Mary and Rhoda

So Mary and Rhoda have aged--who hasn't? I was a teen when Mary premiered, and a "young adult" when it left the air. Yes, it was great to see Mary and Rho together, and yes, maybe the film didn't sustain the comedy of the original series, but there were enough moments that recalled the spirit of the series to make this a fitting tribute. Example: the producer who hires Mary and then dictates the idea for a new series about "old people." Isn't this typical of the mentality of present-day Hollywood TV and film "bean counters?" This may not be THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW at its best--but it's a pretty damned good look back at one of the best shows we grew up with in the 70s.

The idea of bringing Mary Richards back to TV has been kicking around for quite some time. There has been talk in the past of reunion specials, series and a whole host of other projects. Last year there was even speculation that it might come back as a TV series with Mary Tyler Moore reprising her role and Valerie Harper reprising Rhoda. For whatever reason the idea didn't fly, but a concession was made for a TV movie titled, Mary and Rhoda.

As the story opens we learn that Mary Richards has recently lost her husband and Rhoda has just gone through a nasty divorce. They have two daughters and haven't spoken to each other since Mary made it clear that she didn't like Rhoda's philandering husband. When they both return to New York they get the idea of looking each other up and rekindling a friendship that has been put on hold for several years.

The first few minutes of the show is catch up time. We learn that Mary went on to work for ABC news (the network that carried this movie) and that Rhoda went on to become an art photographer in Paris (where she lived with her husband).

Mary put her career on hiatus several years back to raise her daughter Rose (played by Joie Lenz) who is now planning on dropping out of school to become a comedian (?) Rhoda, meanwhile, has become her own mother, budding in on her daughters' life (Meridith, played by Marisa Ryan).

Doing reunion shows must be a difficult thing to do, simply because I have yet to see one that is truly satisfying. The producers have two choices when it comes to making one. (A) Spend the whole movie updating the audience on what is going with the characters ... thus making the plot secondary, or (B) Sacrifice the very reason I would tune in and go with a dull plot. The producers of this show seemed to choose a happy medium, or at least I think they did.

We did update on Mary and Rhoda, most of it right at the beginning. I was disappointed that there was no discussion about the other cast members, but I suspect that could be a draw for the TV series that might just follow this movie. The plot was all right; certainly in keeping with Mary Richards. When she first appeared on television she was dealing with being a woman in the news business. Today she is dealing with being an older woman in the news business.

I liked some of the supporting characters in this one. It didn't seem forced, and if there is a series, I believe that an interesting premise has been built by this film. Christine Ebersol is a stand out as Cecile Andrews, the 'Ted Knight-Sue Ann Nivens' like anchor at the TV station Mary works for.

All in all this is an OK film. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is not a fan of the original series, but for fans this is a must see. I know that one of the reasons this project took so long to get off the ground was because Moore was particular about how it was to be handled. Here she does things her way and she certainly proves something. As far as I'm concerned she can still turn the world on with her smile.

Alright, I have to admit that I have never seen "Rhoda" and only one or two episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Even though I don't know anything about this duo of comedic talent, I still liked this movie a lot.

Mary goes back to work. Rose tries her luck at being a comedian. Rhoda struggles with a photography career. And Meredith...what exactly does she do again? These three stories that we follow over two hours are amusing and entertaining in their own way. When the two long time friends reunite, it only makes the film better.

I was surprised about how good the writing was. The little jokes thrown in by Mary and Rhoda were funny. The script itself was very well put together.

I had seen Moore and Harper in other movies over the past few years and thought that they were very good. But I had no idea that they worked this well as a team. While both actresses do their share to fulfill the title of this movie, they never seem to let me down. (During the run of this movie.) Joie Lenz and Marisa Ryan play their roles okay but nothing great. The rest of the cast like Jonah, Cecile and....everybody else also works well together.

Being that this is a reunion, you would expect for a fan of either show to enjoy this. From a non-fan I still enjoyed this little get-together. Good story lines for each character and the two main characters is what makes this film very good. (The newer version of the MTM theme song doesn't hurt either.)

Why did the histories of Mary and Rhoda have to be so dour? Divorced women with indifferent daughters. And why very little reference to the original show and characters? The daughter characters were silly and uninteresting. Why can't there ever be daughters who like their mother's on TV? It makes sense that Mary would leave Minneapolis, and Rhoda would return to NYC, but why couldn't Phyllis or Sue Ann Nivens be guest stars? It just seems a pitiful way to remember such wonderful characters. It was good to see Mary and Rhoda together of course, but it could have been better, much better. Well, there has been a Mary Tyler Moore Show Reunion, a Dick Van Dyke Show Reunion, hopefully Mary will do better next time if she revisits her old Mary Richards stomping grounds again.

A good TV movie. Like most reunions, it doesn't really capture the nostalgia like old reruns, but not many can. I wish they'd made a huge reunion movie including Lou Grant, Sue Ann Nivens, Murray Slaughter, etc. as well as Mary and Rhoda. Oh well. Anyway, the two leads shine brightly as does Joie Lenz (formerly Michelle on Guiding Light) as Mary's daughter. A good premise, too. Enjoyable.