They are the courageous truth-tellers who bring you the news from behind the newsroom or anchor desk. They do so in the privacy of homes that are likely to be far more luxurious than their real-life counterparts could afford. Yes, I’m talking about fictional journalists.
(There are a few rules: These people are included based on how good they are as characters, not their skills as reporters. Also, they have to be fictional characters, excluding characters like Tokyo Vice protagonist Jake Adelstein Such real people.
No more hassle…
Murphy Brown – Murphy Brown
Candace Bergen spent a decade playing a sharp-edged TV news reporter in this workplace sitcom.
The show aired on CBS for ten seasons from 1988 to 1998 and was revived for one season 20 years later.
Murphy was a smart and hard-working broadcast journalist who earned his place in the upper echelons of television media.
The character and the show captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s when Murphy was a single mother.
A plot point from the show that drew the ire of then-Vice President Dan Quayle in real life was later written into the show.
Carrie Bradshaw – Sex and the City and That’s It…
If you thought journalists couldn’t live a glamorous life that was the envy of millions… you’d be right.
But that’s not the case for the fictional Carrie (Sarah Jessica Peck) in the original Sex and the City series, both movies, and the Just So… revival series.
Based on the novel by author Candace Bushnell, Carrie wrote about her adventures in New York newspapers. Her work was later adapted into a book collection. By the time “That’s It…” Carrie had already tried her hand at podcasting.
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Mary Richards – The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Mary Tyler Moore played Mary, a Minneapolis television producer in the seven-season series that aired in the 1970s.
The show was known at the time as a show that focused on women’s careers rather than their romantic lives, and was one of the most popular shows at the time.
Its spin-off series “Lou Grant” follows the boss as he becomes a newspaper reporter.
It even inspired a statue of Mary tossing her hat in downtown Minneapolis.
Oscar Madison – The Odd Couple
Both men have been screenwriters on every version of The Odd Couple, whether in film, television or stage.
However, one of them, Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman in the 1970 TV series version), is a sportswriter who, compared to his tidy roommate Felix (Tony Randall), He is a sloppy man.
The most recent version of the TV series The Odd Couple aired from 2015 to 2017, starring Matthew Perry as Oscar.
Bill McNeil – Newscast
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The five-season series was not nearly as popular as NBC’s other sitcoms of the 1990s, but it was revered in some comedy circles.
One of the biggest reasons is Phil Hartman’s character Bill McNeal, a grumpy news anchor.
Hartman’s death after season four led to the show’s end, but the episode’s tribute to Bill was one of the newscast’s most memorable moments.
Considering the sheer volume of shows, it’s rare to experience a main character being honored in this way, which makes this historical episode so important.
Gus Haynes – “The Wire”
In “The Wire’s” fifth and final season, he brought in the Baltimore Sun’s newsroom so creator David Simon could settle some old scores from his days as a reporter.
The moral center of the plot is Augustus “Gus” Haynes, played by Clark Johnson, a no-nonsense reporter who questions the fabulist Scott (Tom McCarthy) and with whom bosses clashed.
The Newsroom plot was a mixed bag, but Gus was the best part of it.
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Perd Hapley – Parks and Recreation
Over its six seasons on NBC, Parks and Recreation built a large community of characters in the town of Pawnee, one of its most endearing being local news reporter Perd Hapley.
The anchor of Ya Heard? With Perd, Hapley (Jay Jackson) is a friendly and familiar face, occasionally awkward, but always tolerant.
The show’s writers gradually revealed more of Perd’s backstory, even revealing that he was once a film critic.
Kermit the Frog – Sesame Street
Not many Muppets are regulars on “The Muppet Show” and “Sesame Street,” but Kermit is, and on the latter, he had a long-running appearance as a television reporter.
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Kermit will appear in news segments, usually interviewing another character.
After Jim Henson’s death in 1990, the new footage reported by Kermit was largely scrapped.
Kent Brockman – “The Simpsons”
Parks and Recreation’s town-wide ensemble is often compared to The Simpsons, and Springfield has its own entertaining news anchor.
That man is Kent Brockman (voiced by Harry Shearer), a mainstay of The Simpsons for over 30 years.
Brockman was a more arrogant version of Purde, coining the phrase: “I personally welcome our new [blank] Overlords.
Tom Gamble-Glenbeau – BoJack Horseman
Netflix’s BoJack Horseman is another show with an extensive animated cast, many of which are animals.
One of the most memorable is Tom Jumbo-Grumbo, a whale news anchor voiced by former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann.
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In the show’s tradition of animal humor, Tom’s network was even called “MSNBSea.”
Clark Kent and Lois Lane – Superman and Lois
In nearly every different incarnation of the Superman mythos, Superman’s alter egos Clark Kent and Lois Lane have worked together in the Daily Planet newspaper.
Most recently, in Superman & Lois , the two (played by Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch) met at a newspaper.
Vivian Kent – Creating Anna
Speaking of a reporter named Kent… The Netflix series Inventing Anna tells the true story of con artist Anna Delvey (Julia Garner) and how she defrauded New York’s high society.
In the show, Anna Chlumsky plays Vivian, a reporter who interviews Anna during her pregnancy and works to cover the story.
The character is loosely based on real-life author Jessica Pressler.
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Danny Concannon – “The West Wing”
An NBC series started by Aaron Sorkin in 1999 about the fictional White House.
The series, which ran until 2005, also featured an aggressive White House reporter.
That would be Danny (Timothy Busfield), who attempts to uncover horrifying information about the Bartlett White House and later ends up with the press secretary (Allison Janney’s C.J. Gregg) with whom he was previously entangled. ) had a romantic relationship.
Aaron Sorkin has also featured many reporters on his other shows, “Sports Night” and “The Newsroom.”
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Herb Welch – Saturday Night Live
One of Bill Hader’s most memorable characters on “Saturday Night Live” was that of Herb, the elderly local news reporter.
He was a frequently moody man, arguing with colleagues on live broadcasts or attacking interviewees with his microphone.
Alex Levy – The Morning Show
The hit series, the first on Apple TV+, stars Jennifer Aniston as Alex, the network television legend and host of The Morning Show.
Alex was a woman who was as adept at handling backstage intrigue as she was running the show, most memorably entangled with her former co-host and sometimes lover Mickey Kessler during the show’s first season.
Alex may not have been Aniston’s most iconic TV character for as long as Friends has existed, but she’s still a central figure on the show.
Will McAvoy – Newsroom
Jeff Daniels’ news anchor character on Aaron Sorkin’s show has a “civilizing mission.”
The mission sometimes succeeds, but Will is far and away the most powerful character in the short-lived HBO series.
Of course, he tends to be autocratic, something he shares with most of Sorkin’s leaders.
But he was also often right about the day’s news.
After so many years of working on television, you probably remember a lot more reporters.
Why not jump into the comments and share your favorites?
