Lawrence Lessig links to a blog post and scholarly article by media wonk Jeff Ubois chronicling his hunt for video of: (1) the the surreal Murphy Brown episode in which the fake newscaster responds to the real VP.

There is, of course, a broader point here: We’ve grown accustomed to a world in which everything is archived forever—in which at pretty reasonable cost, you can track down almost any newspaper report, magazine article, song, or book. But the medium that transformed the 20th century? Mostly inaccessible unless you’re in the business or have a load of money to throw around. On the other hand, I’m willing to bet that these two particular clips will be up on YouTube within 48 hours of Lessig’s post.