The
Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 4 provides More Favorites
by
Kristin Battestella
The
Fourth 1973-74 Season of The
Mary Tyler Moore Show is
yet another award
winning entry thanks new characters pushing the envelope as beloved
friends depart the series. Risque plots, affairs, separations, and
age gaps remain focused on the people we love in the first quarter of
the season thanks to supporting turns and past guests returning to
cause mayhem at home and in the newsroom.
Henry
Winkler (Happy Days)
unfortunately,
is the odd man out at the little table when there aren't enough
chairs in one of my Mary
Tyler Moore
favorites “The Dinner Party.”
WJM's flirtatious Happy Homemaker host Sue Ann Nivens insists on
arranging everything for Mary's impromptu party after interviewing a
congresswoman at the station, but BFF Rhoda says she thought Mary
knew her parties always end in disasters and gruff boss Lou Grant
takes too much of the Veal Prince Orloff. Mary thought no one else
knew she's a terrible hostess and the sophisticated eating schedule
all goes awry, but it's wonderful. Likewise, the surprise party in
“Happy Birthday, Lou!” makes our boss as cranky as ever –
especially when he gets caught hugging and tickling his wife in the
newsroom. Lou hates surprises, leading to one at a time doorbell hi
jinks where everyone has their moment of hatred because Lou won't let
anybody get sentimental and affectionate. Landlord Phyllis Lindstrom
also gets her real estate license in “Cottage For Sale” and wants
to sell Lou's house for $50,000 – a tidy sum when he originally
paid $18,000! Lou, however, isn't quite pleased, packing but unable
to throw anything away and dropping hints to Mary about how miserable
he is. The Mary Tyler Moore
Show tackles
the progress versus sentiment triangle with unique role reversals as
Mary supports Lou's memories and Phyllis pushes the escrow. Work and
home collide again when Mary's idea to produce a Sunday afternoon
talk show in “The
Co-Producers” gets off to a bad start because it was actually
Rhoda's idea. The two decide to collaborate, but the station insists
anchorman Ted Baxter and Sue Ann Nivens host the program, leading to
pesky fashion insults, fake compliments, and who's name will be first
debates. No one likes anybody's ideas, and Mary is caught in the
middle between flattering her stars or laying down the law in another
ensemble episode that let's everyone do what they do best. “Best of
Enemies,” however, humorously tears the camaraderie when Rhoda lets
it slip that Mary lied about being a college graduate on her WJM
application. Rhoda doesn't think it's a big deal, Mary's shocked at
her insensitivity, and Lou's just glad Mary isn't the only person on
earth who always tells the truth. Though such a rift is slightly
contrived, The Mary Tyler
Moore Show utilizes
our ladies' diverging paths
for embarrassing apologies and friendly innocence. Lou says the
application didn't matter – Mary was right for the job because she
said “excuse me” when she bumped into a desk. Who is nice enough
to apologize to an inanimate object? Ted's shy girlfriend Georgette
represents the audience's fear over not having our besties together,
ultimately uniting them with adorable awkwardness about garbage.
The
Mary Tyler Moore Show has
addressed age relations previously and “Angels
in the Snow” is slow to get rolling as Mary frolics but questions
if twenty-five is too young to her thirty-three. Our ladies don't fit
in with the changing, groovy times, and Mary dislikes the boys in the
office telling her this is a youthful mistake. Despite a few great
scenes, the twee mellow misses the mark today. “Two Wrongs Don't
Make a Writer” also has similar writing classes done better earlier
in the series. Mary waxes on writing a novel while Ted ad libs the
news in verse. Lou can't kill him on the air because there are
witnesses and the physical comedy is superb, but Ted's intrusion in
the classroom embarrasses Mary when he steals her story. He's
confused over the “write what you know” adage, and the individual
moments work in small doses. If you catch this half hour as a one off
on television, it's pretty priceless, but in a twenty-four episode
season marathon, it's too derivative. This entry does however give us
the title of Lou's long gestating war novel: Too
Many Foxholes and Not Enough Love. Fortunately,
“Better
Late...That's a Pun...Than Never” leads to late night giggles and
disastrous obituaries when Mary's bemusing send off to Minneapolis'
110 year old citizen is read on the air. Lou's insistence that the
news must remain sacred is interesting to hear in this day of
sarcastic fakery and social media, and Mary is suspended two weeks
without pay for her innocent breach. Initially she accepts this
rather than being fired, but she resents being treated like a child
and quits over the suspension. It may seem like small potatoes to us
today, but taking a stand is not easy – especially when Mary
strikes out at subsequent interviews for being qualified but too
attractive for the job. For any other program this would be a typical
leaving but not really leaving entry, but The
Mary Tyler Moore Show provides
a delicious breakdown when Mary can't take it and wants to come back,
but a new female associate producer has already taken her place. Lou
also wants to shake things up with an on location feature in
“I Was Single for WJM,” nixing Mary's sixties nostalgia idea in
favor of a singles club that's the new rage. Although she'll play a
different character in two episodes when Mary moves in Season Six,
here guest Penny Marshall (Laverne
& Shirley) is a shy
girl at the bar amid all the cliché come ons and awkwardness. The
camera crew scares the crowd, too – leaving our ensemble live in an
empty bar with dead air to fill in an excellent season finale.
