The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd

This show and her acting impacted my idea of comedy so much. It is a classic.

I remember this show fondly because it was filmed in New York City on location without a laugh track or studio audience which was quite a departure for a sitcom about a single woman in the thirties played by the wonderful Blair Brown as Molly Dodd. She must deal with her mother played by the equally wonderful Allyn Ann McLerie. I don't remember ever seeing Molly's brother and sister twins, Mamie and Dwight Dodds who lived in the suburbs. Molly's single life is far from the Sex in the City girls. It was more realistic and believable about Molly trying to find the right man and job. I remember it first on network later on lifetime before it ceased completely from television. The cast and crew were first rate and the writing was simply wonderful just like Molly's life.

An endless list of reviews have called The Days & Nights of Molly Dodd an 80s version of either Mary Tyler Moore or Ally McBeal, in that the show centered on a single, quirky, professional woman living alone. A key difference however is Blair Brown.

No disrespect towards MTM or Calista Flockhart, but Blair Brown brought a very unique difference to her character. Mary always seemed to be on the edge of total embarrassment and Ally on the edge of total emotional meltdown. Molly Dodd on the other hand, while often not knowing what she really wanted, was always able to handle whatever life threw at her. She wasn't socially awkward like Mary Richards nor was she emotionally bipolar like Ally McBeal.

Consequently Molly Dodd was someone you'd not just want to go out with, but would want to be friends with. Blair Brown made Molly not only attractive, but fun, lovable and most of all, trustworthy. Not to be too sexist, but she made Molly 'one of the guys'. So never played relationship mind games, and instantly saw (and laughed) when someone did. She valued people totally on their character & personality.

If you woke up next to Mary Richards you'd see her silently & guiltily sneaking out of bed. Ally McBeal would either be planning your wedding or putting a knife in your back. But Molly Dodd would just be there.

And again, while MTM is (or was) attractive enough, she had a very standoff-ish, patrician, repressed kind of look. And Calista Flockhart is just, well, very cute. But Blair Brown, on the one hand she blends unnoticeably into a crowd, but on the other she is a gorgeous, drop-dead classic beauty.

I watched this show religiously in the late 80s when I moved to Boston. It was a show with great feelings. The first year or so on NBC was so-so; I didn't see those shows till after it left there. But on Lifetime the show was fantastic. It seems to have gone into oblivion now unfortunately. Maybe someday it'll be rebroadcast on cable... A great show with a soul.

Every time I look up a Molly Dodd listing, I see requests for this incredible series to be produced on DVD. Who can we let know there is a market for this and it should be out on DVD? It's one of the best series ever, yet it seems to have dropped off the face of the earth (except for a run on GoodLife, which many cable affiliates don't seem to offer).

What needs to be done to get Days and Nights of Molly Dodd released on DVD???