.
14:11They look at me, and what do they see?
14:13Cabin Boy.
14:16I'm the executive producer,
14:18a highly educated professional.
14:21The heart and soul.
14:22I think they're introducing us.
14:24Delighted to have the members of the show here tonight with us.
14:27Won't you join me in welcoming one of television...
14:30Nobody move!
14:31...respected and successful...
14:32I'm a hell of a damn it!
14:33And I'm taking the respect that's due me.
14:35Ladies and gentlemen...
14:36For once, I, Miles Silverberg, am going first.
14:39...the recipient of Broadcast Arts Award
14:40for Excellence in Journalism.
14:42I know our audience is champing at the bit to ask questions,
15:11so let's get to it.
15:13Ah, I see a member of our board, Mary Van Heusen, has a question.
15:16Mary.
15:17Yes.
15:19Since this award is being given to you as a team,
15:22I was curious to know,
15:24how do you choose your stories each week
15:26so that they complement each other?
15:28Why don't I just jump in and handle this one?
15:39Well, Mary, may I call you Mary?
15:43I remember when I was doing a story on the SNL scandal,
15:46one of my sources in the...
15:48If you'll remember, Murph,
15:49that was originally supposed to be my story,
15:53but then I handed it along to Murphy.
15:55And as you know, Frank,
15:56that was the same week my piece on religious cults aired.
16:00And interestingly enough,
16:02we got more mail on that than on Murphy's SNL story.
16:05Yes, quite a bit of work, Corky.
16:07And thanks to Corky's unique reporting style,
16:09our mail ran about 70% pro-cult.
16:12Well, that about wraps up our 1986 FYI season.
16:20Now, the 1987 season,
16:23and I believe that this is the year
16:24to which your question pertains.
16:27I'm sorry, what was your question again?
16:29I don't know how many cameras we use on the show.
16:31Three.
16:32Right, three.
16:33Next question.
16:35I feel we've been taking advantage of Miss Brown.
16:38Perhaps someone else would like to jump in
16:40on the next question?
16:41By all means.
16:42I feel like I've been talking all night.
16:45I wonder why.
16:47I see another question.
16:49Yes, Mr. Dial.
16:51In all the time you've been a reporter,
16:53have you ever had to put your life in danger
16:55to get a story?
16:56There is one time that comes to mind.
17:01I was still working in radio
17:03and was sent to Kentucky
17:04because they've been having a lot of...
17:06Oh, oh, your flood story.
17:07This is great.
17:09Jim is sent to Kentucky
17:10because they've been having record rains
17:13and the Ohio River's going to flood.
17:15So he arrives in the middle of the night.
17:18The motels are evacuated.
17:20So he parks his car and goes to sleep.
17:23He wakes up the next morning
17:25and realizes he has parked his car
17:27less than 50 feet from the river.
17:30It's pouring rain
17:32and the river has risen to the doors of the car.
17:35What?
17:36The car won't start.
17:37The river is rising.
17:38So Jim ends up doing his report
17:40from the roof of the...
17:42Well, you tell it, Jim.
17:43Car.
17:45I did the report from the roof of the car.
17:48That's the story.
17:49Every time I hear it, it gets better.
17:51No one tells a story like you, Jim.
17:55What's it like being the youngest member of FYI?
17:58That's a very interesting question.
18:01Well, you have to remember,
18:03the first time I saw these people on FYI,
18:06I was still in pigtails and knee socks.
18:08See, back in Louisiana,
18:09I used to watch FYI all the time.
18:11Except when her pa and her were
18:13witlin' and huntin' for possums.
18:14Well, thank you for those interesting insights.
18:20I realize we still haven't heard
18:22from the executive producer tonight.
18:24How about a question for
18:26Miles Silverberg?
18:28Anyone?
18:39Anyone at all?
18:47While Miles is waiting for a question,
18:49why don't I take you inside my world?
18:53The world of an investigative reporter.
18:56A world of danger is actually...
18:57Frank, Frank.
18:58Although that's very interesting,
19:00it sounds like it may take a while,
19:01and I do have a question coming.
19:03Do I see any hands up?
19:05Nope.
19:05I'll never forget
19:06the first time I went undercover.
19:09Give me the microphone.
19:10It was right here in New York City.
19:12I had gotten a tip on a car theft ring.
19:15Give me the microphone.
19:15I will never forget the feeling
19:18of walking into that warehouse.
19:19I mean it, Frank.
19:20I had a pain in my stomach.
19:22I could barely make my legs...
19:24Damn microphone!
19:28Perhaps this would be a good time
19:30to take a look at our FYI retrospective.
19:33So let's roll the tape.
19:35In the booth, please?
19:39Good job telling my story, Murphy.
19:41You couldn't have butchered it any worse
19:42if you told it in Portuguese.
19:44Well, the audience wasn't gonna sit here
19:45till Wednesday while you told it.
19:47The way you were talking out,
19:49lucky I got to say anything at all.
19:50Oh, yeah.
19:51They really brought that tender story
19:53of your early days at FYI.
19:55How much longer do you think
19:56you could pass yourself off
19:57as some cute little schoolgirl?
19:59As long as I'm working with you!
20:01Goodbye, Austin.
20:04For the past 15 years,
20:06America has looked to this
20:07expertly written and produced hour
20:09to inform and entertain.
20:11Particably remarkable is the way
20:14in which the reporters' diverse styles
20:16balance and blend seamlessly.
20:19Murphy Brown commented on their chemistry
20:21earlier this year
20:23in an interview with Barbara Walters.
20:26Television shows don't last forever.
20:28I know one day I'll go on to a new job
20:31working with new people.
20:33But nothing will ever match my years on FYI.
20:36We're blessed with that rare combination
20:39of professionalism and friendship.
20:42And when it's time to move on,
20:45I'm really going to miss it.
20:47We all will.
20:52How come Murphy got interviewed
20:54and none of us did?
20:55Oh, sorry.
21:25no need to hurry off teammates we're gonna start our story meeting a little early today
21:38come on don't be shocked jim there's a nice seat franco why don't you take this one murphy
21:48corky join us won't you all right now first of all i think it would be a nice gesture if we all
22:03chipped in to pay for the torn video screen at the museum
22:05second you'll be happy to know that mr millican is resting comfortably and we'll be back on solid
22:13foods by the end of the week so there's some good news so the question then seems to be where do we
22:23go from here we have four very strong-willed people with four very healthy egos who i believe would
22:33like to apologize to each other and desperately want life to get back to normal but everyone's
22:41afraid to go first and risk the chance of rejection am i right i think i am so here's my idea
22:51anyone who would like to apologize for their behavior scratch your chin
22:57on three one two three
23:05beautiful now if you would like to accept these uh eloquent apologies knock on the table
23:19and finally anyone who would like to promise that in the future they will heed the wisdom of the
23:31executive producer rub your tummies while you're okay too far
23:34one last thing in this box is our lovely award
23:43there's enough for everyone to have a piece
23:51take it proudly but carefully there's some jagged edges
23:57and uh i just want you all to remember that no matter what happened
24:04we're still the best damn news team in the business
24:07team
24:10team
24:14jeez murk you took the biggest piece
24:22of all the funny moms in america only one is the funniest
24:38i'm the single mom and uh what shut up you're so hot how could that be
24:43who will it be
24:44you