Ted Knight Movies
Actor Ted Knight dropped out of high school in order to enlist for World War II service. During the postwar years, Knight studied acting in Hartford, Connecticut. He became proficient with puppets and ventriloquism, which led to steady work as a TV kiddie-show host. Knight spent most of the 1950s and 1960s doing commercial voice-overs and essaying minor TV and movie roles (he was the nonspeaking cop who handed Norman Bates a robe at the end of Hitchcock's Psycho [1960]). Just barely making ends meet with TV guest spots and cartoon voices, Knight was rescued professionally in 1970 when he was cast in the role of vainglorious TV anchorman Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Three years into the series, Knight threatened to quit because of the one-note stupidity of his character. He was assuaged when the MTM producers "humanized" him with an understanding girlfriend (played by Georgia Engel) -- and it didn't hurt that the actor later won two Emmy awards for his portrayal of the clueless Ted Baxter. When MTM left the air in 1977, Knight attempted to headline a sitcom of his own. After a couple of false starts, he struck pay dirt in 1980 with Too Close for Comfort, playing a comic-strip artist with two nubile daughters. Too Close left the network for syndication in 1984, then matriculated into The Ted Knight Show in 1985. Though gravely ill, Ted Knight valiantly taped a years' worth of episodes before succumbing to cancer at the age of 62. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
After ABC cancelled the genial sitcom Too Close for Comfort in the fall of 1983, production actually continued beyond its fourth season. A fifth season, spanning January 1984 through September 1985, aired under the same title as the original series, in first-run syndication; then, in spring 1986, a spin-off (of sorts) appeared, also in first-run syndication. While not officially a sixth season of Comfort, it did feature several of the same principals and characters, yet all were transferred to a new setting and premise. The late Ted Knight returned as cartoonist Henry Rush (the creator of 'Cosmic Cow'), and Nancy Dussault as his photographer wife Muriel, the venerable Jm. J. Bullock as the goofball Monroe Ficus, and Joshua Goodwin as Muriel and Henry's young son, Andrew. But gone were the two Rush daughters, Jackie and Sara (Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Lydia Cornell left the cast)). As this series opened, The Rushes had moved out of San Francisco. Henry, it seems, had abandoned his job as an illustrator to purchase 49% of 'The Marin Bugler,' a weekly newspaper in Mill Valley, California, north of Frisco; Muriel took on work as a staff photographer for the paper, while former security guard Monroe - having graduated from college - assisted Henry at the Bugler. On hand for the first time were Lisa (Lisa Antille), the Rushes' Hispanic maid, and Hope Stinson, the publisher of the newspaper.
This program ran in syndication from April 1986 through September 1986, and a second season was all scripted and set to go into production. Sadly, this never occurred, as Ted Knight (who had been seriously ill for some time) died during the summer of 1986. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
This program ran in syndication from April 1986 through September 1986, and a second season was all scripted and set to go into production. Sadly, this never occurred, as Ted Knight (who had been seriously ill for some time) died during the summer of 1986. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1985
Despite its cancellation by ABC at the end of the 1982-1983 TV season, the Britain-inspired sitcom Too Close for Comfort proved immensely successful when it was retooled as a first-run syndicated program and sold to individual stations and sponsors rather than telecast by a single network. As a result, the series was renewed for another season's worth of "syndie" episodes -- and that still wasn't the end of the story. The basic premise remains as ever: a conservative newspaper cartoonist named Henry Rush agonizes over the well-being of his toothsome daughters Jackie and Sara, who live in the lower apartment in the townhouse owned by Henry and his wife Muriel. Also, the familiar cast remains intact: Ted Knight as Henry, Nancy Dussault as Muriel, Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Jackie, Lydia Cornell as Sara, Joshua Goodwin as the Rushes' youngest child Andrew, and Audrey Meadows as Henry's termagant mother-in-law Iris, who now resides in the attic apartment above Henry and Muriel. With the announcement that series regulars Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Lydia Cornell would exit the series at the end of its second syndicated season (and fifth year on the air), the climactic episodes of Too Close for Comfort work overtime to prepare audiences for the series' major format change, coming up the following year. As the result of the cancellation of Henry's comic strip "Cosmic Cow," he and Muriel will soon forsake San Francisco, along with their longtime "house guest" Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock), and move to Marin County, where Henry is destined to assume co-ownership of a small weekly newspaper. Armed with this premise, Too Close for Comfort would reemerge as The Ted Knight Show, beginning in April of 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1984
