I figured I'd ask & see if anyone remembered Mary's mid-80's sitcom venture. If you do, what did you think of it? Also, does anyone have any episodes? I'd love to see it.

Hi,
I don't have any episodes but I do remember it,Mary worked on a newspaper,her boss was James Farentino,remember the credits of Mary walking in the street,seeing her face on a bus.
It wasn't very good and I believe Mary herself asked for the last couple of episodes not to be aired!

Was that the one where Katey Sagal (pre-Married With Children) played a chain-smoking co-worker??

Yes the actress from Married With Children was in it,also John Astin from the orginal "Addams Family" was in it too.

I figured I'd ask & see if anyone remembered Mary's mid-80's sitcom venture. If you do, what did you think of it? Also, does anyone have any episodes? I'd love to see it.

Yes, I remember the show. I don't remember it being all that bad, but this Mary was no Mary Richards. Mary's character on this show had a much tougher exterior than Mary Richards, which I think put some people off who were expecting a continuation of Mary Richards.

I think Lucy was one of the few people to have three hit sitcoms.Mary followed "The Dick Van Dyke" with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"and "Mary" didn't quite cut it.2 out of three ain't bad!

Mary followed "The Dick Van Dyke" with "The Mary Tyler
Moore Show"and "Mary" didn't quite cut it.2 out of three ain't bad!

Actually 2 out of 4, she had "Anne McGuire" in 1988 as well. ;) (And "New York News", but I don't know if we count that)

Actually 2 out of 4, she had "Anne McGuire" in 1988 as well. ;) (And "New York News", but I don't know if we count that)

And Mary also had the variety show also titled "Mary." And I remember Dick Van Dyke had a sitcom with his son, Barry, that aired during the same hour as "Annie McGuire." Both shows only lasted a few weeks.

Before that sitcom with his son, Dick Van Dyke also had his 1970s sitcom, which ran three years, a variety show a few years later that lasted a single season (but was critically aclaimed), a brief stint as Harvey Korman's replacement on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1977 (he exited after a couple months), then a very long run on Diagnosis: Murder.

Ok thanks for that never heard of "Annie McGuire".Some US shows never make it across to the UK,like "Maude" which I've seen when visting the US,which I think is a very good show.

And Mary also had the variety show also titled "Mary." And I remember Dick Van Dyke had a sitcom with his son, Barry, that aired during the same hour as "Annie McGuire." Both shows only lasted a few weeks.

How can I forget, there was also The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, her variety-show-in-a-sitcom. I guess after the "Mary" variety show bombed, Mary decided viewers wanted her in a sitcom, so she did this show that gave viewers a sitcom while at the same time allowing Mary to do variety show singing and dancing. You have to give her credit for taking chances, though. After the MTM Show, she tried the variety hour (at a time when variety shows were quickly becoming passe), then this sitcom/variety show combination, "Mary"; then the later half-hour "Mary" sitcom (the closest she got to doing the old "MTM Show" sitcom formula), then "Annie McGuire," a sitcom that did something very bold for the time: it had no laugh track. With hit shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex in the City," this may not seem like such a big deal, but back then it was a pretty novel thing to do.

Several years after "Annie McGuire" she did her dramatic series. So she's tried about everything, and sometimes been pretty innovative along the way. I'm just sorry none of these shows have clicked with viewers, though I do remember "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour" and thought it was a fairly entertaining show. She was able to attract some very big names to this show, like Lucille Ball, Bea Arther, Bonnie Franklin, Mike Douglas. But the one that really stands out is when Dick Van Dyke guest-starred and they did a show within a show within a show: The plot had Mary (as Mary McKinnon) getting Dick Van Dyke to guest star on her variety show. Because Mary McKinnon looked so much like Mary Tyler Moore, they decided to do a take of of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" on Mary McKinnon's show, wherein Mary McKinnon played the part of Laura Petrie. (That is, Mary Tyler Moore on "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour" played Mary McKinnon playing Laura Petrie in a "Dick Van Dyke Show" skit on "The Mary McKinnon Show." Got it?) In that "Dick Van Dyke Show" skit, Laura and Rob learn their son, Ritchie, is gay. This was 1979 folks, so that was a pretty bold plot for that time.

I was in the studio audience for an episode of "Mary". I think I even recorded that episode on Betamax for posterity. Someday when (if) I transfer my old Beta tapes to DVD it will be fun seeing it again, although I remember thinking at the time that the show was not very well written; certainly not up to the caliber of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

I'll let everyone in on something regarding this MARY series from 1985-86... there was a column in the Chicago Sun-Times back then that mentioned how the series was set in Chicago and had a lot of Cubs pennants and logos displayed on the set, and any items mentioning the White Sox were noticeably absent. The article said that this was a mere oversight by producers and that they were looking into adding more "Chicago" items to the set. On a lark, I found out the address for the studio that produced the MARY show and sent them a White Sox bumper sticker, which ended up pasted on the front of one of the desks in Mary's "office"!!! Needless to say I was quite happy to see my small contribution appear on TV! :)

How can I forget, there was also The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, her variety-show-in-a-sitcom. I guess after the "Mary" variety show bombed, Mary decided viewers wanted her in a sitcom, so she did this show that gave viewers a sitcom while at the same time allowing Mary to do variety show singing and dancing. You have to give her credit for taking chances, though. After the MTM Show, she tried the variety hour (at a time when variety shows were quickly becoming passe), then this sitcom/variety show combination, "Mary"; then the later half-hour "Mary" sitcom (the closest she got to doing the old "MTM Show" sitcom formula), then "Annie McGuire," a sitcom that did something very bold for the time: it had no laugh track. With hit shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex in the City," this may not seem like such a big deal, but back then it was a pretty novel thing to do.

