In the fall of 1990, Murphy Brown won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. That win, paired with star Candice Bergen’s second consecutive win for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (she would win three more), gave the show the boost it needed after two seasons of critical acclaim but only okay ratings.

Previously unable to crack the top 25 in the season’s Nielsen ratings, Murphy Brown soared into 6^th place during the 1990-91 season, making it CBS’ highest ranked series in the Monday night at 9:00 timeslot since M*A*S*H, during the 1982-83 season. This high ranking allowed CBS to even win the timeslot over ABC’s powerful Monday Night Football, which finished in 9^th place.

Murphy Brown climbed even higher the following season, as an unexpected pregnancy storyline helped the series finish 3^rd in the Nielsen ratings, easily topping 12^th-place Monday Night Football. The season concluded with Murphy giving birth, and Bergen and the series each winning another Emmy. However, by the time the statues were awarded, Murphy Brown was in the news for another reason.

Vice President Dan Quayle gave a controversial speech in May of 1992, criticizing the character of Murphy Brown for becoming a single mother. While Quayle was widely ridiculed for chastising a fictional character, he may have been fortunate that the press’ focus was on that brief Murphy Brown reference, rather than on his highly offensive remarks about poor people having “a poverty of values,” even though Quayle was born into a wealthy family.

Murphy Brown got revenge on Quayle with remarks at the Emmys and in the season opener, which defended single parents. The show’s popularity continued unabated during the 1992-93 season, as it finished 4^th, still leading 7^th place Monday Night Football. The series received its last Best Comedy Emmy nomination in 1993, as the baby storyline and the departure of creator Diane English led to criticism that the show had passed its peak.  

The 1993-94 season was the beginning of a slow decline for Murphy Brown. While it remained in the top ten at 9^th place, it ceded the number one spot in its timeslot to Monday Night Football, which placed one spot higher in the Nielsen ratings. The following season, Monday Night Football widened its lead with a 5^th place finish, with Murphy Brown dropping to 16^th. NBC’s movie finished only slightly behind in 19^th place.

Murphy Brown only slipped two places to 18^th in the ratings for the 1995-96 season. However, the competition was fierce, and Murphy Brown finished behind both Monday Night Football in 5^th place and NBC’s movie in 14^th.

Not only was Murphy Brown facing tough competition, but the aging series had lost supporting cast members Robert Pastorelli, Pat Corley, and Grant Shaud. Lily Tomlin joined the cast to replace Shaud in the fall of 1996. Now in its ninth season, Murphy Brown continued to trail its ABC and NBC competition, falling into 34^th place. With the comedy Cybill achieving slightly higher ratings following Murphy Brown at 9:30, CBS moved it up to 9:00 that spring, yielding improved results.

CBS decided to keep Cybill in the slot for the fall of 1997, with Murphy Brown moving to Wednesday for one season. While Murphy Brown lasted nine years on Monday at 9:00 (longer than any CBS sitcom), Cybill only held the slot for half of a season, the first time CBS changed the timeslot occupant at mid-season since the 1977-78 season.

Cybill was felled not only by the strength of Monday Night Football, but also by comedy competition from NBC and Fox. NBC dropped its longtime movie and moved Caroline in the City, a hit on Thursday and Tuesday, now in its third season, to Monday at 9:00. Fox, which had been a non-factor in the timeslot, added a quirky hourlong show, Ally McBeal.

While Monday Night Football dominated the slot, NBC, CBS, and Fox ran a close race for the remaining viewers. CBS essentially gave up on Cybill at mid-season, sending it to Wednesday night for a few weeks, canceling it, and burning off its remaining episodes after the regular season ended. It finished 50^th in the season’s Nielsen ratings, slightly behind Caroline in the City (47^th) but ahead of Ally McBeal (57^th).

However, Ally McBeal became a media sensation, and its ratings grew as the year progressed. CBS replaced Cybill with the Bob Newhart/Judd Hirsch comedy George & Leo, which had been airing at 9:30 on Monday with ratings similar to Cybill. The increasing popularity of Ally McBeal, the inexplicably solid ratings on yet another version of 20/20, debuting after Monday Night Football concluded its season, along with the comedy competition of Caroline in the City, was too much for the relatively new George & Leo. It finished 54^th for the season, and yielded the Monday at 9:00 timeslot to a new Tom Selleck comedy, The Closer, in the spring. George & Leo was canceled after just one season.

Selleck became a hot property again after a successful story arc on Friends. Originally, Selleck was to team with former Taxi writer and Newhart and Coach creator Barry Kemp; however, the two had creative differences, and Selleck agreed to star in a different series with new producers who had less impressive resumés.

The Closer performed well in its premiere segment before sinking like a rock. Finishing in 84^th place, it was the lowest-rated sitcom ever for CBS in the Monday at 9:00 slot. After the show’s cancellation, executives criticized Selleck for reportedly overrating his knowledge of comedy.

Everybody Loves Raymond was the little comedy that could. Debuting in 1996 in a terrible Friday night timeslot, it barely held on during its first season. A move to Monday at 8:30 late in the season saw the show’s ratings increase dramatically, although it still wasn’t a big hit. Airing in the slot for a full season in 1997-98, it finished a solid 32^nd in the Nielsens. The increasing ratings and the press waking up to the show’s charms gave CBS the confidence to move Everybody Loves Raymond to the Monday at 9:00 slot for the fall of 1998.

While Monday Night Football continued to be unstoppable (4^th place), and Ally McBeal took a leap in the ratings to 23^rd place, Everybody Loves Raymond became the most successful sitcom in this slot in years, with an impressive 11^th place finish. The Emmy Awards finally recognized the underrated series with six nominations at the end of the season. Lead Actress Patricia Heaton took home the series’ first trophy. The following season, Raymond was in 12^th place in the Nielsen ratings, not far behind Monday Night Football, which was in 7th place.

As the new century began, CBS would continue to enjoy years of stability on Monday nights at 9:00.