Mary
Richards says age is not a big deal, but she likes her short hair,
pantsuits, and being an over thirty professional. Mary is an
associate producer – she's not going to do all Ted's little jobs
anymore and wants more difficult, challenging duties. Though
cautious, Mary's excited when her documentary gets great reviews. Her
biggest secret, however, is getting home late and pretending not to
see a note from Rhoda. She feels silly talking to plants but isn't
surprised by obscene phone calls, for her father was a doctor and
she's heard those terms. Head cheerleader Mary was at the top of the
pyramid and wears Minnesota Vikings shirts, but she gets over the
notion of firing someone when the Lothario sportscaster comes on to
her in “Hi There, Sports Fans.” Mary asked Mr. Grant for more
responsibility, but the firing before the hiring leaves Ted filling
in and her working hard to find a replacement – only to be
disappointed when all the new sportscaster has to do is read three
scores. It's also nice to see The
Mary Tyler Moore Show isn't
always setting up Mary anymore. She's had proposals, but she's a
career woman, end of story. When Mary
does briefly date an anchor from the superior Channel 8 in “WJM
Tries Harder,” she's jealous at their overwhelming newsroom and
embarrassed by her own last in the ratings, laughable little station.
She fears her idea to hire college stringers looking for hot tips
will backfire if they get the wrong story, but Mary sticks to her
guns and for once, WJM gets the scoop. She's tired of people making
light of her problems as cute or little when she's miserable, so
Mary's going to stand up for herself. Window dresser Rhoda
Morgenstern believes Mary's life is a shampoo commercial, but she's
looking like a sassy, confident professional herself when not
apologizing to her fern or misting the plants in Mary's apartment.
Rhoda complains it would take a minute and fifteen seconds to read
her old love letters, and the thought almost makes her bored enough
to call her mother. At the hockey games, she likes to sit by the
penalty box so she can pick up players, and Newman/Redford movies are
her favorite because it is two fantasies for the price of one. The
Mary Tyler Moore Show uses
Rhoda to go for broke in the romance department, for she makes her
mother cry by saying the first man already won't be her husband, and
the answer to THAT question is when she was 20, and no it didn't hurt
at first. Of course, Valerie Harper will soon depart for her own spin
off, and parents Nancy Walker and Harold Gould guest star in “Rhoda's
Sister Gets Married” as a semi soft launch with a trip to New York
for Rhoda's little sister's wedding. Although much of the Morgenstern
family history will be retconned on Rhoda,
Ida
and Martin are offended
by the thought of Mary staying in a hotel instead of with them –
insisting she sleep on the couch while airing out all the family
angst.
Rhoda, however, mixes business with pleasure after meeting the
grandson of the store owner in “Love Blooms at Hemples.” She's
afraid to take a chance or scare him off too soon, and Mary tells her
to stop inventing reasons to date beneath herself. At last Rhoda
looks happy, classy, and sophisticated as the episode alternates
between Mary's office success and Rhoda's romance – permanently
defining their individual sitcom paths.