Several years after "Annie McGuire" she did her dramatic series. So she's tried about everything, and sometimes been pretty innovative along the way. I'm just sorry none of these shows have clicked with viewers, though I do remember "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour" and thought it was a fairly entertaining show. She was able to attract some very big names to this show, like Lucille Ball, Bea Arther, Bonnie Franklin, Mike Douglas. But the one that really stands out is when Dick Van Dyke guest-starred and they did a show within a show within a show: The plot had Mary (as Mary McKinnon) getting Dick Van Dyke to guest star on her variety show. Because Mary McKinnon looked so much like Mary Tyler Moore, they decided to do a take of of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" on Mary McKinnon's show, wherein Mary McKinnon played the part of Laura Petrie. (That is, Mary Tyler Moore on "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour" played Mary McKinnon playing Laura Petrie in a "Dick Van Dyke Show" skit on "The Mary McKinnon Show." Got it?) In that "Dick Van Dyke Show" skit, Laura and Rob learn their son, Ritchie, is gay. This was 1979 folks, so that was a pretty bold plot for that time.that sketch was in 2 parts. The first part showed Rob & Laura Petrie as they were in 1979, that's when they find out at the end that Richie's gay.
The second part showed them as an old couple. The entire sketch is on one of the DVD sets of "The Dick Van Dyke show". And, no, they didn't show Buddy & Sally or any of the others. I haven't seen it in YEARS since it was first on, but, from what I remember they said that Buddy & Sally were working in hollywood, and Richie was away at college.

I remember, a young David Letterman guest starred once.

I remember it. It was justOK; good but not that good.

And Mary also had the variety show also titled "Mary." And I remember Dick Van Dyke had a sitcom with his son, Barry, that aired during the same hour as "Annie McGuire." Both shows only lasted a few weeks.

Before that sitcom with his son, Dick Van Dyke also had his 1970s sitcom, which ran three years, a variety show a few years later that lasted a single season (but was critically aclaimed), a brief stint as Harvey Korman's replacement on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1977 (he exited after a couple months), then a very long run on Diagnosis: Murder.
I remember "Annie McGuire" too. It also wasn't very good.
And that Dick Van Dyke sitcom that aired after it was pretty bad.

CBS aired these 2 shows back-to-back hoping that a "Dick-Mary hour" would get their ratings up.

And Dicks variety show on NBC in the late 70s ("Van Dyke & Company") didn't last a full season-it only lasted 15 EPISODES!!!!

(it should have been more- I remember it was HILARIOUS!!!:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: )

that sketch was in 2 parts. The first part showed Rob & Laura Petrie as they were in 1979, that's when they find out at the end that Richie's gay.
The second part showed them as an old couple. The entire sketch is on one of the DVD sets of "The Dick Van Dyke show". And, no, they didn't show Buddy & Sally or any of the others. I haven't seen it in YEARS since it was first on, but, from what I remember they said that Buddy & Sally were working in hollywood, and Richie was away at college.

I remember, a young David Letterman guest starred once.

I don't recall David Letterman guest starring on "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour," but I do remember him as a regular on the "Mary" variety show that aired a few months earlier. Other regulars on that show included Michael Keaton and Swoosie Kurtz. Who would have guessed they would all three become stars in their own right? And it goes to show that, just because you bring together some great talent, that doesn't mean the chemistry is going to work. And it certainly didn't on that show.

...my friend and I were on the streets of New York in December 1985 when a CBS representative asked us if we'd come to the company's headquarters to attend a "preview screening" of one of the network's new shows. We were given tickets, and sure enough, when we arrived at CBS, we were led into a
conference room with some other people, and watched a monitor beaming a closed-circuit episode of...."MARY" (sans commercials, promos, and network i.d.). After the episode was over, we were given questionnaires and asked OUR written opinions of what we had just seen. Lots of questions about the characters, plot, would we like to see the show again, what was wrong with it, and so on. After we handed our papers in, we were given CBS ball-point pens, and left. This "tweaking" by average viewers [including us] was not enough to save Mary's new show. It expired in the spring of 1986, after 13 episodes and a LOT of tinkering.

I also remember Mary's short lived 1980s sitcom. It also had a pre-Married With Children Kitty Sagal playing one of Mary's character's coworkers, Jo Tucker.