Mary's Incredible Dream

This was a peculiar modern dance/ballet/musical with the feel of a bad variety show revolving around the fall of humankind from Grace - based upon the concept of Heaven being an old-fashioned radio in Mary's dream (think Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz). The look was pure disco seventies as sequins, silver lame, pink feather boas, and glitter abounded while Mary Tyler Moore and the cast danced and sang to upbeat, silly numbers about sin and sorrow in what has to be one of the oddest moments in television.

Don't expect this show to be aired again except in a retrospective history of strange, obscure television specials.

This was a much misunderstood production for mid seventies mainstream US TV. Moore demonstrates a kind of quirky genius in her juxtaposition of artists and numbers in what I look back on now as a show way, way ahead of its time. Just the pairing of Doug Kershaw with his screaming Cajun fiddle with MYM's Broadway-look dancing and singing is/was inspiring and breathtaking. The entire cast of this avant gard production was aware that they were past the cutting edge of what was considered appropriate for prime-time programing in the 70s. More talent on one show than I have seen before or since. Great number selection. Great talent. Mesmerizing.

If this show were to be run today on CBS it would get mo-betta attention and reviews, but still might not appeal to mainstream sensibilities. DS 2/14/06

I remember exactly ONE- no, make that TWO- things about this special: in one truly surreal moment, Mary is shown in a kind of sylvan setting dancing with Ben Vereen- in the same style that he used in his brief summer variety series. They're both in pastels, and the thing is a near-romantic ballet that shows them both off to good advantage. (One forgets that MTM was a truly lovely and graceful dancer before ever uttering one comic syllable.) The other thing is at the halfway mark of this hour-long special, her phone rings, waking her up in the middle of the dream (the entire special is framed as a dream), and she actually tells the person to call her back because she's "in the middle of an incredible dream right now," and goes right back to sleep and the dream resumes. I was laughing out loud at that moment, and I was only 13 at the time!!

An ego-driven, unstylish mess.

And that's said by a fan of everything else MTM ever did. However, I would look at it again as part of a "worst camp" festival.

A really good music special that has a unifying theme needs subtlety. Barbra Streisand was great at this. Jamie Foxx is great at this. MTM was not.

Picking two jarring opposites and throwing them together over and over again for an hour was not a winning formula for this kind of program, IMO.

And this completes my comments. And my 10th line of text.

I remember watching this on TV when I was in high school. I thought it was very strange, but I also liked it very much. In fact, there are images and moments from it that still haunt my thoughts today. Especially a dance number in which Mary and several other women were wearing sexy Nazi SS-style outfits. Very hot! When the video for Golden Earring's "Bullet to the Bone" came out years later, the women dancing in it reminded me of this TV special.

At the time, I did not realize that MTM had a background as a dancer, and this special really broadened my appreciation for her talents.

I wish I could see it again. If it ever became available on DVD or VHS, I'd buy it without hesitation.