The Mary Tyler Moore Show Case (Part 2)

Favorite Episodes

This week we continue discussing the ground-breaking Mary Tyler Moore Show.

So, let’s turn on WJM-TV and watch the 6-o-clock news. Tonight’s topic continued from last week: the history of The Mary Tyler Moore show!

  • Love is All Around

    • Season 1 episode 1

    • In the season pilot Mary Richards breaks up with her longtime boyfriend Bill and makes the big move to Minneapolis. Her friend Phyllis finds her a nice apartment that her neighbor Rhoda believes belongs to her. Lou Grant hires her at news station WJM, not as Secretary which she came in to interview for, but as Associate Producer. 

    • The pilot episode laid the groundwork for a fantastic show. It introduced all the characters and their dynamic flawlessly, and showcased how Mary was a capable woman on her own. 

  • Support Your Local Mother

    • Season 1 episode 6

    • In this episode we hear more about what Rhoda does for a living and get to meet her mom. It was rare for a TV show to express such complex relationships with its supporting characters so early on. This episode resonated with a lot of people that have difficult relationships with their parents. 

    • “It’s not a card, it’s a curse.”

  • The Good Time News

    • Season 3 episode 1

    • In this episode Mary finds out that the previous associate producer (who was a man) made $50 more than her and approaches Lou about it. They disagree about her pay, but Mary knows that the conversation isn’t over. Mary also wants station WJM to try a new format in order to gain more viewership by having Gordy (the weather man) balance Ted out in announcing the news. 

    • This episode is important because it broaches the pressure and pay difference that comes with being a woman in charge. It was groundbreaking to show a woman asking for a raise, something that is still sensitive today. 

  • Just Around the Corner/You’ve Got a Friend

    • Season 3 episode 7 & season 3 episode 11

    • In episode 7, Mary’s parents move into an apartment just around the corner and are constantly checking up on her.

    • In episode 11 Mary’s dad is bored of retirement and Mary tries to find him a friend. She starts with Lou but then decides she should try to be a friend to her father. She invites him over to dinner so they can get to know each other better as he spent a lot of time at work over the years as a surgeon.

    • Though these two episodes are a few apart, they are forever linked for those that saw them. At the time what happened on tv was not exactly a reflection of what the youth were doing. Mary was portrayed as a “good midwestern girl.” Shows, including MTM had to tow the line in order to make it past network executives and censors. As the seasons went on and the show continued to grow in popularity, Mary became more outspoken. In the first of these two episodes, Mary is shown going out for the night and does not return until 8 in the morning (in the same dress she had worn.) A few short weeks later Mary’s mother calls out to Mary and her father, “Don’t forget to take your pill!” The pair of them reply “I won’t!” This implied that Mary was on birth control, which was a huge landmark. The producers did not want judgment to fall on Mary, and so they allowed the comment to quickly be moved on from and instead focus on the relationship between her and her father. Silverman explained its significance by saying, “Had it had something to do with Rhoda it wouldn't have had that effect, because Rhoda was something of a rebel. If Mary was taking the Pill, it gave the stamp of approval for sexuality.”

  • My Brother’s Keeper 

    • Season 3 episode 17

    • Phyllis’s brother Ben comes to town. Phyllis intends for Mary and Ben to become acquainted and possibly date. But to her chagrin, he hangs out with Rhoda. At the end it is revealed that Ben is gay.

    • Though the gay rights movement was on Silverman’s mind at the time, it was a pure chance that this episode would include this issue. The original script had Ben and Rhoda together but when actor Bob Moore showed up, Sandrich decided to run with this opportunity as the actor himself was gay. Though Sandrich had wanted the news broken lightly to Phyllis, Harper fought for the line to be delivered abruptly and factually. She won out and it earned one of the longest audience laughs but not at the character Ben’s expense.

      • It was incredibly important that Rhoda didn’t gently break the news, because this showed the audience that there was nothing shameful about it, it was just the truth. 

  • The Lars Affair

    • Season 4 episode 1

    • In this episode we meet The Happy Homemaker, Sue Ann Nevins. Phylllis finds out that Sue Ann and her husband Lars are having an affair and asks Mary for help when Sue Ann refuses to give him up.

    • This is Betty White’s first episode! She did so well that they eventually brought her on as a regular cast member. Sue Ann was not only a single woman on TV, she was always on the lookout for a hot date. She became the queen of double entendres and was a fan favorite. 

    • Notice how in this episode, Phyllis never considers leaving Lars, and instead blames Sue Ann for the affair. This is a definite sign of the times. 

  • The Dinner Party

    • Season 4 episode 10

    • In this episode Mary throws a dinner party for congresswoman Margaret Geddes. She only has 6 chairs at her table and must carefully plan it. Of course, things don’t go according to plan. 

    • Henry Winkler guest stars as Rhoda’s date!

  • Will Mary Richards go to Jail? 

    • Season 5 episode 1

    • In this episode Mary refuses to reveal a source and is put in the county jail for the night. She meets a couple of women that are heavily implied to be sex workers (another big deal for American television). 