WJM
boss Lou Grant blames Mary for telling him an idea was wonderful
instead of rotten. He's glad when she has some producing success but
annoyed it means he can't ask her to do dumb things like bring him a
jelly doughnut or make the coffee. She's excited when he makes her an
omelet for working on a Saturday – until she tastes his secret beer
ingredient – but Lou's long lunches mean something's wrong in the
Emmy winning “The Lou and Edie Story.” He wants to talk to Mary
man to man but he can't because she can't call him Lou. He tries to
act naturally about seeing a marriage counselor, and The
Mary Tyler Moore Show uses
the workplace camaraderie to built mature characterizations as Ed
Asner puts on a humorous one man struggle. Lou has to get it off his
chest, but he can't talk – a drinking middle aged authority
grappling with trouble at home for the first time. He takes out his
anger on everything from suitcases to fruit instead of saying what
needs to be said. Lou doesn't understand Edie's need to know who she
is without being someone's Mrs., asking her not to leave until he
gets home so the house won't be empty. For a comedy The
Mary Tyler Moore Show makes
a surprisingly tender episode in an era where separations were not
dealt with on television.
In “Lou's First Date,” Priscilla Morill's (Newhart)
Edie is attending an awards dinner with someone else, so Lou intends
to impress her with a great date himself. Unfortunately, he's
mistakenly set up with a grand, but old, old
lady, and Ed Asner's physical comedy shines in superb looks and
reactions as exasperated Lou is nervous, embarrassed, and finally
able to respect his classy date. A bottle of beer and Oreo's is Lou's
idea of a single man's breakfast in “Just Friends,” so Mary
brings him cereal, wake up calls, and does his laundry. Lou intrudes
until she agrees to spy on Edie, who misses Lou but doesn't want him
to think a dinner invitation means they are getting back together. Of
course, he acts like everything is how it was, unable to accept the
titular concept as The Mary
Tyler Moore Show once
again uses frank wit to address the shocking notion of the friendly
post-divorce. In “Lou's Second Date” Rhoda attends an awards
dinner with Lou, and they actually have a good time because there is
no pressure or awkwardness. Sue Ann is jealous, however, and the
station loves to gossip. Rhoda and Lou resent the implications, but
neither is going to cancel dinner or miss a good hockey game because
others ruined it for them.
Ted
Knight's cream soda drinking anchorman Ted Baxter brags when his
weekend is “sin-sational” and wants to announce it on the air but
objects to reporting live on the scene without his sport coat. He
hates when everyone knows something before him and Ted's jealous when
he isn't asked to narrate a documentary about chimps – and the
chimp gets the last word on him. Ted turns to sportscasting to make
himself a renaissance man and tries wearing ridiculous platform
boots, but he thinks he can't be taken seriously because he's too
good looking. He also thinks he can put a drop of black hair dye in
gradually for seven days and no one will notice the difference. When
the League of Women Voters wants Ted to run for city council in “We
Want Baxter” Lou drinks and Murray gets ulcers, but Phyllis insists
he is an honest, controllable candidate. Lou points out the conflict
of interest, but Ted sincerely thinks he can do some good. He also
lost a school election and wants to prove himself, and a few goofy
campaign ideas make Ted seems witty – until he forgets to register
so he can vote. Ted's more shocked when his dad visits in “Father's
Day,” and pretends he has lost his voice to not speak to his
father. The Mary Tyler Moore
Show balances
the serious abandonment questions with humor as Ted shows off his
fake autographs from famous folks and tells his father about that
infamous 5,000 watt
Fresno start. Despite the tender changes in Ted, he still struggles
to sign the check when his father asks for a loan. Ted has Monopoly
in his dressing room because he works hard and plays hard, too. He
hires Rhoda to design his awards campaign in “Ted Baxter Meets
Walter Cronkite,” for bribing the judges last year didn't work.
When Ted finally wins, he's so overcome by the recognition and
approval it almost bamboozles the titular meeting of his hero.
Georgette encourages Ted to mend things with his dad and supports all
he does, but Georgia Engel's innocent girlfriend doesn't want him to
get into politics or become successful if that means he has less time
for her. She takes shorthand notes for his production meetings,
adding adorable little asides when she disagrees. Unfortunately, Ted
takes her for cheap drive thru dinners and offers a lame mouth to
mouth explanation for his dalliance in “Almost a Nun's Story.”
