The episode Mary Falls In Love was not the best episode and it got me to realize, I don't really like Mary's life outside of work. While I liked her friends, I really didn't care for her love life. The men in her life were horrible. IMO Especially, that guy Joe Warner. I thought Mary was a strong person, but she fell for this clown like a house of cards.

Yeah me too. I think part of it is that so much of Mary's character was that she was a single woman on her own. When you started seeing her in the role of the girlfriend, she lost a bit of her uniqueness and thus, her appeal.

Part of it was also that most of the guys out there kind of thought of Mary as "their" Mary, that is, the fantasy of the woman who could never be theirs but that they were just a bit in love with. We were jealous of those other guys!

And part of it was, as you said, her choice in men. Mostly losers. I liked the Joe character, actually, at least a bit more than the others, but yeah, Mary was so much stronger than any of them they barely registered.

Does anyone think its a coincidence that BOTH Mary and Rhoda fell hard for a guy named "Joe"?

Yeah me too. I think part of it is that so much of Mary's character was that she was a single woman on her own. When you started seeing her in the role of the girlfriend, she lost a bit of her uniqueness and thus, her appeal.

Part of it was also that most of the guys out there kind of thought of Mary as "their" Mary, that is, the fantasy of the woman who could never be theirs but that they were just a bit in love with. We were jealous of those other guys!

And part of it was, as you said, her choice in men. Mostly losers. I liked the Joe character, actually, at least a bit more than the others, but yeah, Mary was so much stronger than any of them they barely registered.

Joe got me angry right off the bat with all that kissing and smothering of Mary. LOL Then, he cheated on Mary AFTER she proclaimed her love for him. The guy was a sleaze ball. I don't know if they made him any nicer, but in this episode, he was a loser. IMO

Does anyone think its a coincidence that BOTH Mary and Rhoda fell hard for a guy named "Joe"?

Yeah, I thought of that actually and they did make mention of it in the episode when Mary called Rhoda late at night. LOL

Mary's Joe worked in construction. Did Rhoda's Joe also work in construction? I thought he did as well?

The episode Mary Falls In Love was not the best episode and it got me to realize, I don't really like Mary's life outside of work. While I liked her friends, I really didn't care for her love life. The men in her life were horrible. IMO Especially, that guy Joe Warner. I thought Mary was a strong person, but she fell for this clown like a house of cards.


Would it have been better if it was a guy in the station like how Jim and Pam is on the office.

Would it have been better if it was a guy in the station like how Jim and Pam is on the office.


Well, I don't want to give anything away, but no I just like Mary as a single gal, but I understand the necessity to show her personal life.

Does anyone think its a coincidence that BOTH Mary and Rhoda fell hard for a guy named "Joe"?

Rhoda's Joe ran a demolitions company, so Mary's Joe built buildings, and Rhoda's knocked them down! ;) I always thought that was funny!

Rhoda's Joe ran a demolitions company, so Mary's Joe built buildings, and Rhoda's knocked them down! ;) I always thought that was funny!


I never realized that. That is funny. :lol:

The episode Mary Falls In Love was not the best episode and it got me to realize, I don't really like Mary's life outside of work. While I liked her friends, I really didn't care for her love life. The men in her life were horrible. IMO Especially, that guy Joe Warner. I thought Mary was a strong person, but she fell for this clown like a house of cards.

I never had any problem with seeing Mary's love life portrayed on the show except for this one guy you mention, Joe! I don't know exactly what it is. Somehow that character kind of creeped me out. And it's nothing to do with the actor; I actually like Ted Bessell very much. But the Joe and Mary thing made me uncomfortable. Still, I liked the episode. :)

The episode Mary Falls In Love was not the best episode and it got me to realize, I don't really like Mary's life outside of work. While I liked her friends, I really didn't care for her love life. The men in her life were horrible. IMO Especially, that guy Joe Warner. I thought Mary was a strong person, but she fell for this clown like a house of cards.

Totally agree. Most episodes centered on her love life simply aren't good (or believable). Mary Richards was the TV symbol for "strong, intelligent modern woman" and we are supposed to believe she was interested in the parade of smarmy jerkwads the show brought along over the years? No way man, no way at all.

The VERY FEW likeable guys she dated had a weird quirk and/or Mary had some kind of hang-up about dating them. A couple of them were downright great characters who I would have liked to see more of. I think Jerry Van Dyke was probably the best, most believable match for her - largely due to Mary being the TV wife of his real-life brother and him such a great actor in his own right.

Totally agree. Most episodes centered on her love life simply aren't good (or believable). Mary Richards was the TV symbol for "strong, intelligent modern woman" and we are supposed to believe she was interested in the parade of smarmy jerkwads the show brought along over the years? No way man, no way at all.

The VERY FEW likeable guys she dated had a weird quirk and/or Mary had some kind of hang-up about dating them. A couple of them were downright great characters who I would have liked to see more of. I think Jerry Van Dyke was probably the best, most believable match for her - largely due to Mary being the TV wife of his real-life brother and him such a great actor in his own right.


Well said! Excellent post! I haven't seen the Jerry Van Dyke episode in a while, but when I do, I'll see how he stacks up. LOL

I never had any problem with seeing Mary's love life portrayed on the show except for this one guy you mention, Joe! I don't know exactly what it is. Somehow that character kind of creeped me out. And it's nothing to do with the actor; I actually like Ted Bessell very much. But the Joe and Mary thing made me uncomfortable. Still, I liked the episode. :)


Wow, that was Ted Bessell? I knew he looked familiar. LOL

Wow, that was Ted Bessell? I knew he looked familiar. LOL

And you probably thought he was just the perfect guy for Marlo Thomas, right? :lol: But not our dear ol' Mary.

I guess it would have changed the premise of the show too much to have Mary get into a long-term relationship. So they usually went with the Boyfriend of the Week model! :)

And then, the one time Mary admits she's serious about someone, it's Joe (Ted Bessell) - who wasn't good enough for our Mary! The nerve, seeing other women!

The two Boyfriends of the Week that I liked the most were Robert C. Brand, the IRS auditor (Paul Sand), and Steven Linder (Peter Strauss). Paul Sand was just adorable (I was about 11 years old at the time, and he was the ultimate "non-threatening male" for every little girl to have a crush on!). Peter Strauss played a shockingly younger man (7 years!), which I find really amusing, given that the real-life Mary later married a man 17 years younger! I think Mary Richards should've given Steven Linder a chance.

And you probably thought he was just the perfect guy for Marlo Thomas, right? :lol: But not our dear ol' Mary.


Exactly! LOL

The two Boyfriends of the Week that I liked the most were Robert C. Brand, the IRS auditor (Paul Sand), and Steven Linder (Peter Strauss).

YES! The IRS auditor is the other guy who I really found to be an interesting match for Mary. Paul Sand performed it well enough to make the character kind of endearing with his bashful school boyish nature. And yes, it's understandable they didn't want to develop some kind of long term relationship for her - it would basically ruin Mary Richards' identity.

But out of the dozens of mates for Mary we're shown, only 2 or 3 of them stick out as being believable or even memorable (discounting Lou from the bunch). It's possible they intended this streak of bad taste in men simply as character development. Creating such conflict of character is storytelling 101. But instead I just find it to be implausible and way too repetitive. Normally something like this pokes holes in writing but I've never found that it detracts from the overall magic of the show. ALL shows have some duds here and there.