I can never figure out how in the world Murphy Brown got so popular in TV. Because when it debuted in 1988 it became one of CBS's hit sitcoms but why I think it became popular was because they wanted to see how great Candice Bergen would do in a sitcom and I truly think Murphy Brown got good ratings because of Candice Bergen and because of this Candice's popularity began to explode like a rocket by also being spokeswoman for Sprint commercials and it was simply because Murphy Brown was the show where Candice Bergen got to show her comic side. My mom and I used to watch Murphy Brown in reruns and I thought that it was an okay sitcom but it's one of those sitcoms that started the trend of sitcoms set in journalism and news offices. And NBC would continue this sitcom trend with Newsradio and Madman Of The People in the 90's. But what's shocking is that you don't see Murphy Brown reruns shown anywhere anymore
Bestie

I thought it was funny for a while. I think that it had high ratings for a while because CBS put it on a night with other new programs while ABC and NBC were showing mostly movies and foitball.

I think that Murphy Brown was considered fresh and cutting edge for its time when it first came out. I don't think that there were too many American sitcoms in 1988 or so that regularly mentioned then-contemporary political figures. This was long before stuff like The Daily Show or any other forms of political satire on TV. And the Dan Quayle controversy likely added to it due to the "Streisand effect" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StreisandEffect) and what not.

It became popular with some people because of its left wing politics. Because the media is left wing they all touted it as a heroic show. That's it.