Murphy's Law

This series hit American TV at the same time as Candace Bergen's "Murphy Brown" series. A lot of viewers probably thought this was a repeat of the "Murphy Brown" episode they already watched.

The characters were D.P. Murphy (George Segal) a maverick insurance investigator who always managed to catch the frauds. But was he appreciated by his employers? Hardly.

Wes Harden (Josh Mostel) was his ally in the company although in the first episode he is more of a taskmaster.

Victor Beaudine eventually became Murphy's nemesis in office politics.

Kimiko (Maggie Han) was his lover and roommate who worked as a model and perhaps also as a flight attendant.

Murphy was a divorced, recovering alcoholic with a daughter that his ex would not let him spend time with.

My favorite episode was really two episodes--a two-parter--about a woman who is sent in to manage the department and her name is De Sade. The running gag is that it is pronounced "Du Saaaade" not "DeSahd" like the name of the inventor of "sadism." Yet she really is a sadist. If that pair of episodes were available I'd buy them (they would fit on one tape, of course). Unfortunately, the whole show is not on VHS or DVD. I bought a tape for $20 that turned out to be the pilot episode. One episode only. I would not recommend this, and it seems to be all that is out there. Further, the tape I got is technically poor in quality, recorded at extended play (EP) speed instead of the higher quality SP. That stinks.

Somebody says you should catch this show in reruns. Where? Where?

I agree entirely with the previous comment. I'm in the UK, and only have the standard 'terrestrial' TV service (I refuse to pay extra for satellite), so I guess it wasn't until long after the show was axed that I first saw it, and unfortunately it's never been repeated as far as I know here in the UK on terrestrial TV. This WAS an excellent series, and very much deserved a far longer run. There was precious little 'fresh' shows around when this came out, and I guess it was before its time. The feisty character played by Han, and Segal's laid back Murphy sparked off one another in a delightful and always entertaining way. Cohabiting a cavernous apartment, which appeared to be an entire floor of a warehouse, Han was frequently drawn in to Murphy's investigations, whether she wanted to be or not. Catch if you can.

I remember really, really enjoying this show. It had fantastic writing and great rapport between its actors. I had high hopes for a long run. No such luck for this show. Despite the above mentioned qualities, it was canceled after one season.

I thought that both George Segal and Maggie Han did a great job with unorthodox characters. Who ever heard of an ex-alcoholic insurance investigator living with a extremely beautiful Asian model? Their living situation was even more odd. The apartment they shared was basically one big room, so their respective areas were separated by a wool blanket hung from the ceiling. It was one of the few shows with an Asian character that wasn't terribly pigeonholed into a typical Asian stereotype. Her character was a breath of fresh air in the late 80's.

If you ever get a chance to catch it in reruns, I highly recommend watching it.