Cancelled by ABC at the end of its third season, Too Close for Comfort was revived in off-network syndication beginning April 2, 1984. This move was part of a concerted effort by the Metromedia station group to create a "fourth network," an alternative to the established webs ABC, NBC, and CBS. Although Too Close for Comfort did not result in the fulfillment of this ambition, a few years later Metromedia would be folded into the new Fox network. Substantially, the "new" Too Close for Comfort is the same mixture as before. Ted Knight still heads the cast as San Francisco-based newspaper cartoonist Henry Rush, with Nancy Dussault as his level-headed wife Muriel and Audrey Meadows as his insufferable mother-in-law Iris. Conservative to the bone and an inveterate worrier, Henry still continues to fret over his pretty twenty-something daughters Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Sara (Lydia Cornell), who live in the lower apartment in Henry and Muriel's two-story townhouse. Also on hand is Henry and Muriel's youngest child, Andrew, who has aged considerably since his birth two seasons earlier and who is now played by Joshua Goodwin; and the Rushes' semi-permanent house guest, the neurotic Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock). As a "syndie," Too Close for Comfort posted surprisingly good ratings, even higher than the series had enjoyed during its terminal ABC season. This fact not only insured Too Close for Comfort an additional season of new episodes, but also proved to be a major shot in the arm for the entire "off-network sitcom" genre, spawning new versions of such popular ex-network efforts as Charles in Charge and Mama's Family. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1982
Season two of the ABC sitcom Too Close for Comfort climaxed with Muriel Rush (Nancy Dussault), 42-year-old wife of ultraconservative newspaper cartoonist Henry Rush (Ted Knight), giving birth to her third child, a son named Andrew. Season three finds Andrew old enough to be played by actual child actors instead of anonymous infants. In this case, the role is shared by twins William Thomas Cannon and Michael Philip Cannon) (though the baby "talks" with the voice of an adult actor in those scenes wherein the audience is made privy to Andrew's innermost thoughts). Now the neurotic Henry is given another child to fret over in addition to his pretty college-age daughters Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Sara (Lydia Cornell), who are still living in the apartment below Henry and Muriel's. The fact that the nursing Muriel needs extra help around the house permits the writers to beef up the character of Muriel's domineering mother Iris, played by Audrey Meadows. Once again, this addition is made to heap more frustration upon Henry, inasmuch as he and Iris are constitutionally incapable of seeing eye-to-eye on anything. Addtionally, viewers see more and more of Jackie's policeman fiancé Brad Turner (Jordan Suffin during season three. The season finale, "Family Business", rather curiously downplays the presence of Henry, Muriel et al. to concentrate on the characters played by guest stars Jimmy Baio, George Del Hoyo, and Hillary Bailey Smith. On second glance, however, maybe it isn't so curious: whenever an episode of this nature shows up on an established series, it's a sure bet that the episode is the pilot for a spinoff show (which was true in this case, though the spinoff never spun off anywhere, except into oblivion). Having moved from its high-rated Tuesday night slot to a Thursday berth, and suffering from a general drop of interest in sexy sitcoms that promised much but delivered little, Too Close for Comfort plummetted in the ratings during its third season. However, the show still boasted enough of a following to warrant two additional seasons, produced for first-run syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1981
- Add Too Close for Comfort: Season 02 to Queue Add Too Close for Comfort: Season 02 to top of Queue
Season two for the Britain-derived ABC sitcom Too Close for Comfort finds newspaper cartoonist Henry Rush (Ted Knight) still fretting over the welfare and virtue of his toothsome young daughters Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Sara (Lydia Cornell) who live in the lower apartment of the two-story San Francisco townhouse owned by Henry and his wife Muriel (Nancy Dussault). Also still on hand is Sara's college chum Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock), who, since following Sara home one day in his typical moonstruck fashion, has been a semi-permanent house guest of Henry and Sara. New to the series this season is Henry's hippie niece April Rush (Deena Freeman), who has left her Delaware home town to swing in Frisco -- and to "crash" at the home of Henry and Muriel. Additionally, the episode "My Unfavorite Martin" introduces Audrey Meadows in the role of Muriel's mother Iris Martin, who upholds the tradition of all sitcom mothers-in-law with her ill-concealed contempt for the long-suffering Henry. Halfway through the season, 42-year-old Muriel unexpectedly announces that she is pregnant. This paves the way for the obligatory "going into labor" series finale, with poor Henry enduring even more labor pains than his wife. Still stuck between two of ABC's most popular Tuesday night attractions, Three's Company and Hart to Hart, Too Close for Comfort emerged from its second season as the 6th most popular program on American network television, sharing this honor with CBS' The Dukes of Hazzard. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
The smash success Caddyshack became a prototype for countless other wacky T&A-tinged teen comedies of the early 1980s. At an exclusive country club for WASPish snobs, an ambitious young caddy (Michael O'Keefe) from an overpopulated home eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favor of the elitist Judge Smails (Ted Knight), then the caddy golf tournament which the good judge sponsors. Of course, there are love interests as well -- one good, one naughty -- not to mention several foes he must vanquish along the way. The story itself serves to string along a series of slapstick scenes involving an obnoxious nouveau riche land developer (Rodney Dangerfield) who wants to turn the site into a condominium community; an oddball, Zen-quoting, millionaire slacker/golf ace (Chevy Chase); and a psychotic groundskeeper (Bill Murray) with a gopher-fixation. Caddyshack was a bona fide hit; throughout the '80s and '90s, director Harold Ramis would continue to create such hits as Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and Analyze This. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, (more)
- 1980
- Add Too Close for Comfort: Season 01 to Queue Add Too Close for Comfort: Season 01 to top of Queue
A mere eleven months after the ITV debut of the British sitcom Keep It in the Family, the American version of the series, Too Close for Comfort, made its bow on ABC. Actually, the latter series might have arrived on the scene even earlier but an actors' strike delayed the start of the 1980-1981 TV season by two months.
