Episode question

[KennedyDean]

Does anyone know in "Long Night's Journey into Day" if Mary Tyler Moore really was sick or was she only acting? I just watched it, and hadn't seen it in awhile, and noticed the many squeeks she was making --that usually come along with being sick. Let me know! Thanks.

[Carrie]

It does seem like she really is sick. If she wasn't, it was a wonderful acting job!

[octobereve]

I've often wondered the same thing.

[David VP]

It's kind of improbable that Mary would have JUST HAPPENED to have a bad cold during the exact time that "Long Night's" was to be filmed (which is an episode which requires Laura to have a bad cold). If she really was sick, it was an incredible coincidence, that's for certain.

Of course, I suppose it's also possible that MTM slept naked inside a freezer the night before filming the episode in question, in order to induce some flu-like symptoms. But I kinda doubt that was the case. (But now my imagination is running wild, visualizing things freezing hard and stiff...oops, sorry, this is a family site. My apologies. )

My guess is -- it was the excellent acting skill of one MTM that makes us thoroughly believe she has a nasty cold. (Same thing happened in "Gesundheit Darling" with Rob's sneezing. Totally believable in all respects.)

And who doesn't replay the scene (every time) when Rob comes home after a sneeze-free day, pecks Laura on the cheek, and immediately lets out a huge sneeze? Gotta love it.

Another good example of feigning sickness is seen in "The Meerschatz Pipe", when Dick/Rob sounds like he's got a whopper of a cold. .... "I sound this way because my wife thinks I've got a cold."

[SawgrassSteve]

Originally Posted by KennedyDean

Does anyone know in "Long Night's Journey into Day" if Mary Tyler Moore really was sick or was she only acting?

Hi, KennedyDean!
I know I mentioned this in another thread, but it's just another example of the level of skill MTM shows while working on TDVDS. It seems that she was surrounded but such talent, and expectations, that she rose to the occassion. Something not visible, I believe, in her later work.

Steve

[BigBadBrady]

i always wondered that too. i kinda wondered if they wrote the show and
saved the filming of it for if/when mtm did come down with a cold. though
i guess that's kinda far-fetched huh? if she didn't truly have a cold during
that episode, she did a superb job acting like it, that's for sure.

[roseha]

What a coincidence...I was just going to post and ask the title of the show in which Laura is all alone in the house at night! Is this it? I haven't seen it in years and it's so funny.

I love the part when Millie comes back unannounced and surprises her!

[octobereve]

Yes, that's the title. I love the jacket Millie wore in that episode.