Hi all, I was wondering what show people liked Mary on more. The Dick van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was graet on both. I can't decide my self but I like how she use to dance on DVD, I don't think she danced on MTM. But on MTM she was on her own and made it after all.

Personally I liked her better on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". As a suppoting character she was able to use all the tools in her acting toolbox with hilarious results. On MTM she was the lead character and as such her job was really to br the "straight man" for all the other characters. So she didn't shine as much comedically but allowed her fellow cast members to shine very brightly.

Hi all, I was wondering what show people liked Mary on more. The Dick van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was graet on both. I can't decide my self but I like how she use to dance on DVD, I don't think she danced on MTM. But on MTM she was on her own and made it after all.

I just got The Dick Van Dyke Show Complete Series, and am enjoying getting to know Laura Petrie. I really can't say I like one more than the other. Mary Richards and Laura Petrie, they're both great!

I gotta go with Laura Petrie.

Dick Van Dyke without a doubt. To me, it was the supporting cast on MTM that was what drew my interest. The Mary Richards character wasn't that great in my opinion.

Wow, I'm surprised at the results here.

I'd have thought MTM would win by a mile. For me, Mary Richards was a more well developed character, and was able to convey a much broader array of emotions. I liked Laura, of course, but in general the show was about Rob and his workplace and Laura, while a very large part of that life, wasn't given the focus and potential that Mary was.

I am always so torn by this question, and everytime it gets asked I seem to change my mnid. Right now, I'm going to say Mary was better on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. :)

I think she was better on the Dick Van Dyke Show, absolutely no question about that. I never could get into Mary's show or any of those other MTM shows. To me, other than All In The Family, Brady Bunch, and maybe a couple other shows, the 70's was not a great decade for sitcoms.

I think she was better on the Dick Van Dyke Show, absolutely no question about that. I never could get into Mary's show or any of those other MTM shows. To me, other than All In The Family, Brady Bunch, and maybe a couple other shows, the 70's was not a great decade for sitcoms.



The 70's was not a great decade for sitcoms.


I will so second that.

The 70's was not a great decade for sitcoms.


I will so second that.

I'm thinking we have REALLY different criteria for what makes a good sitcom.

Quality sitcoms from the 70's, IMHO

1) All in the Family
2) Bob Newhart Show
3) Mary Tyler Moore
4) Rhoda
5) MASH
6) One Day at a Time
7) Barney Miller
8) Soap
9) WKRP in Cincinnati
10) Good Times
11) Maude
12) Happy Days
13) Laverne and Shirley
14) Mork and Mindy
15) Angie (yes, it was short lived but it was good)
16) Three's Company
17) Too Close for Comfort
18) Partridge Family
19) Brady Bunch
20) The Odd Couple
21) Room 222
22) What's Happening
23) Chico and the Man
24) Sanford and Son
25) The Tony Randall Show

There's more I'm sure, but that's a good start.

Discuss. :lol:

The 70's was not a great decade for sitcoms.


I will so second that.

For me, one thing that's missing from many 70's sitcoms is that fun/fantasy angle that made many 60's sitcoms so great. There are probably only four or five 70's sitcoms that I can say I genuinely enjoy watching. The 60's was the decade for sitcoms, the 70's was the decade for cop shows.

What was wild about Mary's part in TDVDS was her part was originally to be a small part but end up being the unofficial leading lady on the show which caused problems between her and Rose Marie. Originally Rose Marie was supposed to be the lead actress. Mary was very funny on the show and I enjoyed Rob and Laura's relationship. They kept it real.

I did like TMTMS but her character did developed well and grew in the seven seasons where Mary Richards did get an edge towards the end of the series. She was more of the central character and a reactor to the craziness at the office and the Rhoda and Phyllis rivalry.

Here is another thing I wish TDVDS could had done is more storylines on Laura and Millie. There was some good comedy between those two and it is an underrated female friend team. They were excellent together. Ann Morgan Guilbert brought out the comedienne in Mary Tyler Moore in their scenes together.

Laura Petrie

I liked her on both shows. :)

Yeah, Mary was great on both shows. I grew up watching her on MTM and always wanted to be like her, independent. But as I got older, I kinda think I like her more on DVD.

It's hard because what you got to keep in mind is that you are analyzing two fundamentally different characters and there are many facets to each character that makes them both so unique. On TDVDS, the character of Laura Petrie was the epitome of the perfect wife who aimed to please her husband and virtually all of her comedy stemmed from that. Even in October Eve, one of Mary's best performances probably on TDVDS, her main goal has Rob in mind. The comedy sprang out of: how can I get myself out of this mess or that before Rob gets home from work? And you occasionally had the times when her and Millie would do something crazy and the story would essentially be THEIRS. But on TMTMS, she was the anchor that held WJM and her apartment building, basically, together. I think there was alot more comedic potential for the Mary Richards character than the Laura Petrie character, and I think that potential was fully reached and exceeded. The supporting cast made it seamless but Mary on her own was just dynamite. TMTMS was an ensemble workplace comedy and TDVDS was a dad's-at-the-office-all-day-and-comes-home-and-finds-himself-in-other-hilarious-situations-while-wife-gets-into-predicaments-on-her-own-during-the-day comedy. Two different animals. That said, I think Mary's comedy was sharper on TMTMS due to sharper, more contemporary writing but at the same time her comedy was flawless on TDVDS due to zanier, more outlandish and better timed gags than she would later encounter on her own show. Equally funny, but in different ways. Either show could give you a real good belly laugh but I don't think there's any argument that Mary's finest comedic moment was showcased in the sixth season episode of MTM, "Chuckles Bites The Dust." I never laughed harder in my whole life I don't think than my first exposure to that gem.

I was gonna knock this one around a while, get into all the nuances, but I'm quite sure I'd just come to the same conclusion: She was great in both of them.
I mean, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show are my two favorite sitcoms of all-time, and while both casts were outstanding, it's because of Mary that I like them so.
I will say that I agree somewhat that in TDVDS she wasn't the main character, so she could really "go" with a few of the situations she was put into. In TMTMS, she was the main character and did gladly allow the others to play off her.
But she was brilliant in both roles, and I consider myself lucky to be able to still enjoy both series to this day!

I can't decide!! But I will say she was great as the wife/mom on TDVDS, and as the single career woman on TMTMS - she played both parts equally well. :cool: :D

I either liked or thought she was great on most seasons of her own show but thought she was much sharper on TDVDS. And though her part there was probably smaller,
it made a lot more demands on her both in physical comedy and in timing, and she knocked 'em all out of the ballpark. She was the best ever. She started losing her judgement later. Sorry to say that, 'cause I'm a big fan.

^ You're probably right about that, because as many great screen partners she had on TMTMS - the greatest screen partner she ever had was Dick. They were almost on another world together; that's how great their dynamic was.