LIFE The Mary Tyler Moore Show

By Meredith Corporation

Fifty years ago, a half-hour sitcom first appeared on CBS. The Mary Tyler Moore Show starred its namesake actress as a new kind of TV woman: professional, unmarried, independent. And very, very funny. This special edition of LIFE delves into the seven-season Emmy-winning mega hit, including its beloved cast of quirky characters, the top-10 episodes, special guests and several spin-off series, that changed television in powerful and lasting ways and painted a new picture of the American working woman.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Release date: Dec 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781547854905

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A New Kind of Woman

Television comedy had never seen anyone quite like Mary Richards. A beautiful single woman more interested in her work than in finding a husband? That was TV heresy

MARY TYLER MOORE, LIKE the character of Mary Richards, was a rare blend of elements. Her innate charm and gracious style met with an undisguised ambition and a steely determination. Altogether, it made for an irresistible personality.

SHE REALLY could turn the world on with her smile, as the indelible song said.

Mary Richards wasn’t the first beloved television character created by Mary Tyler Moore—that distinction belongs to housewife and mother Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the 1960s series that made audiences across the country fall in love with Moore’s impeccable comic timing and her winning, plucky personality. But there’s no question that the heroine of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the defining role of Moore’s life, the character with the most reach, the most influence, and whose indomitable spirit offered viewers a portrait of a working woman unlike any they had seen before on TV.

When she arrived on air, ready to start a new life in Minneapolis in 1970, Mary Richards was such an anomaly that CBS executives worried that audiences might think there was something wrong with her—after all, why wasn’t she married? (The St. Petersburg Times referred to the character as a 30-year-old spinster.) Although Mary, in character, explained that she ultimately would love to have a family, she said she wasn’t ready to settle down until the right man came along. So until then she found love, acceptance, and support from her workplace family: sweetly sarcastic news writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), arrogant, insecure anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), and curmudgeonly father figure Lou Grant (Ed Asner). Flamboyant neighbor Rhoda (Valerie Harper) became like a sister to her, with landlady Phyllis (Cloris Leachman) occupying the territory of something like a dizzy, busybody aunt.

All those loved ones kept her busy. As in any life, Mary Richards encountered her share of good times and bad, professional victories and losses, departures of old friends and arrivals of new ones. And as the series continued from strength to strength, season after season, Mary evolved. She gained confidence, willing to stand up for herself without sacrificing her core Midwestern values of honesty, generosity, and good manners. She was inspirational because she was relatable, easy to fall in love with and even easier to admire. She became a character who was both timely and timeless.

As an actress, Moore made comedy look easy, when in truth, doing it well, as any comedian will attest, is difficult. But with her innate talent and tireless dancer’s work ethic, Moore shaped Mary Richards into a respected news producer, a successful, financially independent woman whose life was enriched by those she loved. The fact that the show ended without Mary ever marrying, and without dwelling on her romantic relationship status, quietly signaled to a generation of woman that they could make many different sorts of choices to live their lives as they saw fit. There was no one-size-fits-all path to happiness. The message of the show’s unforgettable theme song rang true: You could have the town—why don’t you take it?

First, she was the girl everyone fell in love with—and God knows, I was one of them, cocreator of The Mary Tyler Moore Show James L. Brooks told Entertainment Weekly in 1999. Then she became this icon of a new age, this independent woman. That's what's remarkable about her.

When Moore died in 2017 at age 80, tributes poured in from across the globe, a testament to just how many lives she’d impacted. It was Valerie Harper’s, however, that might have been among the most touching. The actress, who would lose her battle with brain cancer two years later in 2019, issued an emotional statement to People about Moore that spoke volumes about the bond the women had shared.

I cannot stop the emotions I’m experiencing, since she was my acting colleague, my sister/soulmate, and above all, ONE HELL OF A GIRLFRIEND! Harper wrote. Working together we knew each other so well we could anticipate each other’s moods, ever ready to engage and KNOW there would be an appropriate response from Mary. I will always feel privileged and honored with the amount of quality time I was able to spend with Mary. I’ll miss you ‘Mair.’ I will always be your copilot. I will always love you, darling Mary Tyler Moore.

In a way, Harper spoke for many of us, who, thanks to the show that bore her name, will always love Mary too.

THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW cast bonded hard and fast, as did their on-screen characters. Lou (Ed Asner), Murray (Gavin MacLeod), and Ted (Ted Knight) catch Mary sleeping on the job in season three.

Mary and Rhoda (Valerie Harper), were besties on-screen, as Moore and Harper were pals off-screen. The cast converted their special chemistry into an explosion of awards, like these Emmys, right, held by Asner (with one of the trophies awarded to the show) and winners Betty White (who played Sue Ann Nivens), Moore, and Knight in 1976

In its seven seasons, the series won 29 Emmys.

THE SERIES

Creating A Hit

DURING FILMING FOR THE show’s fourth season, Ted Knight, Gavin MacLeod, and Ed Asner took cues from guest director Jackie Cooper, an accomplished actor himself. The show’s principal director was Jay Sandrich.

Mary, Mary: The Story of the Show

In the beginning, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a dubious candidate for success. Then talent prevailed, viewers cheered, and America fell in love

IT WAS WORKPLACE SITCOM starring a woman, and that was new for TV viewers. By focusing the show on Mary’s life in the WJM newsroom (during the first season, in 1970) rather than on her domestic life, The Mary Tyler Moore Show felt immediately different.

Mary Tyler Moore needed a hit. It was 1970, years since the gifted actress had captured the hearts of audiences everywhere playing dancer-turned-homemaker Laura Petrie, wife of fictional television writer Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. A starring turn on Broadway as Holly Golightly in a musical adaptation of