She had a recurring role in the television series "Murphy Brown" which provided her first period of success, playing Audrey, the smart but awkward girlfriend of producer Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud). Leeves also appeared as the troublesome Marla the Virgin in four episodes of "Seinfeld": "The Virgin", "The Contest", "The Pilot", and "The Finale – Part 2". During this period, Leeves was cast as Holly for the pilot of the US version of the science-fiction comedy "Red Dwarf." She also had a role as a lesbian avant-garde dancer, the girlfriend of the girlfriend of Willem Dafoe’s character, in the 1985 film "To Live and Die in L.A."