‘Murphy’ Adieu Low Key

If you’d asked a fearless forecaster a few years back which long-running comedy would create headline news and a television event with its farewell, the answer probably wouldn’t have been “Seinfeld.”

Instead, the clear choice would have been “Murphy Brown.”

The show and its star, Candice Bergen, were once on a winning streak that earned a trophy case of Emmys.

Sharp, topical humor made the show part of the national dialogue, most notably during Vice President Dan Quayle’s public finger-wagging at Murphy for having a baby out of wedlock.

Funny how things turn out.

At the end of this season, “Seinfeld” will leave at the top of the ratings, if not the top of its game. And it will almost certainly accomplish the staggering feat of seeing its audience grow for each of its nine years on the air.

The also-departing “Murphy” has seemed, by contrast, increasingly like a good friend who did not know when to say goodbye. Long ago the show lost its edge, much of the audience drifted away, and by now no one talks about it.

Some former fans aren’t even sure when it’s on (Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on CBS).

So despite a provocative final year with Murphy contracting breast cancer, the show’s swan song is muted, almost a bittersweet whisper.

“I think our numbers peaked in the fifth year, and since then, you know, we’ve sort of been notching down,” Bergen said.

The decision to do a 10th year wasn’t taken in hopes of increasing audiences, she said.

“Our hope was really to bring the show back to its beginning, to bring the show back to what it had been in its first four years - its best four years.”

Bergen is blunt in calling two of the show’s recent seasons dismal, with the characters losing their focus and the story lines becoming too broad.

“We really just thought if we could get some critical recognition, and feel that we had, kind of, reclaimed our dignity as a show, which I certainly felt had been eroded over time, that that would be enough for us,” she said. “And I think we’ve succeeded in that.”

Blurring the line between comedy and drama this year, “Murphy” has served as an emotional road map for women with breast cancer, and for their families. There was even a revival of the show’s old spirit of tweaking political taboos with an episode in which Murphy smokes marijuana to ease the discomfort of chemotherapy.

“It was weird coming back this year. It was almost like we were doing a new show,” said actress Faith Ford, who as Corky Sherwood has endured 10 years of Bergen’s good-natured backstage mocking of her Southern accent.

Because of the cancer story line, “There was a completely different energy on the set,” she said.

“The way the show was written … it’s just gone deeper. The issues are much deeper and all the humor is back to really strong, heavy character humor.

“I don’t even think we’ve had these kinds of episodes written since the fourth season - or the third season.”

One of the things Bergen says she’s learned from talking to real breast cancer survivors - a passion and desire to embrace life as a gift - is being reflected on the show.

Look for a nostalgic finale in May.