"I'M SURPRISED, IN THE first place, that Quayle watches Murphy Brown," Johnny Carson cracked last week, just a couple of monologues before his last appearance as host of the Tonight show. "Isn't that opposite F Troop on cable?"
Forgive the easy Dan Quayle joke. (Was there ever a better week for easy Dan Quayle jokes?) Carson hinted at something important: there's a lot more on TV than Murphy Brown. If the Vice President is correct in suggesting that the behavior of prime-time characters can affect the behavior of real-life people, then the issue is not just Murphy Brown. It is the...