Her one woman retellings of Ted' shenanigans are endearing –
Georgette is tired of crying over him and we agree she should live it
up and have fun for herself. When unhappy Georgette sees men who
don't compare to Ted, she decides to do something good and join a
convent, leading to some great mistaken flirtations with an
unconventional nun as Ted realizes he misses Georgette. Now she
gets to lay down the law on their relationship.
The
late Cloris Leachman's landlord Phyllis Lindstrom loves to point out
people's nerve when they stick around after a humiliating experience.
Phyllis strikes out and wonders if she lost her charm, but after
failing at writing and sculpting, she knows she was born to sell real
estate. She's also too much of a real woman and that threatens men,
so she has her husband Lars trained to call home every fifteen
minutes because their relationship is built on trust. Her naive
denials about her marriage make for an Emmy winning scene stealing
performance, but of course, the Season Four premiere “The Lars
Affair” introduces Betty White (The
Golden Girls) as
The Happy Homemaker Sue
Ann Nivens. In front of the camera she is all about getting the
stains out, a sweet and helpful persona contrasting her behind the
scenes maneater tendencies and passive aggressive corrections. Her
crew hates her, too, even unplugging her oven to ruin her show. The
unseen Lars, however, gives Sue Ann a ride home, and the all night
body shop repair excuses and collars cleaner when he comes home
evidence is all the newsroom gossip. Viewers don't see the scandal,
of course – delectable performances carry the innuendo – but the
final blows between the ladies come down to chocolate and a ruined
souffle. The Mary Tyler
Moore Show combines
the at home and show within a show, threatening Sue Ann to keep the
under the sheets away from her public image, and it's fascinating how
when the series started, Mary couldn't be a divorcee and now we have
wickedly humorous
adultery. Murray Slaughter hates when he's in a Monday mood and
humming Mary is just so chipper, but Gavin MacLeod always has
delicious zingers for Ted. The anchor wants to talk man to man with
his writer, but Murray says they are one short. Once again, he has
little else to do but jab from his desk, and a few family mentions
seem inconsistent, but Murray's fifteen year old daughter takes a
summer job at the station in “I Gave at the Office.” Murray
doesn't want to be one of those
parents, but the covering for her does come between Murray, Mary, and
Lou. It's a little reminiscent of previous incompetent hires running
amok in the office, but Lou can't swear, Ted's playing matchmaker,
and it's interesting to see how a small change effects the entire
newsroom dynamic. If they ever carpooled, Murray says he, Lou, Mary,
and Gordy would be in one car with Ted in another, and yes,
weatherman Gordy is referred to often but only appears in one episode
this season when he replaces Ted as an anchorman. Gordy sarcastically
tells Ted he's more content with the weather, but after his troubles,
Lou gives Gordy a raise so WJM won't lose him. Of course, this is
John Amos' last appearance until a guest spot in Season Seven –
after Gordy has gone on to be quite successful. Chuckles the Clown
also makes a zany appearance when Jerry Van Dyke returns for “Son
of “But Seriously, Folks”.” The writer has quit the station for
freelance but isn't doing well and applies for a news writer position
so he can strike up again with Mary. She feels guilty that he likes
her more and their working together becomes increasingly difficult
thanks to a terrible idea to film the news in a new behind the scenes
casual format hysterically mixed with drunken disappointment and
disastrous rejection.
The
new Year Four credits for The Mary Tyler Moore Show are
a buzz with elevators, city high rises, and working girl content when
Mary's not washing her mustang and not enjoying the inflated price of
beef. Such solo outdoor scenes and workplace shots reiterate how our
series is growing up compared to the tacky colors and grandma looking
doilies on The Happy Homemaker set. Mary's apartment is spruced up
too with more plants, tables, chairs, and a new bookcase wall
visually expanding the space – even if the location doesn't make a
lot of sense when we see more use of the house stairwell. There's
fondue, vintage popcorn makers, and nostalgic charm like removing
your earring to talk on the rotary phone. Far out boutiques sell
metallics and platform boots while bell bottoms, wide lapels,
and wild plaid pants match the chunky bracelets and brooches as each
character is firmly suited in his or her own swanky style. Newcomers
step in to The Mary Tyler Moore Show without missing a beat as
viewers say goodbye to beloved players, and Season Four continues the
trail blazing, award winning success with laughter for all.
