I know the premise of the show was Mary making it on her own, but as a fan, did you eventually want to see Mary settle down?

No. I think part of the appeal of Mary was that she was a single woman making it totally on her own, and the fact that her co workers evolved into a family of sorts for her. Once she got married, the tension of her dating and looking for the right fella would be gone and the whole "surrogate" family aspect of the newsroom would have been compromised, as she would have had a family of her own (I'm assuming she probably would have had children too).

I think as a fan, I kind of wanted to see her finally get to have a husband, esp. towards the end of the series when she'd gone on so many dates w/ no luck. But for the series, it would've been a major shark-jump moment. I mean, if it was handled well, I think it could have worked, but chances are, it probably would've been a bad idea.

Just my 2 cents. :)

- Kristen

Nope!! I'm glad TPTB were smart enough to let Mary stay single - after all, look what marriage did to her best friend, Rhoda!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I remember reading somewhere back when the show was on; that the writers were thinking of having her get married, but then when Rhoda got married on her show and it jumped the shark, they changed their mind.

Later though, I read that they were thinking of maybe having her get married in the finale.

What a great question!

I was happy with the way it went because as a teenager with a crush on Mary I didn't think ANY of her dates were good enough for her!

But seriously, my libido aside, as Retro pointed out the premise was that she was making it on her own, if she'd gotten married the whole dating thing would be gone, and yes, you'd lose some of the doings of her newsroom "family" to those of her new family.

I had forgotten about how "Rhoda" changed once Rhoda got married, and I agree that the same type of thing might have happened to Mary. I don't doubt that they considered a marriage for the final episode, but even though I'm sure the writers would have handled it well, it might have seemed a bit forced/a ratings ploy.

So with the years to provide perspective, I'm STILL happy with the way it went. When I think of the show, I will always think back to Mary making it after all, with her great friends at home and at work, and how I had no doubt that EVENTUALLY Mary would meet a great guy, because she was such a sweetheart!

Had Mary gotten married it would have very likely destroyed the continuity of the show so, looking back, it was probably better that Mary was kept a single gal.

I agree with PGood97041 , Marry was such a terrific person that it would have been hard to come up with a man good enough for her. She was such a classy lady.

It would have been like the episode where Lou, Ted and Murray each imagine what it would be like to be married to Mary-funny but disasterous.

now that I think about it, I think I remember reading somewhere when Rhoda got married; that MTM was thinking of maybe ending "THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW" with having Mary and Lou getting married.

I might be wrong though.

I know one thing, I'm glad she and Lou didn't get married. It might have been cool if she married Joe Warner (Ted Bessell) though, toward the end.

Mary does eventually get married and has a daughter as we learn in the 2000 movie, Mary & Rhoda.

No, I was glad that Mary never married in the series. :) Yes, it would have been different since the show was about a single woman.

Actually, MarkWay, Ted Bessell was thought of if I recall as a potential husband, for our Mary. :)
But, again, I am happy that she never did get married.