Ted Knight starred as Henry Rush, a San Francisco-based cartoonist and creator of the popular comic strip "Cosmic Cow." Prudish and conservative, Henry was extremely overprotective of his gorgeous college-age daughters, brunette Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and blonde Sara (Lydia Cornell). Henry's wife, Muriel, who prior to her marriage had led a freewheeling (but respectable) existence as a band singer, now worked as a freelance photographer. Less strict and strait-laced than Henry, Muriel tended to allow her daughters a freer reign, though she still made sure that they didn't make too many mistakes. Season one began as Jackie and Sara moved into the downstairs apartment of dad Henry's two-apartment town house, recently vacated by the death of tenant Mr. Rafkin (who, much to Henry's dismay, turned out to be a transvestite). Having reluctantly agreed to this arrangement, Henry agonized over what might have been going on in the lower apartment, especially considering the steady stream of attractive young men who paid regular visits to his darling daughters. (He had nothing to worry about, of course, but that didn't stop him from doing so.) During the series' first 19 episodes, Jackie worked at a bank while Sara attended college -- where she met and befriended that walking mass of neuroses and insecurities known as Monroe Ficus (J.M. J Bullock), who from episode four onward was a more or less permanent house guest of Henry and Muriel. A handful of other recurring characters were introduced during the series' maiden season. Among these were Mr. Wainwright (Hamilton Camp), Hamilton's short-statured, dictatorial publisher; Mildred Rafkin (Selma Diamond), the abrasive and insulting sister of Henry's deceased tenant; and Henry's libidinous 75-year-old father Huey Rush (Ray Middleton). Also given prominence was another "character," the Cosmic Cow hand puppet with whom Henry "consulted" in moments of crisis. Scheduled as part of ABC's virtually unbeatable Tuesday-night sitcom lineup (which in 1980 included Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Three's Company), Too Close for Comfort emerged from its inaugural season as America's 15th most-watched program, with a Nielsen rating of 20.8. ~ Rovi
Ted Knight starred as Henry Rush, a San Francisco-based cartoonist and creator of the popular comic strip "Cosmic Cow." Prudish and conservative, Henry was extremely overprotective of his gorgeous college-age daughters, brunette Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and blonde Sara (Lydia Cornell). Henry's wife, Muriel, who prior to her marriage had led a freewheeling (but respectable) existence as a band singer, now worked as a freelance photographer. Less strict and strait-laced than Henry, Muriel tended to allow her daughters a freer reign, though she still made sure that they didn't make too many mistakes. Season one began as Jackie and Sara moved into the downstairs apartment of dad Henry's two-apartment town house, recently vacated by the death of tenant Mr. Rafkin (who, much to Henry's dismay, turned out to be a transvestite). Having reluctantly agreed to this arrangement, Henry agonized over what might have been going on in the lower apartment, especially considering the steady stream of attractive young men who paid regular visits to his darling daughters. (He had nothing to worry about, of course, but that didn't stop him from doing so.) During the series' first 19 episodes, Jackie worked at a bank while Sara attended college -- where she met and befriended that walking mass of neuroses and insecurities known as Monroe Ficus (J.M. J Bullock), who from episode four onward was a more or less permanent house guest of Henry and Muriel. A handful of other recurring characters were introduced during the series' maiden season. Among these were Mr. Wainwright (Hamilton Camp), Hamilton's short-statured, dictatorial publisher; Mildred Rafkin (Selma Diamond), the abrasive and insulting sister of Henry's deceased tenant; and Henry's libidinous 75-year-old father Huey Rush (Ray Middleton). Also given prominence was another "character," the Cosmic Cow hand puppet with whom Henry "consulted" in moments of crisis. Scheduled as part of ABC's virtually unbeatable Tuesday-night sitcom lineup (which in 1980 included Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Three's Company), Too Close for Comfort emerged from its inaugural season as America's 15th most-watched program, with a Nielsen rating of 20.8. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1980
