Humor’s Dark Side Will Come Out On ‘Murphy Brown’

When Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) develops breast cancer on her CBS sitcom this season, who will laugh?

Linda Ellerbee, that’s who.

“There’s humor in any life-threatening disease,” says Ellerbee, 52, who had a double mastectomy in February 1992. “Real humor comes from pain. Always. It comes from the dark side. If nothing else, humor is the teddy bear that gets us through the night.”

“Murphy Brown” co-star Lily Tomlin agrees that any subject, no matter how dark, can be funny - as long as it’s handled with taste and experience.

“There’s nothing worse than black humor in the immature hand,” says Miss Lily, who joined “Murphy” last season as FYI’s new producer. “Black humor in a mature hand is revelatory. Life is serious and life is funny, no matter what it is.

“When the going gets tough, the tough lighten up.”

Tomlin’s initial reaction to the breast-cancer story line was mixed, she acknowledges. “I thought maybe it would be more fun to have Murphy go off the wagon, or deal with the fact that she’s aging or has never had a really great relationship. I felt too many people had done breast cancer.”

In its embryonic stage, “Murphy” was based on Ellerbee, although she denies it. Before the show launched in November ‘88, Ellerbee says Bergen and exec producer Diane English called her and pitched their concept of “a network newswoman with a big mouth and attitude problems.”

The duo asked Ellerbee if they could follow her around for a month, but she had just given her notice at ABC. They did have some long chats over the phone, though, and Ellerbee did several guest shots as herself, including one during the first season.

A passionate crusader for breast-cancer awareness, Ellerbee can’t wait for the “Murphy” story line. “Anything that speaks of breast cancer above a whisper is ultimately good for women,” she says. “The silence that has surrounded this disease is directly related to the death rate.”

Once the story line hits, Ellerbee says, the producers should pay her a rights fee.

When “Murphy” debuted, Murphy Brown had just been released from drying out at the Betty Ford Center. Ellerbee is a recovering alcoholic.

“Big mouth, booze, now breast cancer. This woman has got to stop stealing my act.”