When creators James L. Brooks and Alan Burns first conceived The Mary Tyler Moore Show, they intended Mary to be divorced — but soon ditched this plan, fearing audiences would think Mary had split from that nice Rob Petrie, Moore’s husband on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Mary also wore a wig during the 1st season as to not confuse audiences that Mary Richards was not Laura Petrie. HUH??? LOL

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mad-men-mary-tyler-moore-show-ellen-roseanne-watercooler-tv-moments-333488

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2012/06/Mary_Tyler_Moore_a_p.jpg

yes, they were in fact DUMB.

- of course, to be completely fair, you'd have to admit that today's audiences are COMPLETELY MORONIC - (otherwise shows like Jersey Shore wouldn't exist.)

Absolutely NOT.

I think if anyone was 'dumb' it was the network executives who assumed that the viewing public couldn't differentiate between Laura Petrie and Mary Richards.

yes, they were in fact DUMB.

- of course, to be completely fair, you'd have to admit that today's audiences are COMPLETELY MORONIC - (otherwise shows like Jersey Shore wouldn't exist.)


:lol:

touche

Absolutely NOT.

I think if anyone was 'dumb' it was the network executives who assumed that the viewing public couldn't differentiate between Laura Petrie and Mary Richards.


Of course I hope you know I was being sarcastic. ;) I mean to treat a tv audience like they think MTM is actually Laura Petrie is ridiculous.

Of course I hope you know I was being sarcastic. ;) I mean to treat a tv audience like they think MTM is actually Laura Petrie is ridiculous.

Yeah, I got it, lol. But your point was a good one, Brian. I can't imagine executives thinking viewers would be so naive these days...but as robyrob said, today they have other issues, lol.

Yeah, I got it, lol. But your point was a good one, Brian. I can't imagine executives thinking viewers would be so naive these days...but as robyrob said, today they have other issues, lol.


Agreed well said

Actually Mary Richards WAS Laura Petrie who killed her husband after she caught him doing Sally in the office and then running away to Minneapolis under an assumed name.

I think for some reason they just wanted to totally seperate the Mary tyler Moore show from the Dick Van Dyke Show.Why,I don't know, after all back then the audiences were a lot smarter than they are today.It's also probably the reason why not even one member of the "main" cast of the Dick Van Dyke show ever made a guest appearance. And by the way I did not know she wore a wig on the first season,she did some movies earlier with the same long hair style.

I've read that the divorce angle was scuttled partly for that reason and partly because divorce was considered distasteful at the time. As to audience's intelligence, I once heard that the Coast Guard was deluged with letters inquiring as to why they couldn't get the castaways off of Gilligan's Island. (Agreed. Different shows have different audiences).

they are more ******** now....look at reality TV + bobs burgers

It's funny how CBS was worried about that. A year later Dick Van Dyke returned to tv sitcoms with a new wife played by Hope Lange. Wasn't CBS worried that people would think he divorced Mary Tyler Moore then? :confused:

Actually Mary Richards WAS Laura Petrie who killed her husband after she caught him doing Sally in the office and then running away to Minneapolis under an assumed name.
:lol: