The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (also known simply as Mary Tyler Moore) is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970, to March 19, 1977. Moore portrayed Mary Richards, an unmarried, independent woman focused on her career as associate producer of a news show at the fictional local station WJM in Minneapolis. Ed Asner co-starred as Mary's boss Lou Grant, alongside Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight, Georgia Engel, Betty White, Valerie Harper as friend and neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern, and Cloris Leachman as friend and landlady Phyllis Lindstrom.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
"Love Is All Around", written and performed by Sonny Curtis
United States
English
7
168 (list of episodes)
James L. Brooks
Allan Burns
25–26 minutes
September 19, 1970 –
March 19, 1977
The Mary Tyler Moore Show proved to be a groundbreaking series in the era of second-wave feminism; portraying a central female character who was neither married nor dependent on a man was a rarity on American television in the 1970s.[1] The show has been celebrated for its complex, relatable characters and storylines. The Mary Tyler Moore Show received consistent praise from critics and high ratings during its original run and earned 29 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series three years in a row (1975–1977). Moore received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series three times. The series also launched three spin-offs: Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked The Mary Tyler Moore Show No. 6 on its list of the "101 Best Written TV Series of All Time".[2]
Premise[edit]
Mary Richards (Moore) is a single woman who, at age 30, moves to Minneapolis on the heels of a broken engagement. She applies for a secretarial job at fictional television station WJM, but the position is already taken. She is instead offered the post of associate producer of the station's six o'clock news. She befriends tough but lovable boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Mary is later promoted to producer of the show, though her duties remain the same.
Mary rents a third-floor studio apartment in a 19th-century house from acquaintance Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman); Mary and upstairs neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) become best friends. Characters introduced later in the series include the acerbic, man-hungry hostess of WJM's Happy Homemaker show, Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), and soft-voiced, sweet-natured Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel), as Ted Baxter's girlfriend (and eventual wife). At the beginning of season 6, after both Rhoda and Phyllis move away (providing a premise for two spinoffs), Mary relocates to a one-bedroom apartment in a high-rise building; Minneapolis's Riverside Plaza was used for establishing shots.
From the beginning, issues such as workplace discrimination against women figured into episode stories. In the third season, issues such as equal pay for women, pre-marital sex, and homosexuality are woven into the show's comedic plots. In season four, marital infidelity and divorce are explored with Phyllis and Lou, respectively. In the fifth season, Mary refuses to reveal a news source and is jailed for contempt of court. While in jail, she befriends a prostitute (Barbara Colby) who seeks Mary's help in a subsequent episode. In the highly rated sixth-season episode "The Seminar", Betty Ford appears in a cameo role, becoming the first First Lady to appear on a television sitcom.[4] The show's final seasons explore death in "Chuckles Bites the Dust" and juvenile offenders in "Mary's Delinquent"; Ted suffers a heart attack; Ted and Georgette contend with intimate marital problems, deal with infertility, and adopt a child; and Mary overcomes an addiction to sleeping pills. Mary dates many men on and off over the years but remains single throughout the series.
One of the show's running gags is Mary's inability to throw a successful, problem-free party. Various disasters throughout the seasons include the break-up of two of Mary's closest friends; an insufficient amount of food due to unexpected guests; a power failure while attendees await the arrival of a high-profile guest of honor (Johnny Carson); and the birth of Ted and Georgette's baby.
Broadcast history[edit]
United States[edit]
For most of its broadcasting run, the program was the lead-in for The Bob Newhart Show, which was also produced by MTM Enterprises.[29][30]
Home media[edit]
The entire series was released on DVD in Region 1 between 2002 and 2010. Originally, season 1 was housed in a multi-panel fold-out digipak in a slipcase, while seasons 2-4 were issued in a slipcase, with each disc being housed in its own slim case. Starting with season 5, each season was issued in a standard 3-disc DVD keepcase, and seasons 1-4 were reissued in the same style of DVD packaging. The discs from each of these releases were repackaged in 2018 as a complete series set.
On the season 7 DVD, the last episode's "final curtain call", broadcast only once on March 19, 1977 (March 18 in Canada), was included at the request of fans.[33] However, some of the season 7 sets did not include the curtain call; a replacement disc is reported to be available from the manufacturer.[34]