Great
Promise in Memorable Mary Tyler Moore Season One
by
Kristin Battestella
Everybody
toss your tam o' shanter!
The
1970-71 twenty-four episode debut of The
Mary Tyler Moore Show introduces
viewers to the idealistic Mary
Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) as she moves to Minneapolis after a
broken engagement, rents an apartment above Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris
Leachman), and becomes best friends with Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie
Harper). Mary accepts a job as associate producer at the perpetually
low rated WJM-TV News under boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner) alongside
writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) and incompetent news anchor
Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) in the “Love is All Around” premiere, and
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
keeps
the situation refreshingly simple without any drawn out crass
jokes about being ditched. This move is an opportunity to get on with
life complete with at home misunderstandings, newsroom bustle, and
borrowed flowers from the formerly intended doctor. Bemusing
interruptions and subtle winks accent the likable start – although
the ratings demographics age twenty-nine cut off means Mary isn't a
young person anymore in “Today I am a Ma'am.” She's shocked to be
called ma'am by a younger mail boy, adding to the debate about why
older single women can't live perfectly happy lives. Of course, Mary
and Rhoda resort to some desperate dates in this the first of many
romantic snafus and party mix ups with awkward asides in Mary's tiny
kitchen. The Mary Tyler
Moore Show addresses
ageism, looks, settling for a stinky guy, and the embarrassment of it
all with early episodes spending time establishing the domestic
because it was more common to see the women's dilemmas there than in
the witty office bookends. In “Divorce Isn't Everything” The
Better Luck Next Time Club for Divorced People has a meeting with all
the expected come ons as everyone seeks something from somebody by
both oversharing or under false pretenses, and it's just like social
media! The humorous turnabouts highlight the typical talk of a woman
sprucing herself up after a divorce for a new man and why aren't you
married yet or how is a girl like you single intrusions. The
Mary Tyler Moore Show goes
beyond its titular star with more scenes featuring the ensemble as
the season progresses, balancing on the job happenings with the old
school snow footage, local election coverage, and retro telethon
style of “The Snow
Must Go On.” WJM vows to stay on the air until a winner is declared
despite short staff, power outages, and down phones. They have no way
to know the numbers and hours of air time to fill in this well-edited
bottle show with onscreen ad libs and behind the scenes mayhem. The
Second Annual Television Editor Awards also puts the office a flutter
for “Bob and Rhoda and Teddy and Mary” while Rhoda's steady seems
to be “group dating” both her and Mary, combining the jealousy
and awards gags as the delightful discomfort ensues.
Not
only does Mr. Grant's cameraman nephew film existential ants at the
scene of a fire, but he's a little too handsy in “He's All Yours”
and brags about it in the newsroom. Although her colleagues defend
Mary's good reputation, they also want the juicy details and refuse
to believe that nothing happened. Phyllis' Freudian psychology
likewise backfires in another charmer rebuffing ageism and sexism as
the older ladies refuse a younger jerk. The holiday classic
“Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid II” captures everything this
Mary Tyler Moore Show debut
is about with our single gal alone at the station on Christmas –
guilt tripped into working by veteran family men because what's the
holiday to one who has nobody? From the nativity scene said to be in
Mary's desk drawer and the two inch tree she leaves on Mr. Grant's
desk to the White Christmas and adults snooping in the presents, a
wonderful nostalgia accents the sadness of the season amid radio
chatter, scary night shift noises, and charming Nutcracker dances.
When offered more money as a ladies talk show producer at a rival
network in “Party Is Such Sweet Sorrow,” Mary can't afford not to
take the job. Although she respects how Mr. Grant took a chance on
her and it's a little early for The
Mary Tyler Moore Show to
have a quit/not quit plot, it's important for her to make a
resounding career choice alongside the touching goodbye party moments
and coworker repartee. Hey, I'd like to go ice skating with Mary and
Murray on their lunch hour for “Just a Lunch!” Unfortunately, a
rugged ace war reporter who's married but says he is separated wants
more from the uncomfortable Mary after their business lunch. What
happens to the other gal when a separated man goes back to his wife?
