Was 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' A "TV Game Changer" Or Just A Classic Sitcom???

[Brian Damage]

Variety just released what they felt were the 25 shows that changed TV forever. Absent from that list was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So it begs the question, Was TMTMS a TV pioneer, change tv or just another sitcom? Keep in mind, Mary's foremother Lucy was selected as was The Carol Burnett Show.

Did Variety get it right or all wrong?



http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118042646?refcatid=14

[Marvo301]

TMTMS was a classic sitcom but not a game changer. TV women had been in the workforce as long back as "Our Miss Brooks" in the early 50's. And "That Girl" portrayed a single girl living in and trying to make it in the big city at least five years before Mary Richards arrived on the scene. So TMTMS didn't really cover any new ground. It may have covered it better however and in a way that engaged the audience more which is why it ranks as a classic.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

TMTMS was a classic sitcom but not a game changer. TV women had been in the workforce as long back as "Our Miss Brooks" in the early 50's. And "That Girl" portrayed a single girl living in and trying to make it in the big city at least five years before Mary Richards arrived on the scene. So TMTMS didn't really cover any new ground. It may have covered it better however and in a way that engaged the audience more which is why it ranks as a classic.

Great response Marv, I wonder though, IF CBS allowed Mary to be a divorcee or a widower, would it have made a difference?

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Great response Marv, I wonder though, IF CBS allowed Mary to be a divorcee or a widower, would it have made a difference?

If CBS had allowed Mary Richards to be a divorcee that certainly would have been new territory! Alas we would have to wait five more years to have a divorcee as a lead character when Ann Romano and One Day at a Time arrived on the scene.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

If CBS had allowed Mary Richards to be a divorcee that certainly would have been new territory! Alas we would have to wait five more years to have a divorcee as a lead character when Ann Romano and One Day at a Time arrived on the scene.

Interesting, yet, One Day At A Time isn't considered a "game changer" in the TV landscape.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Interesting, yet, One Day At A Time isn't considered a "game changer" in the TV landscape.

What a difference five years make! And most of that difference can be attributed to Norman Lear. By the time ODAAT hit the airwaves as a mid-season show in December of 1975 Norman Lear had Five other shows (All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons) on the air all of which tackled social issues from a liberal viewpoint. And all of which had received lots of attention and press. Because of that Lear was able to introduce a divorced woman (Ann Romano) as the protagonist of his new show with little fanfare and without it being considered a "game-changer" since the game had already been changed by his other shows.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

What a difference five years make! And most of that difference can be attributed to Norman Lear. By the time ODAAT hit the airwaves as a mid-season show in December of 1975 Norman Lear had Five other shows (All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons) on the air all of which tackled social issues from a liberal viewpoint. And all of which had received lots of attention and press. Because of that Lear was able to introduce a divorced woman (Ann Romano) as the protagonist of his new show with little fanfare and without it being considered a "game-changer" since the game had already been changed by his other shows.

So very true, I guess CBS was afraid people would still look at Mary as Laurie Petrie from TDVDS.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

So very true, I guess CBS was afraid people would still look at Mary as Laurie Petrie from TDVDS.

Exactly! CBS was afraid if Mary Richards was a divorcee people would think she was divorced from Rob Petrie/Dick Van Dyke.

[LittleRickyII]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

TMTMS was a classic sitcom but not a game changer. TV women had been in the workforce as long back as "Our Miss Brooks" in the early 50's. And "That Girl" portrayed a single girl living in and trying to make it in the big city at least five years before Mary Richards arrived on the scene. So TMTMS didn't really cover any new ground. It may have covered it better however and in a way that engaged the audience more which is why it ranks as a classic.

I beg to differ a little bit on this. In all those other shows, the women were working traditional "women's" jobs (e.g., teacher or secretary) and/or dependent in some way on a man, or trying to snag one. In the case of That Girl, for example, Ann Marie had both her father and Donald looking our for her. She would frequently find herself in some kind of trouble and turn to them to rescue her. Mary Richards was the first female sitcom character who had what at the time would have been perceived as a man's job, a job that was sometimes high pressure and very responsible. And she was totally self-reliant and independent, never feeling she needed a man in her life to take care of her. She was very much on her own and making her own place in the world. Mary Richards was inspirational and cutting edge in ways that none of those predecessor sitcom characters ever could have been.