30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.
30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.
Cast, crew and production details
About The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Cast
Mary Tyler MooreMary Richards
Ed AsnerLou Grant
Gavin MacLeodMurray Slaughter
Ted KnightTed Baxter
Cloris LeachmanPhyllis Lindstrom
Betty WhiteSue Ann Nivens
Valerie HarperRhoda Morgenstern
Georgia EngelGeorgette Franklin
Credits
Created by
Allan Burns, James L. Brooks
Written by
David Lloyd, Treva Silverman, Lorenzo Music, James L. Brooks, Elias Davis, David Pollock, Dick Clair, Jerry Mayer, Ed. Weinberger, Bob Rodgers, Mary Kay Place
Production details
Status
Ended
Series type
Scripted
Episodes
168
Original language
English
Networks & production
CBSUnited States
MTM EnterprisesUnited States
Themes
datinghilarioussitcomtelevision / tv studiotv news anchorworking womanworkplace comedy
Season 2 episodes
Watch options above are for the show and may vary by season or episode.
In the second-season premiere, after Mary Richards produces a ""What's Your Sexual IQ?"" documentary for the Six O'Clock News, Rhoda confesses to failing and Phyllis says that young Bess watched it. Phyllis calls on Mary to teach Bess the facts of life, but it turns out that Bess already had learned it from her friends. Meanwhile, the WJM-TV newsroom is shelled with phone calls responding to the documentary. According to Mary, more people are appalled by it than anything else.
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Treva SilvermanGuest stars Cloris Leachman, John Amos, Lisa Gerritsen
Mary is intrigued by the voice of Lou Grant's friend, Mike Cooper, and asks to be set up with him. Lou breaks his policy of not matchmaking friends and colleagues.
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Lorenzo MusicGuest stars Shizuko Iwamatsu, Michael Constantine
When Ida, Rhoda's mother, visits, she sees how well Phyllis and Bess get on, and how closely Mary appears to her mother when they chat on the telephone, that she tries to be Rhoda's ""friend"".
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Lorenzo MusicGuest stars Cloris Leachman, Lisa Gerritsen, Nancy Walker
Jack Cassidy guest stars as professional model Hal Baxter, who comes to visit his brother Ted at WJM-TV. Immediately, the two engage in a heated battle of sibling rivalry about EVERYTHING -- salaries, cars, & even women. In an effort to size up his brother, Ted claims that Mary is his girlfriend. Ted & Hal decide to go on a double-date with Mary & Rhoda. At the restaurant, Ted doesn't know any etiquitte, and it shows. Back at Mary's apartment, Ted & Hal arm wrestle before Hal decides to go with Rhoda up to her apartment to look thru magazines for his picture. Ted stays with Mary to make Hal think that he spends more time with his girl than he does.
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Treva SilvermanGuest stars Jack Cassidy
Didn't You Used to Be . . . Wait . . . Don't Tell Me
25m
Mary attends her high school reunion and meets up with her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, who continues to have feelings for Mary. Meanwhile, Rhoda tags along believing that people will ""remember"" her although she didn't attend Roseburg High.
Directed by Jay SandrichGuest stars Richard Schaal, Pippa Scott, Kermit Murdock, Ron Masak, Jack Riley
The writing and technical unions go on strike, leaving only Lou, Mary, and Ted in the newsroom. WJM-TV makes Lou be second cameraman on ""The Chuckles the Clown Show"". Because an upset Murray is on strike, Mary has to write the news stories. They are terrible, and when Lou criticizes them, she starts crying. Things take a turn for the worse: Ted's union strikes, and Lou has to fill in as anchorman! On his first brodcast, he has ""clammy hands"", and he bombs. At a local bar, Murray, Gordy, & Mary share a laugh over this. After drinking before his 2nd brodcast, he is ""as cool as a cucumber""--that is, until he falls asleep at breaktime. Herb fills in for Lou for the rest of the brodcast. The next day, the unions come to an agreement, and everything goes back to normal. Rhoda Morgenstern & Phyllis Lindstrom do not appear in this episode.
Directed by Jay SandrichGuest stars John Amos, Paul Micale, Larry Gelman, Dick Balduzzi
Mary gets a chain letter from Lou, and she is persuaded to send it on. To her surprise, one of the recipients comes for a visit, giving Mary a less than pleasant time dealing with him.
Directed by Jerry ParisWritten by Lorenzo MusicGuest stars Gino Conforti, Jack De Mave
Rhoda loses her job as a window-dresser and isn't in a hurry to find something new. When there is a job opening at WJM-TV, Mary lies to Rhoda and tells her the job has been filled, to Lou's surprise.
Directed by Jay SandrichGuest stars Cloris Leachman, Beverly Sanders
After volunteering some of her spare time for a worthy cause, Mary begins dating the Governor's aide. Unfortunately, the aide's duties cause him to break every date.
Directed by Jay SandrichGuest stars Cloris Leachman
An incompetent waitress is fired after Mary complains about her poor service and Mary feels obliged to hire her when she applies for an assistant's job at WJM-TV.
Directed by Peter BaldwinWritten by Dick ClairGuest stars Barbara Sharma, Jack Manning, Barbara Barnett
Murray takes on a night job as a cab driver in order to save up and buy his wife Marie a new car for their 10th wedding anniversary. However, Marie becomes suspicious about Murray's absences and fears that Murray is having an affair with Mary Richards.
Directed by Peter BaldwinGuest stars Joyce Bulifant
Mary agrees to babysit Bess for the weekend, but then a former boyfriend, in town for a few days, asks her out. When she can't find a babysitter for Bess on such short notice, she ends up asking Lou.
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Treva SilvermanGuest stars Cloris Leachman, Lisa Gerritsen, Joshua Bryant, Leslie Graves, Jimmy Lennon Sr.
Through a minor car accident, Mary befriends a young woman, Joanne. Rhoda becomes jealous when Mary spends more time with Joanne but Mary quickly ends the new friendship when she discovers Joanne is anti-Semitic and disapproves of Rhoda.
Directed by Peter BaldwinGuest stars Cloris Leachman, Mary Frann
Mary gets city councilman Pete Peterson to appear on Face the People and discovers that he is completely incompetent. She and his aides try to bring him up to speed on current events so he can make a good impression on the show.
Directed by Jay SandrichWritten by Arnold MargolinGuest stars Janet MacLachlan, Carole Androsky, Bill Daily, Wally Taylor, Philippa Harris, Isabel Sanford, Davis Roberts