Mr. Grant knows a charming man's man is dangerous to a lady, but Mary
insists on defeating this taboo flirtation herself before “Second
Story Story” addresses our lady living alone fears when her
apartment is robbed. She's upset that a stranger has been in her home
– and stolen her new cape
– but Mary shouldn't have to apologize for being emotional after a
burglary. While the crusty cop versus the officer interested in Mary
aspect is thin, character moments that would become one of the
series' hallmarks shine as Mary fumbles through the giant phone book
looking for the police number and Rhoda screams for help to make them
arrive faster.
Pat Finley (The Bob Newhart Show)
guest stars as overbearingly perky receptionist Twinks in “A
Friend in Deed.” She thinks one week of camp with Mary in 1950
means they are BFFs and makes Mary her maid of honor in another
somewhat typical plot, but The
Mary Tyler Moore Show gets
the always the bridesmaid never the bride ugly dress out of the way
before the “The
45-Year-Old Man” Season One finale. The headhunting new station
manager has Mr. Grant's penciled in next, causing resistance with
talk of unions, strikes, and protests. The cowboy stuff is a little
silly, but guest Slim Pickens (Blazing
Saddles) as WJM owner Wild
Jack Monroe is won over by Mary in what is clearly her apartment
redressed as his rodeo penthouse. Although perhaps a letdown as a
finale, this half hour ironically mirrors the famous series finale
with threats of the ax, tissues, and hugs.
In
addition to some stereotypical storylines, The
Mary Tyler Moore Show also
has the occasional off
color term with Oriental and native throwaway lines alongside
convenient who speaks Spanish or French references and other
inconsistencies or changes. Casually mentioned relatives are also
never heard of again, and the balance between humor and seriousness
is off for “Keep Your Guard Up.” This first mostly office plot
has a former second string football player turned insurance salesman
hoping to be a twenty grand a year sportscaster, and it's frustrating
when Mary can't help everyone who inevitably preys on her kindness.
Early on The Mary Tyler
Moore Show there
isn't a lot of the
character development to come, but rather a more traditional
situational focus with Mary amid the usual sitcom plots. Although
this makes the series a little typical before it finds its own
progressive footing, it's probably smart to endear the audience with
familiar tales coming from the gal they loved on The
Dick Van Dyke Show. Associate
Producer Mary, however,
is really still little more than a then more socially acceptable
secretary making coffee, filing papers, doing mailers, and answering
the phones. It's also somewhat silly how everyone acts like they
can't hear the tete-a-tetes in Mary's kitchen or Lou's office when
there are only mere partitions between them. John Amos (Good
Times) as
weatherman Gordy is also
mentioned several times before appearing in a mere four episodes –
usually for a sarcastic comment about erroneous weather predictions
or people mistaking him as the sportscaster. We're told he's married
with a daughter and expecting another, yet there was no reason for
Gordy not to be featured more. Valerie Harper's then husband Richard
Schaal (Slaughterhouse-Five)
is also repeatedly stuck as both the obsessive Howard and his dull
screenwriter brother Paul in the clunky “Howard's Girl.” Though
originally aired in January 1971, when viewing back to back now after
the stellar Christmas charmer, this half hour is even more of a let
down with supposedly cute bungling made too awkward and an
embarrassing visit to meet Paul's parents – who of course, praise
Howard to the point of it being asinine. Even the View-Master
nostalgia can't save this one.
Late
Golden Globe winner Mary Tyler Moore's Mary Richards made the
decision to leave her two year engagement to a doctor who couldn't
say I love you and objects to being asked personal questions that
have nothing to do with her qualifications in a job interview –
before admitting she is a non-smoking thirty year old Presbyterian.
She may have left college early for this broken proposal but won't
settle, and the blasé doctor and over the top Howard back to back
provide Mary a chance to turn down the wrong men early even if she
has trouble being forceful in awkward situations. Subtle dialogue
also suggests she can relate to being the only virgin in college, and
there are winks about what a man wants from a girl like her or what
she is missing by being unmarried. Mary is known to keep brandy
stashed in her upper cabinet, too, however, the innuendo doesn't get
nasty, and Mary remains ridiculously neat and unable to call Mrs.
