I never realized this, but as this article from October 1975 reveals, by the start of the sixth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and weeks before the nation was treated to "Chuckles Bites the Dust" for the very first time, Mary was already planning to end the show in 1977.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JcshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TJ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2399,586435&dq=phyllis+cloris+leachman&hl=en

Mary learned her lessons well during her days on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Carl Reiner, Sheldon Leonard, and Dick Van Dyke choose to end that series after only 5 seasons while it was still on top. Mary made a similar choice with her own series a decade later.

Interesting article, Little Ricky.

Definition of pap: worthless or oversimplified ideas.

Did she mean that because shows like "Phyllis" had trouble during the family hour because of adult lines, that writers would give up and only shows of pap quality would remain?

She partially predicted the future; family hour is filled with pap, only now, those adult lines are part of almost every family show! :crazy:

Interesting article, Little Ricky.

Definition of pap: worthless or oversimplified ideas.

Did she mean that because shows like "Phyllis" had trouble during the family hour because of adult lines, that writers would give up and only shows of pap quality would remain?

She partially predicted the future; family hour is filled with pap, only now, those adult lines are part of almost every family show! :crazy:

I think what she meant was, by virtue of being on during the family hour, shows like Phyllis would be constrained in their creativity. No matter how good a joke or topic might be, if it was deemed not to be family-friendly, it would be taken out, or watered down; thus, less effective, perhaps boring. Remember the kinds of shows they were putting on during the family hour. Does the Brady Bunch Variety Hour ring a bell?

On the Oprah special,Mary said she wanted to continue but the writers,were running out of ideas.
Seven years is a good run with a show,also the spin offs and Lou Grant lasted til 82 so Ed Asner played the same character for 12 years.

The show was beginning to look tired in the 7th season. The edge was not there like it was in the previous seasons. Good thing it did not go into the 8th season.

The show was beginning to look tired in the 7th season. The edge was not there like it was in the previous seasons. Good thing it did not go into the 8th season.

Hmm, the 7th season was my favorite.

I thought the seventh season was just fine, too, but I also believe it ended up being just the right time to end the series.
I agree with Marvo, I think Mary learned well from The Dick Van Dyke Show and decided to end The Mary Tyler Moore Show on top.

One of the things that's always been appealing about Mary in real life and in the characters that she plays, besides her beauty, is her intelligence.
She obviously took a long view, called on past experience, and realized that if the writers told her they were having trouble coming up with the ideas that made the show what it was, which was a cut above most sitcoms, it might be time to exit gracefully.

A wise choice, and the seven seasons we DO have hold up so well that I STILL watch one or two episodes every Saturday night, and will until I make my own exit!

Mary learned her lessons well during her days on "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Carl Reiner, Sheldon Leonard, and Dick Van Dyke choose to end that series after only 5 seasons while it was still on top. Mary made a similar choice with her own series a decade later.
She learned well from them - as well as Jerry Seinfeld would years later!