September 19 1970 welcomed the first episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, with would run for seven seasons and 168 episodes, accumulating a large bundle of awards and honors along the way. In retrospect that is not surprising, given the amount of talent on hand in front of and behind the camera. The reputation of the performers is well known—seven of the players would anchor shows of their own, but the backstage talent involved was also extraordinary. Created by accomplished television writer Allan Burns and quadruple-threat James L. Brooks (who would go on to produce the Simpsons, and have a blazing career in film, as writer-director-producer of Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News), the majority of the episodes were directed by sure-handed veteran Jay Sandrich, and many of the show’s regular writers would go from one success to the next. (Among them David Lloyd, who had been one of Johnny Carson’s favorite monologue writers, and Ed Weinberger, also a Carson scribe; both would be closely associated with Taxi, Cheers, and Frasier.)
So, it was a great show. But it was also a feminist milestone. It’s hard to remember how path breaking the notion of a show about a single thirty (gasp) year old woman was in 1970. For context, let’s note that in 1968 women could not attend Yale University; in 1969 there were still laws that required married women to “perform domestic services”; in 1970 the University of Texas dental school had a ceiling of two slots for women for its entering class of 100; in 1971 businesses could refuse to hire mothers (but not fathers) with small children; in 1972 Gloria Steinem was barred from a strategy session for George McGovern when one eminence grise declared “no broads.” (And then there is my personal favorite—until 1975 women could be legally required to get permission from their husbands to apply for a loan or a credit card. Thus five time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King did not have her own credit card in 1974—it was issued in the name of her husband, a law student with no income.)
Little wonder, then, that initially even the theme song was nervous. (You probably remember it as starting with “Who can turn the world on with her smile” and ending with “You’re gonna make it after all,” but in season one it was “How will you make it on your own?” and “You might just make it after all.” I can see younger readers rolling their eyes—“feminism, feminism, feminism!” (That’s supposed to sound like Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.) But it was, what can I say? The show was light comedy entertainment, but every episode engaged issues of the day that, if not plainly in the text (there was actually a very funny episode about equal pay for equal work) was invariably and inescapably in the subtext. And the show was groundbreaking in its production as well—in 1973, one third of the show’s writers were women, a then unheard of figure.
Still, the show is the thing—if it wasn’t an old favorite we wouldn’t be writing about it; so herewith, whittled down from 25, our always contestable Top 10 list, in chronological order:
S1/E8 The Snow Must Go On. Election night, and Mary is left in charge. The returns stop coming in, but they’re still on the air. Chuckles the Clown is the only hand left standing—much to Lou’s surprise.
S3/E1 The Good Time News. Written by Burns and Brooks, featuring John Amos. With something to say. And Mary has to tell Ted he’s not funny.
S3/E9 Farmer Ted and the News. Ted’s new non-exclusive contract allows him to do commercials. Lou is not happy.
S3/23 Put on a Happy Face. Purportedly one of Mary Tyler Moore’s favorites. Mary has a bad day. Written by Marilyn Suzanne Miller (from the original SNL) and Albert Brooks affiliate Monica Johnson
S4/E10 The Dinner Party. One of Mary’s catastrophic dinner parties, with Henry Winkler. “You know what happens to Veal Prince Orloff if you leave him in the oven for too long?”
S4/E20 Better late . . . That’s a Pun . . . Than Never. Mary writes a mock obituary. A mortified Ted reads it on the air. If that doesn’t sound funny, trust me, it was.
S4/E23 Two Wrongs don’t Make a Writer. Ted and Mary take a writing class. “That’s when I knew who the mature one really was.” Directed by Nancy Walker (who had a recurring role as Rhoda’s mother).
S5/E9 Not a Christmas Story. Outstanding, even appealingly cynical (most of the way) riff on what is too often an obligatory sit-com ritual.
S5/E23 Ted Baxter’s Famous Broadcasters School. Let me put it this way—I know the TBFBS theme song by heart. And remember, grades will be decided on a class average.
S6/E7 Chuckles Bites the Dust. Yes, it’s everybody’s favorite episode. But just because it’s popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not good. “It was a freak accident. He went to the parade dressed as Peter Peanut, and a rogue elephant tried to shell him.”
Mary and the gang at the funeral for Chuckles the Clown