Depending upon when you encountered her, Diana Rigg may have left a vivid impression on you. First she was the stylish, cat suit wearing super spy working with Patrick McNee on the British Import series, "The Avengers." Mrs. Peel was a revelation for the 1960s.
Much later, Rigg returned as The Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell on "Game of Thrones" and was as convincing and incredible in that role as she was in her "Avengers" character.
But in-between those two iconic performances, we had this.
I guess you could say Ms. Rigg was ready to attempt a sitcom, as there were some humour included in "The Avengers" amidst the action and adventure. And certainly the fashion sense she showed would make her a natural to be involved in design.
"Diana" was the story of a London designer named Diana Smythe, who came to work in New York and her issues with what that all was about. Dealing with her new job, her low-key divorce, her new living space at home and the characters that populated each was a lot of what the stories focused on, throughout the run.
It's somewhat obvious that NBC was packaging Ms. Rigg to be a new Mary Tyler Moore, only at an NYC locale instead of a Minneapolis TV station. Barbara Barrie, who appeared at 382 on this list as the aunt of the twins on "Double Trouble" season two, was here as Norma, Diana's buyer and was the absolute comedy star of the show.
Norma's husband, Norman (yeah, I don't get that either), played by David Sheiner, was the department store owner that Diana worked for, and oversaw Diana's work and scrutinized Diana as much as he could. Chauvinism and harassment was still a source of comedy in the 1970s. It goes to show that "Mary Tyler Moore" never went that route with its comedy, which is why that series is still a timeless classic.
New York plays a part because working late for a woman meant potential danger, the typical "men being men" of that era and the elements of creative flow and odd behavior from everyone was just part of the scene. The quirkier you were, the better for the comedy. And everyone knows that New York creative types are nothing but quirky people! It didn't matter, as long as you got the work done, right?
Ms. Rigg wasn't there to deliver the jokes; she was there to react to them. And while Mary Richards was also frequently required to respond to something weird happening around her, she was a brilliant comedienne, capable of landing a joke with anyone in that series. That may have been a drawback for "Diana" as Diana Smythe rarely got the funny lines to deliver.
Also, where Mary Richards had a whole host of brilliant characters surrounding her, so many, in fact, that she spun some off to their own series and didn't miss a beat, Diana struggled with some stock roles that weren't very inspiring. If "Diana" had a better ensemble, it likely would have worked.
