The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, American television situation comedy that aired on CBS for seven seasons (1970–77). During its run the show consistently earned high viewership ratings and won 29 Emmy Awards, including three (1975–77) for outstanding comedy series.

Mary Tyler Moore was already well known to television viewers for her role on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) when she starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary Richards, a single, 30-something woman trying to “make it on her own.” At the outset of the series, Mary, having been jilted by her fiancé, relocates to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she finds work at WJM-TV in the city’s lowest-rated television newsroom. Her colleagues there become a workplace family that includes Lou Grant (played by Ed Asner), Mary’s gruff boss; Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), the pessimistic copywriter; Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), the haughty, shallow anchorman; and (from 1973 to 1977) Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), the man-chasing host of WJM’s “Happy Homemaker” segment. Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper), Mary’s best friend, and Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), Mary’s superficial landlord, round out the cast of characters. The half-hour episodes chronicled the conflicts and debacles that occurred in the professional and personal lives of the characters.

The series broke new ground in the genre, most obviously in the protagonist Mary’s being a single, independent working woman at a time when female characters were defined as the wife, girlfriend, or widow of a male counterpart. Mary had several boyfriends during the series, occasionally staying the night with one of them, another sitcom landmark. The show was noted for the depth of its characters, several of whom were at the centre of successful spin-offs, including Rhoda (1974–78), Phyllis (1975–77), and Lou Grant (1977–82). Retrospective specials included Mary Tyler Moore: The 20th Anniversary Show (1991) and The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion (2002).

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