La chica de la tele

As a 25-year-old woman, it's a shame that the so-called "feminist icons" of my day have been klutzy, man-hungry ninny Ally McBeal and tabloid wench Paris Hilton. I've really come to envy women who had real feminist heroes, real or fictional, such as Gloria Steinem, Bea Arthur as "Maude", and, of course, Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" isn't just an excellent sitcom with perfectly realized characters, but it featured an imperfect but winning heroine that any woman could look up to. Mary was a sweet-natured thirty-something who alternated between being high-strung and confident. She happily lived alone and had a loyal gal pal in smart mouthed New Yorker Rhoda (the incomparable Valerie Harper). Mary also was an associate TV producer at the low-rated WJM news network, where she had the respect of her male co-workers, including her arch-conservative boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), wisecracking but tender-hearted work buddy Murray Slaugher (Gavin McLeod), and buffoonish anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Not that everyone loved Mary... she constantly had to deal with her insufferable, overbearingly perky landlady Phyllis (Cloris Leachman). When Phyllis was written out of the show, WJM's "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens (flawless Betty White) replaced her as Mary's foil. Passive-aggressive and sex-starved, Sue Ann was a hilarious combination of Blanche from "The Golden Girls" and Harriet Nelson. Best of all, the show had running gags that somehow never went stale: Mary's tendency to attract the wrong men, her disastrous dinner parties, Ted's slips of the tongue on the air, Lou's annoyance at being the lowest-rated TV network, and Rhoda's quest for the perfect husband. An addictive show that didn't wear out its welcome in its seven year run, "MTM" is a shining example of great writing, fully developed characters, and perfect casting that has never been equaled. It was a show with spunk... we need spunk!

For the longest period of time, I couldn't understand the appeal of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Having caught the occasional episode every now and then, the series struck me as being somewhat "ordinary" in nature. However, at the beginning of 2002, I began to watch the series on a regular basis, right from it's first season and found to my surprise, what a funny, insightful and entertaining sitcom it was.

Mary Tyler Moore deserves kudos for her portrayal of Mary Richards, a ground-breaking character who was allowed to be her own person (a rare thing for female characters on television in those days). An intelligent, independent young woman in her 30's, whose wasn't "hung up" on not being married, and enjoyed her life and her career. The rest of the cast also deserve mention for their memorable performances. Ed Asner as the gruff, yet lovable Lou Grant (Mary's boss at WJM-TV), Valerie Harper as the sharp and sassy Rhoda Morgenstern (Mary's best friend and next door neighbour), Gavin Macloud as the witty & thoughtful Murray Slaughter (Mary's fellow work mate at WJM), the late Ted Knight as the self absorbed and talentless Ted Baxter (who "anchored" the news in more ways than one at WJM-TV) and Cloris Leachman as the flighty and somewhat over-opininated Phyllis Lindstorm (Mary's other next door neighbour and friend).

The show was fortunate enough to benefit from first rate scripts from talented writers such as Jim Brooks & Allan Burns (both of whom created the series), Treva Silverman, David Lloyd, Bob Ellison and Ed Weinberger.

Along with solid direction from vetran TV sitcom director Jay Sandrich (of "I Love Lucy" fame), it comes as no surprise that the series was both a critical and commerical success during it's seven year run on US television from 1970 to 1977. The show also benefited from later additions to the cast such as Georgia Engel as the sweet natured, yet rather naive Georgette Franklin (who was introduced into the series as a love interest for the idiotic Ted Baxter) and Betty White as the conniving & man-hungry Sue Ann Nivens (host of "The Happy Homemaker" show at WJM-TV). On screen, she is the image of domestic knowledge and bliss, but once the camera's have stopped rolling, she is a woman on the prowl, striking at any man within distance (single or otherwise) who grabs her fancy!!. Earning a whole swag of Emmy Awards, the show was highly praised and rewarded for it's stellar efforts. I recommended those who are unfamiliar with the show to watch the series from the beginning, to appreciate and understand the nature of what it's all about. The humour is natural and witty (unlike many other sitcoms where the laughs are either forced or over-the-top). The characters grow and change over the years (once again unlike many other comedy shows), and the series itself contains it's own warmth and natural charm. Check it out and see why this lady can still turn the whole world on with that smile ...

As i am writing this review (February of 2011), i have been watching all the episodes of the MTM show nonstop actually for some time now although i m just midway through season 5. I live in Greece and although we do love our US TV shows here too, Mary Tyler Moore was not exactly our icon through the 70's especially if you consider all the problems my country was going through at least up to 1974. I m 31 now (born in 79), and i ve known of MTM for quite some time and was always aware of the show and had heard from a lot of American friends and the web of course that the specific show was somewhat of a TV legend or a "sacred cow" especially for the people who watched it while it was on the air, and you know what?? I couldn't agree with them more! I LOVE THIS SHOW! i cannot find one thing that i don't like no matter how hard i try. i ve been laughing or at least smiling nonstop for 5 seasons now something that has happened (to me at least) only with a couple of shows p.e. Friends, Will and Grace. The feel of it, the look, the theme song, the opening credits, the characters, the actors (OMG!), and of course the writing. Quick, sharp, very very funny and with some subtext in a lot of cases considering the era! One thought that has occurred to me is that Mary Tyler Moore is the least egocentric actress in her or any other lifetime. I ve never seen an actress as famous as her, with her own show by the way, that didn't at some point sooner or later become obnoxious or cocky or have the writing serve her look or status. (God bless her but Lucille Ball take a bow!) Concluding i would like to say that it is incredible for a show to stand the merciless test of time (40 years!), and in 2011 i m proud to say that i d watch reruns of the MTM show any day than spend time watching some trash reality show about putting your hand in a box of cockroaches with order to win money. and you know what? i might just make it after all !

Right up there with the Dick Van Dyke show, in fact directed by some of the same people, this is another great sitcom. It seems they come along once a decade or so, and this is definitely a great one. Mary Tyler Moore is the newly liberated woman at work, dealing with all the same sexist stuff she dealt with in 1961 on the Dick Van Dyke show, but in a totally different way. The supporting cast is marvelous, from Ed Asner to Valerie Harper (as 'Rhoda') to the irrepressible Ted Knight as the vain news anchor. Hysterical stuff.

This truly was one of the first ensemble driven situation comedies in the history of television. Even though Mary Tyler Moore was the star of the show, the fact was that the series truly revolved around her relationships with not only her friends at home, but her friends on the job and when those two worlds collided, sparks usually flew. Also, this show was really funny when Valerie Harper was still on the show playing Rhoda. She and Mary were polar opposites (Mary the cheerful optimist and Rhoda the angry cynic). However, those differences was what made their relationship shine. Cloris Leachman was also perfect as the over bearing Phyllis Lindstrom. And lets not forget the other characters; cynical Lou, the optimistic Murray and, of course, dimwitted Ted Baxter. This show definitely one of the all time classics and made Saturday nights worth staying home.

Another interesting fact about this show is the fact that it debuted during the final season of the original series about a single woman trying to make it, "That Girl". However, while Ann pretty much was still an innocent little girl at heart that had a boyfriend and often still relied on him and her parents to get her out of jams, Mary Richards proved that she could be single and live her life on her own terms.