Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Mary Tyler Moore Show

Friday, March 1, 2013

TV Show Review: Mary Tyler Moore Show - Season 1

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Even though the show is 35 years old, it's still very funny.

Cons: The characters are still growing in this season.

The Bottom Line:

Not this sitcom's best

But still many classic laughs

With great characters

She's Come to DVD After All

One of the classic sit-coms of all time comes to DVD in this wonderful first season set.

Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) is trying to start over in a new town after a long romance comes to an end. Thanks to her friend Phyllis (Cloris Leachman), she's found an apartment in Minneapolis. Her upstairs neighbor, Rhoda (Valerie Harper), quickly becomes a good friend. Soon, she's got a job as associate producer for the evening news at WJM. There she meets her grumpy, sexist boss Lou Grant (Ed Asner), news writer Murray (Gavin MacLeod), and bumbling news anchor Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Between the two locations, she's got a wonderful support system that will help her through anything, including bad dates and problems at work. And we get to enjoy the laughs.

I'd forgotten just how much I loved this show until I got the set. It was like reuniting with old friends. Season 1 is definitely a beginning, however, as the writers begin to explore the characters and the actors are still getting comfortable with their rolls. Still, there are some classic episodes here:

"Love is All Around" is one of the best pilots ever and expertly introduces us to the characters we'd come to love over the next seven years. Mary moves into her apartment and gets her job. While Mary's relationship with Rhoda is a little sketchy, her job interview with Mr. Grant is hysterical every time I watch it.

"Support Your Local Mother" introduces us to Rhoda's over bearing mother when she comes to visit and stays with Mary when Rhoda refuses to see her.

"TouLouse-Lautrec is One of My Favorite Artists" finds Mary facing the fact that she's a height bigot when her latest date is much shorter then she is. I have never seen so many short jokes slip out in such a short time, and Mary slouching while she walks down the steps in her apartment is funny stuff.

"Assistant Wanted, Female" finds Phyllis becoming Mary's new...co-worker who causes more problem with Ted then she helps Mary get through the work she was hired to do.

In "Second-Story Story," Mary's apartment is robbed twice. Her reactions to the break-ins are classic.

"We Closed in Minneapolis" brings Murray to the forefront when his play gets a chance in Minneapolis, only if Ted plays the lead.

"The Snow Must Go On" is an episode I pull out every year to watch on election night. Poor Ted must go out with the same results all night long when the news room gets cut off from the outside world due to a snow storm.

"Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid, II" (You know, I've always wondered about the title.) was recently named a top Christmas episode by TV Guide. It manages to spread the holiday cheer even after Mary learns she can't spend the holiday with her family because the news show will go on in spite of the holiday. (Classic line - Lou (after he's broken the news to Mary): "Why do I feel like I will be visited by three spirits tonight?")

The best part of this show is that the humor stems from the characters. A lesser cast wouldn't be able to pull off some of the material, but this cast brings laughs a plenty. Yes, there are one-liners, but many times, the laugh is how a characters reactions to an event, and if the actor didn't do it right, the laugh just would have died.

The set has some interesting extras. The best is the 87-minute documentary about the creation of the series. The audio commentaries on three episodes are ok, but I didn't find them super interesting. Of course, the main reason to get the set is the episodes themselves. Here's they've been preserved with wonderful picture clarity and sound. I doubt they've ever looked better. Each episode has 10 chapter breaks in it, with the credits on each end getting their own chapters. This makes it easy to find a certain scene or get straight to the episode. A play all feature, missing here, would have been nice, but it's not completely necessary.

While not the best this show has to offer, the first season has so many wonderful moments it's hard to complain. Any fan of classic TV will want this in their collection. It's well worth it.

Season 1 Episodes:

1. Love is All Around

2. Today I Am a Ma'am

3. Bess, You is My Daughter Now

4. Divorce Isn't Everything

5. Keep Your Guard Up

6. Support Your Local Mother

7. TouLouse-Lautrec is One of My Favorite Artists

8. The Snow Must Go On

9. Bob and Rhoda and Teddy and Mary

10. Assistant Wanted, Female

11. 1040 or Fight