A Fond Farewell to Mary Tyler Moore

Weamp8217ve lost Mary Tyler Moore Fortunately and thanks to her we will always have Mary Richards Fact is I might not be writing this column amp8211 or any columns about television amp8211 for MediaVillagecom or anyplace else were it not for the singularly sensational The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the magnificent leading lady of the title It was the weekly experience of watching this show during my youth that made me realize I wanted to work inamp160andoramp160near televisionamp8220One out of two ainamp8217t badamp8221 as Maryamp8217s friend Rhoda might have saidThe passing of a beloved celebrity always brings forth wave after wave of heartfelt tributes often tinged with nostalgia and thoughtful recollection This one is no different I realize that Mary Tyler Moore and Mary Richards are not the same individual But for the many millions of us who spent so many Saturday nights with them back when Saturday was the best night of broadcast television and countless hours in the decades since enjoying repeat viewings in syndication on Hulu on cable on YouTube and on DVD the two Marys always will be merged as one Say does anyone remember that time in the Eightiesamp160when NBCamp8217s New York station ran three consecutive episodes of MTMamp160early on MondayThursday mornings following Late Night with David Letterman Or how tired everyone seemed to be back thenThe timing of Maryamp8217s passing only adds to the sense of loss It was only two months ago that Grant Tinker her second husband left us Tinker was even more directly responsible for my eventual career path And it was only last month that CBS treated viewers to a primetime telecast of two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show the sitcom that made Moore famous colorized for contemporary consumptionamp160and as funny as everA couple of weeks ago I was immersed in the Winter 2017 Television Critics Association touramp160 The TCA meets twice yearly for multiweek marathons of press conferences and previews of upcoming programs on all networks and streamers The tours can be productive punishing or both Regardless it is not uncommon for those of us who fall into the Boomer or Gen X demographics to keep our sanity while being bombarded by all the potential next big things to gather together from time to time and talk about our favorite episodes of MTM Although amp8220Chuckles Bites the Dustamp8221 from season six is usually prominent in features listing the top TV episodes of all time it rarely comes up in our conversations amp8220The Lars Affairamp8221 is always my No 1 followed by amp8220The Dinner Partyamp8221 both from season four amp8211 the first two episodes to feature Betty White as Happy Homemaker Sue Ann NivensThe other episodes that come up most often are amp8220Put on a Happy Faceamp8221 the one with Maryamp8217s hair bump from season three and amp8220My Brotheramp8217s Keeperamp8221 also from season three in which busybody neighbor Phyllis the priceless Cloris Leachman freaks out when she thinks her beloved brother Ben is dating her nemesis Rhoda Valerie Harper also golden When Rhoda matteroffactly tells Phyllis that Ben is not her type amp8211 because he is gay amp8211 Phyllis responds amp8220Oh Iamp8217m so relievedamp8221 amp160Among the many accolades this show has over the decades received for breaking new groundamp160this one is often lost MTM was the first series on American television to present a gay character as a perfectly ordinary person who was neither stereotypical nor political and whose sexuality mattered not one whit to anyone around him This was in 1973 ImagineI may be wrong about this but I believe MTM was also the first show to feature a recurring character who was never seen or heard amp8211 Phyllisamp8217 husband Lars a Swedish dermatologist with many memorable quirks like refusing to eat unless he knewamp160he could floss when he finished who often drove Phyllis to distraction like the time he cut up her credit cards and put her on a budget or the time he had an affair with Sue Ann in the aforementioned amp8220The Lars Affairamp8221 There were comical lines about Lars even in the final two seasons of the show when Phyllis had been spun off into her own series the character having relocated to San Francisco after her husband39s untimely passingAm I rambling Maybe so But thatamp8217s the way it always goes when discussing this show Its sevenseason run which started amid the latter years of the Vietnam War continued through the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon and ended shortly before the first Star Wars movie was released telecast its final episode with that legendary group hug another TV first 40 years ago this March From its big guest stars amp8211 including Walter Cronkite First Lady Betty Ford and Johnny Carson amp8211 to its treasured little details amp8211 Maryamp8217s M Rhodaamp8217s etc Bess39 B Maryamp8217s pumpkin cookie jar that round stained glass window in the hallway outside Mary39s dooramp160amp8211 there had never been a show quite like it and there hasnamp8217t been one sinceConsiderHas there ever been a sitcom that showed the changing of the seasons throughout each of its seasons as seen through the glass doors leading to the porches in both of Maryamp8217s apartments If I have one complaint about MTM it is the decision to move Mary from her apartment at 119 North Weatherly after Rhoda and Phyllis had both left town to that soulless one bedroom in that horribleamp160highriseHas there ever been a more expertly edited opening title sequence of a comedy series than those for the first four seasons of this show The fourth one remained largely unchanged throughout seasons five six and seven Pay close attention to the images of Mary in Minneapolis and at WJMTV in those montages they are cut in a way that is almost kinetic right in step with perpetual conflicting motion and movement all to the unforgettable notes of the showamp8217s iconic theme song the best TV theme song ever by the wayHas there ever been a situation comedy that produced sitcom spinoffs Rhoda Phyllis and a drama spinoff the allseriousbusiness multiple Emmy Awardwinning Lou GrantHas there ever been a sitcom that mixed so many vivid primary characters amp8211 Mary Rhoda Lou Ed Asner Ted Ted Knight Murray Gavin MacLeod Phyllis Georgette Georgia Engel Sue Ann amp8211 with so many unforgettable recurring ones like Phyllisamp8217 daughter Bess Louamp8217s wife Edie Murrayamp8217s wife Marie Rhodaamp8217s parents Ida and Martin Maryamp8217s Aunt Flo Gordy the weatherman Chuckles the Clown and that nameless young blond guy who was always seen toiling away in the background at WJM Who was he anyway and did he ever have a line of dialogueThis column may read more like a tribute to MTM than to Maryamp160but there would have been no show without the woman herself a television industry trailblazer in every way and following in the footsteps of Lucille Ball a brilliant businesswoman who coowned her own TV production company In every way Lucy and Mary set the stage for everything that would come as TV progressed from its infancy to adulthood especially where women were concernedI had the good fortune to meet Mary Tyler Moore several times and each of our brief conversations was aamp160thrill That39s another reason why her passing is so personal to me Hereamp8217s another I took my mother in 1995 to a tribute to Mary at the WaldorfAstoria in New York Midway through the evening my mother visited the powder room where she found herself standing next to the honoree in a long line My mother recalls that many women offered to let Mary cut the line suggesting that she shouldnamp8217t be made to wait in the middle of her big night Mary wouldnamp8217t hear of it insisting that she wait her turn and happily chatting with the women next to her including my mother while doing soIamp8217ve written too much and yet not nearly enough about the show and the woman that started it all for me and millions of others tooamp160 Iamp8217ll stop nowamp160 But my last word on the subject is a deliberate choiceamp8220Meowamp8221amp160amp160amp160amp160amp160Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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A Fond Farewell to Mary Tyler Moore

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A Fond Farewell to Mary Tyler Moore

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