Morgenstern or Mr. Grant by their first names. She sews for Rhoda and
paints furniture but says her popular cheerleader days maybe weren't
that happy,
for she drove a used brown Hudson and sneezed while playing the dead
Juliet. Mary admits she
isn't good at exerting authority and knows people think they can take
advantage of her long fuse, but by the end of the season, her hair is
pulled back and she wears more pants, already having grown up in this
debut. Unfortunately, Mary takes off her heels and slouches, worrying
she is a self-conscious height bigot in “Toulouse-Lautrec Is One of
My Favorite Artists” after hitting it off with an author shorter
than she is. Wonderful sight gags, Freudian slips, and witty
opposites accent the Emmy winning direction as Mary's short versus
tall dating and newsroom action collide. Mary's audited in “1040 or
Fight,” too, thanks to her eighteen cents postage due and
deductions on $15 worth of shoes under “office supplies.” Of
course, when the accountant falls for her charms, the water cooler
implication is that the pillow talk helped in her audit. Again rather
than saucy, The Mary Tyler
Moore Show keeps
the superior banter
adorable with grazing kisses and mixing business with pleasure
politeness. Now if only we all owed $16.73 on our taxes! Although the
crabby can get tiring with repeat viewings, there are some gems in
“Hi!” when Mary has her grown back tonsil (yes just one) taken
out and grates with her hospital roommate Pat Carroll (Cinderella).
The too small nightgown, arguments over the black and white hospital
television and its giant remote clicker at $7.50 a day, too much ice
cream, and Mary's embarrassment over it all become a sort of goodbye
to girly childhood, and who knew that the WJM News is actually a
great show if you view it as comedy.
Here
before her own eponymous spin-off, Emmy winner Valerie Harper's sassy
New Yorker Rhoda Morgenstern says Mary's life is a Walt Disney movie
compared to hers. She makes lists of single men, listens to the
downstairs apartment through the heater vent, and is often in a
battle of insults with Phyllis when not getting stuck in the lotus
position. Store window dresser Rhoda makes more money than Mary but
resents how Mary resolves everything with a smile. Not to mention she
has the better apartment and doesn't know how to decorate it, unlike
Rhoda's attic study in hot pink, beaded curtains, bean bags, and fur.
She was overweight when in her school marching band, still wishes she
could have surgery to remove exactly eleven pounds of fat, and
insists chocolate goes straight to her hips. Initially, we don't know
much else about Rhoda beyond the fat jokes – she's dressed down in
frumpy tent dresses or baggy sweatsuits just to visually contrast
Mary. Even her eating bacon or steak isn't so much about not keeping
kosher as it is splurging on a diet, and Rhoda thinks a magnifying
mirror makes her face looks like moon craters. Fortunately, rather
than being just crude jabs, such zingers and flaws make the character
human. Rhoda does catch a wealthy boyfriend for “Smokey the Bear
Wants You.” She's aware a guy doesn't choose her over Mary often
and thus is willing to overlook their suspicions that he's in
organized crime – until he wants to leave his then cushy thirty
thousand a year VP position to be a forest ranger making a mere ten.
City girl Rhoda doesn't do the outdoors, over-packing for a hike to
win this opposites attract romance in a singular performance from
Harper. Although Rhoda doesn't write as often as her overbearing
mother would like, we understand the need for her to breakaway, for
when she sends money home, her mother uses it to buy gifts and guilt
trip Rhoda with sentimental cards. Nancy Walker's (McMillan
& Wife) first visit as
Ida Morgenstern in the award winning “Support Your Local Mother”
leaves Mary caught as the go between as Ida tries sticking money in
her pocket while they chase each other around the pullout over Ida's
feigning to leave for a five buck a night motel.
