Yea, as I recall, Dan Quayle was the one who made the original comment that made Murphy Brown the symbol of tawdriness in media. But it was a larger conversation about the messages generally in movies, TV, and music. Bob Dole did refer specifically to the Murphy Brown episode after which Frank Rich saw fit to jump on Dole and deconstruct his complaint.
I am in total agreement on Frank Rich's idiocy. I was out of the country during the 96 campaign, so I was spared much of the stupidity.