I miss Murphy Brown

I haven't got cable in a couple of weeks (long story) and to be honest, I like having the tv on as 'white noise' when I work, so I decided to put on some of my DVDs in order to, well, get some white noise, and also, remember why I bought them in the first place. Also, a very good friend of mine lent me some of his copies of the different shows he has been watching, so I'm pretty much set.

But after checking The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Burn Notice (Which I loved, being a Bruce Campbell fan), and Buffy, I made my way to my lonely Murphy Brown season I set, and with the first episode something struck me.

There is no 'modern' Murphy Brown.

Sure, there are a lot of great female characters in the new tv series I've been watching (and I'm sure in some of those I haven't been watching). While I wish I could wring Jhon Connor's neck, the interaction between Sarah and the new Terminator are interesting and intriguing, if it wasn't because the new Terminator falls in the 'strong, tough young girl' category that seemed to kindle after Buffy. Fi, the female co-lead of Burn Notice, as well as Mr. Weston are quite strong in their own way, but sometimes Fi strucks me as a bit of a pshyco, and Mr. Weston... well, her role in the show is basically be Michael's mother. I won't say the female detectives, DA's and judges on Law and Order aren't great, each in their own way... but even so, I still feel like there's something missing there.

Another series I've been watching is Damages, starring Glenn Close. Now, one could argue that if I wanted the slot of 'tough, no no-sense, strong lead female', Patty in Damages is pretty much it. Except that, unlike Murphy (And, in her own sitcom, Ellen, and probably a couple I'm missing from the 90's), Patty is a very manipulative and cruel woman. I'm hooked with the series, I won't lie, but I wouldn't like to be Patty's friend, the way I would've loved for Murphy to be my aunt back when I watched the series the first time.

I'm not saying there aren't great female characters in today's TV, and maybe it's the kind of shows that I watch, the kind of shows that get released in my country. But I spent the last 24 hours trying to come up with a modern equivalent of Murphy, and the closest I got was... well, House. But he's a guy, so it's not quite the same.

If anyone has any suggestions for a modern Murphy, I would love them.

Oh, and btw... does anyone knows if Season 2 was ever released on DVD?