She's
self-absorbed and thinks it is the worst thing that Mary's not
getting married, but Oscar winner Cloris Leachman's (The
Last Picture Show) Phyllis
Lindstrom confesses it sucks surrendering her ego to her boring and
perpetually unseen dermatologist husband Lars. Phyllis has a degree,
sculpts, learns Esperanto, and follows all the latest fads – from a
dance to end capital punishment and being frozen after death to
beating a table with a chain to age it while working off her inner
hostility. Mary reluctantly hires Phyllis for $82.57 a week in
“Assistant Wanted, Female.” However, Phyllis refuses to let the
schedule tie her down and objects to the term assistant because it is
inferior to coworker. Lou, on the other hand, wants to fire “Princess
Margaret Rose” immediately. Billed as a Special Guest, Leachman
appears in half the Season One episodes, mostly early in the season
before Phyllis is mentioned or spoken to on the phone. Lisa Gerritsen
(also of the spin-off Phyllis)
as Phyllis and Lars' daughter Bess also appears in two early
episodes. In “Bess, You Is My Daughter Now,” she dons her
mother's make up and wig before acting out and locking herself in the
bathroom. Bess calls her mother by name, and Phyllis lends Mary all
the in vogue child rearing books when Bess stays with her while Lars
has chicken pox. Mary's caught between being a responsible grown up
and a caring friend letting a kid be a kid – but it's all fun
complete with a delightfully seventies feel good shopping montage.
Unfortunately, thanks to superb writing with great, cranky
punchlines, Ed Asner's (of the post-Mary
drama Lou
Grant, too)
often knackered and gruff but lovable boss Lou Grant gets upset when
he can't curse around kids or guests in the newsroom. He respects
Mary's moxi even if he hates her spunk and gets tough if her work is
rotten because he likes giving her difficult jobs in which she learns
to be more assertive. Lou has no compassion or patience for Ted's
stupidity, yet he buys a knock off trophy as an award for the
newsroom, protects Mary as if she were one of his own daughters, and
says he's happiest at WJM. Sure their news show is unsuccessful, but
Mr. Grant delegates blame and knows how to play upon Mary's guilt.
Lou turns down Mary's invitations in “The Boss Isn't Coming to
Dinner” because he and his unseen wife Edie have separated. While
he's happy to be empty nesters, she goes back to college at
forty-three in this sympathetic battle of the sexes. Why would a
middle-aged housewife want a PhD in home economics? Lou acts like the
prospect of “Doctor and Mr. Grant” doesn't bother him and
protests Mary's advice, however, he eventually comes around and
invites Mary over to eat the leftovers from Edie's Home Ec test.
Gavin
MacLeod's (The Love Boat)
sarcastic
news writer Murray L.
Slaughter has all the insults for Ted but becomes a nosy pal for
Mary. Murray says Ted can't say anything intelligible unless he
writes it, yet when donning a gray wig to fill in for the sick Ted,
Murray begins acting just like him. While Murray would sail to Tahiti
if he could, he loves his family and settles for wallpapering his rec
room. Joyce Bulifant (Match
Game) as Murray's pregnant
wife Marie appears in two episodes, and scenes featuring Murray and
Ted's banter increase as the season progresses with “We Closed in
Minneapolis” as a late season spotlight. Murray's been writing a
play for three years, and after several rejections, Ted submits it to
the local theater just so he can play the lead. Everyone says it is
very good play, but the life imitating art plot is too much thanks to
a drama critic's scathing review. Lou thinks Murray is a terrific
news writer and wonders why that isn't achievement enough, and in
retrospect, this is an interesting episode with Mary saying her life
ambition is to be a wife and mother – which doesn't happen –
while Ted wants to do a show called The
Ted Baxter Show – which
kind of does. Ted Knight's (Too
Close for Comfort) vain
anchorman Ted Baxter is completely unaware he is a buffoon and not
the star he thinks he is. He can't pronounce big words like
“Chicago,” thinks Albania is the capital of New York, and forgets
to remove his make up bib before going on the air. Lou calls his
giant cue cards “Idiot Cards,” and Ted reads the stage directions
on them such as “take off glasses” and “look concerned” out
loud. Ted goes to bed early so he can be up to read reviews on his
news the night prior and thinks he deserves to win a Teddy award
because his name is Ted. His acceptance speech about his humble start
at a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno is also always at the ready.
