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. The ensemble cast also starred Ed Asner, 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 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. The show has been celebrated for its complex, sympathetic 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".
Seasons
Premise Mary Richards (Moore) is a 30-year-old single woman who moves to Minneapolis on the heels of a broken engagement. She applies for a secretarial job at 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 program. 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 Cedar Square West 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.
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. 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.
Characters
Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore), a single native Minnesotan, moves to Minneapolis in 1970 at age 30 and becomes associate producer of WJM-TV's Six O'Clock News. Her sincere, kind demeanor often acts as a foil for the personalities of her co-workers and friends. Lou Grant (Ed Asner) is producer (later executive producer) of the news. His tough and grumpy demeanor initially hides his kind-hearted nature which is gradually revealed as the series progresses. He is referred to as "Lou" by everyone, including Mary's friends, with the exception of Mary herself, who can rarely bring herself to call him anything other than "Mr. Grant". He is married to Edie (Priscilla Morrill), but during the run of the show they separate and divorce. Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), head writer, makes frequent quips about Ted Baxter's mangling of his news copy and Sue Ann Nivens' aggressive, man-hungry attitude. He is Mary's closest coworker and close friend. Murray is married to the occasionally seen Marie (Joyce Bulifant) and, like Lou Grant, he has three biological daughters. Murray and Marie also adopt an orphaned Vietnamese boy during the series. Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) is the dim-witted, vain, and miserly anchorman of the Six O'Clock News. He frequently makes mistakes and is oblivious to the actual nature of the topics covered on the show but, to cover for tormenting insecurity, he postures as the country's best news journalist. He is often criticized by others, especially Murray and Lou, for his many shortcomings, but is never fired from his position. Initially a comic buffoon in the series, Ted's better nature is gradually revealed as the series unfolds, helped along by his sweet, seemingly vague, but frequently perceptive wife Georgette. Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) (1970–1974, 1975, 1977) (Regular, seasons 1–4; Guest, seasons 6–7) is Mary's upstairs neighbor and best friend. She works as a window dresser, first at the fictional Bloomfield's Department Store and later at Hempel's Department Store. Though insecure about her appearance, she is also outgoing and sardonic, making frequent wisecracks, often at her own expense. Like Mary, she is single. She dates frequently, routinely joking about her disastrous dates. Rhoda moves to New York City and falls in love after the fourth season, beginning the spinoff series Rhoda. Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) (1970–1975) (Season 1–5, 7 Guest) is Mary's snobbish friend and landlady. She is in many episodes of the first two seasons, after which her appearances decline in frequency. She is married to unseen dermatologist Lars and has a precocious daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen). She is actively involved in groups and clubs and is a political activist and a supporter of Women's Liberation. Rhoda and Phyllis are usually at odds and often trade insults. After appearing in three episodes of season five, Leachman left to star in the spin-off show Phyllis. In that series, it is explained Phyllis has been widowed. Discovering that her husband had virtually no assets and that she must support herself, Phyllis returns to her home town of San Francisco. Georgette Franklin Baxter (Georgia Engel) (1972–77) (Season 3–7) is the somewhat ditzy girlfriend of stentorian news anchor Ted Baxter. Mary Tyler Moore described her as a cross between Stan Laurel and Marilyn Monroe."She Even Gets Laughs on Her Straight Lines", TV Guide, December 1973. She and Mary get along fantastically, and Georgette helps fill the void created by the departure of Rhoda and Phyllis. Georgette, a co-worker of Rhoda's at Hempel's Department Store, is introduced as a guest at one of Mary's parties. Later, she works for a car rental service, as a Golden Girl, and for Rhoda selling plants. Georgette is devoted to Ted and they eventually marry in Mary's apartment. They adopt a child named David (Robbie Rist), and later, Georgette gives birth in Mary's apartment to a girl who is (temporarily) named Mary Lou. Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White) (1973–1977) (Season 4–7), host of WJM's The Happy Homemaker show. While her demeanor is superficially cheerful, she makes judgmental comments about Mary, exchanges personal insults with Murray, and uses many sexual double entendres, especially around Lou, to whom she is strongly attracted.
Production
When Moore was approached about the show, she "was unsure and unwilling to commit, fearing any new role might suffer in comparison with her Laura Petrie character in The Dick Van Dyke Show, which also aired on CBS, and was already cemented as one of the most popular parts in TV history". Moore's character was initially intended to be a divorcée, but divorce was still controversial at the time. In addition, CBS was afraid viewers might think that Mary had divorced Rob Petrie, Laura's husband on The Dick Van Dyke Show, so the premise was changed to that of a single woman with a recently broken engagement.The Making of the Mary Tyler Moore Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete First Season (Disc Four), Notably, Van Dyke never guest-starred in any episode, although his brother Jerry Van Dyke guest-starred in a couple of episodes during the third and fourth seasons. (Jerry had also appeared in four episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show.)
According to co-creator Allan Burns, Minnesota was selected for the show's location after "one of the writers began talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the Vikings". A television newsroom was chosen for the show's workplace because of the supporting characters often found there, stated co-creator James Brooks. Aside from establishing shots and the title sequence, the show was filmed at the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles.
Kenwood Parkway house
In 1995, Entertainment Weekly said that "TV's most famous bachelorette pad" was Mary's apartment. The fictitious address was 119 North Weatherly, but the exterior establishing shots were of a real house in Minneapolis at 2104 Kenwood Parkway. In the real house, an unfinished attic occupied the space behind the window recreated on the interior studio set of Mary's apartment. Minneapolis architect Edward Somerby Stebbins designed the 1892 residence for S. E. Davis.
Once fans of the series discovered where exterior shots had been taken, the house became a popular tourist destination. According to Moore, the woman who lived in the house was "overwhelmed" by people showing up and "asking if Mary was around". To discourage crews from filming additional footage of the house, the owners placed an "Impeach Nixon" sign beneath the window where Mary supposedly lived. The house continued to attract multiple tour buses a day more than a decade after production ended.
In January 2017, the house was marketed for a price of $1.7 million.
Title sequences
The opening title sequence features many scenes filmed on location in Minneapolis in both summer and winter, as well as a few clips from the show's studio scenes. The sequence changed each season, but always ended with Mary tossing her hat into the air in front of what was then the flagship Donaldson's department store at the intersection of South 7th Street and Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. The hat toss was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as the second greatest moment in 1970s television. On May 8, 2002, Moore was in attendance when cable network TV Land dedicated a statue to her that captured her iconic throw. In 2010, TV Guide ranked the show's opening title sequence No. 3 on a list of TV's Top Ten credit sequences, as selected by readers.Tomashoff, Craig. "Credits Check" TV Guide, October 18, 2010, Pages 16–17. In 2017, James Charisma of Paste ranked the show's opening sequence No. 15 on a list of The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time.