    • This episode would be the closest MTM would come to discussing the famous Watergate scandal. It is brought up that if news people are forced to reveal their sources then they would have no news to give the people for everyone would be afraid to come forward with information. 

  • Not a Christmas Story 

    • Season 5 episode 9 

    • In this episode, Murray and Ted are fighting about a new introduction to the news. They have brought Mary and Lou into the disagreement. While everyone is upset with each other, they end up being stuck at the station together due to a bad snowstorm. Tired, angry, and hungry, they are forced to attend Sue Ann’s Christmas in November party. 

    • “News from around the world and around the corner.” or “around the corner and around the world.” 

  • Edie Gets Married

    • Season 6 episode 1

    • In this episode Lou and Mary have a hard time attending the wedding of Lou’s ex wife, Edie. 

    • This episode highlights the strong bond between Mary and Lou, and how their friendship has grown over the years. The episode ends with the newsroom cast singing “Darktown Strutters Ball.” 

  • Mary’s Aunt 

    • Season 6 episode 6

    • In this episode, Mary’s Aunt Flo comes into town for a visit. As a famous journalist with differing views, she and Lou do not quite get along like Mary had hoped.  

    • This episode highlights how much Mary admires her aunt, just like Moore did in real life. Flo is the person that convinced Mary to go into journalism. 

    • At the end of this episode, Lou talks about how women like Flo paved the way for women like Mary, explaining that she isn’t “nice,” because she’s had to be tough as nails her entire career. 

  • Chuckles Bites the Dust

    • Season 6 episode 7

    • TV Guide once named this episode as the single funniest episode of a TV sitcom. It is the most well-known episode of Mary Tyler Moore, and many point to it as the best showcase of Moore’s comedic chops. 

    • In this episode, WJM’s Chuckles the clown dies in a freak peanut/elephant accident. The station deals with his death in different ways. 

    • When the show began in 1970, the main character couldn’t be divorced. By season 6, the characters were laughing about death on screen! It shows how much changed while the show was on the air. 

  • Lou Dates Mary 

    • Season 7 episode 23

    • In the penultimate episode of the series, Mary is fed up with dating and afraid that she won’t ever find the right man. Georgette points out that Lou might be a good fit, and Mary reluctantly asks him out. The two give it a chance, only to realize that they would never work as a couple. After an incredibly awkward dinner, the two share a kiss that ends in a laughing fit. 

    • The showrunners and Ed Asner reportedly wanted Mary and Lou to be a couple, but Mary Tyler Moore disagreed. So this episode was meant to shut out any idea that the two characters would ever be together romantically. 

  • The Last Show

    • Season 7 episode 24

    • In the final episode of the series there is a new head of the station and he decides that the only employee to stay with WJM will be Ted Baxter. The team must say goodbye. This tear-filled finale was the perfect ending of the show, saying goodbye on a bittersweet note. Because the characters must go their separate ways, just like the actors, many of the tears in the finale were real. 

    • Mary gives a beautiful monologue that sums up the lesson of the show; that even though she’s a career woman, it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have a family. 

    • The most iconic moment from the final episode is the newsroom group hug, just after Lou utters that heartbreaking line, “I treasure you people.” 

    • 19.2 million Americans tuned in to say goodbye to Mary and the rest of WJM-TV on March 19th, 1977. 




Awards/ Reception

  • The seven years that Mary Tyler Moore aired resulted in the show being nominated for many awards over the years. According to IMDB it has been nominated 82 times with a total of 45 wins. Twenty nine of these were Emmy wins with a win for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1975, 1976, 1977. For several years, this show that ran for only 7 seasons held the record for the most Emmy wins. 

  • Mary Tyler Moore had several spinoffs including Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant. The first two shows ran simultaneously to Mary Tyler Moore, but the third began after MTM wrapped. 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the world was rapidly changing, but TV was woefully left in the past. Divorce, casual sex, single women that weren’t widows, these were concepts far too taboo for TV. Enter Mary Tyler Moore: a woman starring in a show bearing her name, produced by a company also bearing her name. She and her then-husband managed to put together a team that created one of the most celebrated shows in TV history, all while remaining true to her feminine self. She showed the next generation of actors and storytellers that change could be made. 

Mary Tyler Moore is still considered to be one of the greatest sitcoms ever created, led by one of the most iconic ensemble casts. Just like its opening promised, it represented the “freedom, exuberance, spontaneity, and joy,” of making it on your own, but never alone. Mary Tyler Moore taught us all a lot of things. And if we try to remember even some of them, we might just make it after all. 

 

We’d like to thank our Patrons! Joel, John, Jacob,, JD, Anthony, Shelli, Linda, Bob, and Jaren!

You can now buy us a Popcorn! @  buymeacoffee.com/blackcasediary   

Thank you to all that support us whether it be through listening, telling a friend, or donating!

Sources:

Film History, Podcast, 70sBlack C. DiariesMary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, Part 2