Mary and Rhoda

Why MTM felt the need to create a pseudo-Lifetime movie, I do not know.

As a fan of the original series, I did not hold much hope upon hearing the concept for this reunion. Unfortunately, I found my worst fears were realized.

The way to go with this reunion, would have been to create a simple 30-minute episode, acting as if the series had never ended, with ALL of the surviving cast. The plot is obvious - have the gang gather for Ted's funeral. Not that we'd want another "Chuckles Bites the Dust," but a chance for the characters to interact in the manner that always seemed to work so well.

My only compliment for this "reunion" is to the costume designer, who seems to perfectly channel the 70s styles that Mary originally showcased, but with a contemporary flair.

In one of the FEW references to the original series, Rhoda humorously comments on Mary's lousy parties.

The whole daughter concept is a bust. LAME.

Granted, we were able to see the infamous "M" on Mary's wall, but what about the pumpkin cookie jar that also only appeared in every season of the original? (Anyone else notice that? Wonder what the significance was?)

Anyway, I'm sorry this movie was even produced. The "histories" of Mary and Rhoda are disappointing. The supporting characters are caricatures. The location filming in New York is distracting.

I love both actresses.......they deserve better than this. (Of course, it was all MTM's idea, sad to say.)

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.)

Most TV reunion movies don't do well: The Brady Bunch Reunion, Return to Mayberry, Dynasty: The Reunion. They fail to capture the spirit of the originals but nostalgia drives us to watch and makes us enjoy.

I love The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I think Rhoda is excellent. So logically Mary & Rhoda should combine the best of both, 20 years on, and also show us how women in their late 50s and early 60s would fare. Both of the original shows were fairly realistic in 1970s sitcom-land, dealing with many issues, which is why they have their fair share of a youth audience as well. And, we knew that Frasier and Everybody Loves Raymond were amongst star and executive producer Mary Tyler Moore's favorites so it was probably fair to expect some sassy and fun writing.

After viewing it in mid-February, all I can say is: bring back creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns. This movie needed them.

It's not too bad when one doesn't view it as a comedy or expect the same spirit that made the originals so popular. I might not be 60 but Mary & Rhoda doesn't seem to ring as true as the originals which dealt with life for a thirty-something before thirtysomething. OK: so we don't watch TV for realism. It's about entertainment.

Maybe it's my expectations, but I didn't find too much entertainment, either. The brilliant Valerie Harper was severely underutilized: in 2000 she is the one who turned the movie on with her smile and had by far and away the best lines. But why wasn't she on more often? Mary Tyler Moore gave a good and honest performance but both women would have excelled given a more humorous script by Katie Ford. I know fellow fans found the daughters (Joie Lenz, Marisa Ryan) a little less than pleasing but they weren't too bad, with a pleasant screen presence.

Put simply, the script lacked irony, sassiness and humor. Or even originality. The angle Mary & Rhoda took on the news business has been done before in Murphy Brown (and director Barnet Kellman is best known to me for his contributions to that series); the stand-up comedy sub-plot was again a case of been-there-and-done-that-better-by-others. I know Mary Tyler Moore works tirelessly for causes such as homeless animals but the homeless dog scenes seemed an afterthought.

There were some fantastic lines although there was no mention of Joe Gerard, Brenda, Lou Grant or any of the original characters, even for two friends reuniting after 20 years.

The score by David Kitay was too noticeable. The issue of royalties aside, a few instrumentals of the original theme would have worked in places where we had to put up with Joan Jett's rendition of Love Is All Around – while popular amongst many viewers I found it too different! The production design wasn't perfect: Mary's 'M' in her apartment was reversed – looks like someone failed Typography 101.

It's not that nice touches were absent. The photography and editing were acceptable. The two actresses are clearly friends off-screen as well although more interaction between the two would have been welcome. They deserved so much better than this.

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.