Cheap and upset that Chuckles the Clown gets more fan mail, Ted
regularly asks for a raise even if he's afraid of Lou – who says
waiting for Ted to get to his point is like expecting a sneeze. Ted
gifts everyone autographed records of The
Year in Review as Told by Ted Baxter but
when drinking admits he
is merely a shallow newsman resembling Cary Grant. At least the
ratings go up when audiences watch WJM News to laugh at him. In
“Anchorman Overboard,” Ted steps in as guest speaker for Phyllis'
women's club. Unfortunately, he isn't good at public speaking without
written answers from Murray but nonetheless wants their first hand
applause.
Creators
James L. Brooks (Taxi) and Allan Burns (The Munsters), most frequent director Jay Sandrich (Soap),
and writers David Davis (Rhoda) and Lorenzo Music (The Bob Newhart Show) craft a cohesive
format, but of course, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
opening titles and “Love is All Around” theme song here in
Season One aren't the most famous versions. Mary's bon voyage party
and drive to Minneapolis fittingly match the doubtful lyrics before
that soon to be iconic hat toss. The closing instrumental music will
also change, yet I like this brassy, swanky rendition. Today no entry
level single gal could afford Mary's then $130 a month bachelorette
pad, but it too changes slightly with the brown pullout couch's
position varying per episode along with that vintage turntable and
teeny television set. It's also fun to see the play acting phone
etiquette and hefty old flash bulb cameras with unraveling film. Mary
always has a pumpkin cookie jar on her kitchen counter amid more mod
yellow chairs, stained glass windows, and shag carpets contrasting
the retro workplace hubbub with pencil sharpeners, file folders, big
calculators, horseshoe phones, and clickety clacking typewriters. And
look, it's the old school long way to make coffee! The office desks
also change their fourth wall angle, and the newsroom has big
television sets, huge cameras, giant headsets, and those fancy clocks
with all the times around the world. They need to borrow a dime for
the payphone, call in for the weather report, and collect trading
stamps instead of coupons, yet the quintessentially seventies Mary
Tyler Moore Show is surprisingly
still very sixties here in Season One. Miniskirts, flip hair
blowouts, tall boots, and fur coats feel innocent and girly, but
there's a touch of the maturing seventies to come with plaid pants,
pantsuits, vests, longer quilted skirts, paisley patterns, wide
collars, and big belts in Mary's realistically repeating wardrobe.
Even if the print on The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season
One DVD is somewhat flat and some episodes appear to be slightly
edited syndication versions, the on location Minnesota establishing
shots are time capsule treats. There's no play all
and the sound is sometimes uneven per episode or even from scene to
scene, but the three discs with eight episodes each contain several
commentaries. A fourth disc also includes vintage promos, Emmy
clips, and fluff such as a photo gallery and trivia, but it's the
superb The Making of The Mary Tyler Moore Show behind the
scenes documentary that's worthy of a review in itself. Produced by
Ed Asner, this hour and a half features interviews in by chapter
options as cast and crew discuss everything from the follow up
concepts born post The Dick Van Dyke Show and
the turn of the seventies to timely feminism and early ideas
on Mary Richards as a divorcee. Female writers Treva Silverman (The
Monkees) and Susan Silver (Square Pegs) pushed the
envelope as the unique Minneapolis setting, visual styling, and
casting process came together despite early network interference from
CBS not wanting a Jewish character. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
struggled to get off the
ground with an initially terribly received pilot and bad time slots
before character chemistry and great scripts brought debut success.
The
Mary Tyler Moore Show is the
kind of series where you don't want the happy little half hours to
end. It's easy to marathon this must see television with several
video, over the air reruns, and streaming options available, and as I
said in my Top Ten Favorite Shows List, I can't go a few weeks without a Mary Tyler Moore Show
viewing cleanse. This debut remains intelligent and positive
for nostalgic elders, millennials seeking mature comedy, or families
wanting to watch a safe laugh with the kids. Truly any audience can
and should begin the love with The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season One.
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