Murphy Brown Reboot Promotes Vegan Thanksgiving Message

A recent Thanksgiving episode of 1990s sitcom reboot Murphy Brown, which premiered this fall, promoted a vegan message about what turkeys experience before they become food. In the episode, main character Murphy Brown invites her friends and colleagues to her house for a Thanksgiving meal. As she tries and fails to cook a turkey, Pat (played by Nik Dodani) explains to the other guests how turkeys spend their short life trapped in a cage with thousands of other turkeys before becoming food. Pat, who is a vegan, brings his own Thanksgiving meal, which consists of soy steak, sausage, and turkey, and is the only one who gets to eat while the others watch with envy. Candice Bergen, who plays title character Murphy Brown, is an outspoken animal-rights activist who has partnered with nonprofit Mercy for Animals (MFA) to create an undercover video exposing the horrific abuse of chickens raised and killed for Tyson Foods, and also appeared on the cover of MFA’s magazine, Compassionate Living. “Candice Bergen has been one of the most important voices for social justice in prime-time television, and that includes animals,” Ari Solomon, vice president of social impact, Mercy for Animals, told VegNews. “We were thrilled to see the Thanksgiving episode of Murphy Brown educate its millions of viewers about the cruelties endured by turkeys raised and slaughtered for food.”