Based on the British comedy series Keep It in the Family and first telecast on November 11, 1980, the ABC sitcom Too Close for Comfort starred Ted Knight as Henry Rush, an uptight, traditionalist newspaper cartoonist who in midlife had found unexpected fame and fortune as the creator of the popular comic strip "Cosmic Cow." Henry was married to former band singer and latterly freelance photographer Muriel (Nancy Dussault), and was the fiercely overprotective father of two knockout college-age daughters, brunette Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and blonde Sara (Lydia Cornell). The main source of Henry's vexation was the fact that his daughters had moved into the downstairs apartment of his two-story townhouse. While Muriel welcomed the girls' close proximity and was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding visitors (particularly of the male persuasion), neurotic Henry was terrified that the girls' virtue would be compromised by their steady stream of boyfriends, and thus found all manner of excuses to drop in on the girls unexpectedly, and to eavesdrop. Other characters weaving in and out of the farcical proceedings were Henry's boss Arthur Wainwright (Hamilton Camp); the elder Rushes' semi-permanent house guest Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock), a friend and fellow student of collegiate Sara; Muriel's flamboyant mother Iris (Audrey Meadows), who, in fine sitcom tradition, thought only the worst of Henry; Henry's hippie niece April (Deena Freeman), who briefly moved in with the family; and Jackie's policeman fiancé, Brad Turner (Jordan Suffin). During the series' second season, 42-year-old Muriel unexpectedly became pregnant again, ultimately giving birth to a son named Andrew, played first by twins William Thomas Cannon and Michael Philip Cannon, then by Joshua Goodwin. This was clearly a bid to improve the series' ratings, but ABC decided to cancel at the end of season three all the same. Too Close for Comfort was revived the following year in syndication, maintaining the same cast and basic premise for the next two years. In 1986 the series was retitled The Ted Knight Show, whereupon the format was retooled so that Henry Rush became the owner of a small-town newspaper. The actresses playing his daughters left the series, making room for a whole new supporting cast. The Ted Knight Show remained in production until the star's death in late 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Nancy Dussault, (more)
- 1979
This 1979 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Ted Knight and features musical guest Desmond Child and Rouge. ~ Skyler Miller, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Knight, Desmond Child and Rouge, (more)
- 1976
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 07 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 07 to top of Queue
While The Mary Tyler Moore Show no longer enjoyed Top 20 ratings as the series entered its seventh season, CBS hoped that the show would last forever as the linchpin of its Saturday-night lineup. However, series star Mary Tyler Moore (cast as Mary Richards, newscast producer at Minneapolis TV station WJM) had already decided to emulate the example set by her previous sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show: quit while the applause and laughter are still ringing in your ears, rather than hang around until nobody is left in the room. Thus, season seven of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was predestined to be season last. Even so, the series' final batch of episodes uphold the lofty standards of previous seasons, as indicated by the fact that Mary Tyler Moore earned its third Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy award in a row at the 1976-1977 ceremonies. Things get off to a grand start with "Mary Midwife," in which Georgette Baxter (Georgia Engel), the pregnant wife of WJM-TV's vainglorious anchorman, Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), goes into labor right in the middle of one of Mary Richards' infamous dinner parties. Subsequent episodes of note include "Sue Ann's Sister," in which WJM's "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White) suffers a bad case of sibling rivalry when her sister -- and professional competitor -- Lila (Pat Priest) comes to town; and "Sue Ann Gets the Ax," wherein Sue Ann accepts a humiliating supporting role on a TV kiddie show when her own series is canceled. Also worth noting are "Ted's Change of Heart," in which Ted undergoes an epiphany after suffering a heart attack while on the air; "Lou Proposes," featuring another lively appearance by Eileen Heckart as Mary's globetrotting journalist aunt Flo Meredith; "Mary's Insomnia," combining slapstick with melodrama as Mary inadvertently becomes addicted to sleeping pills; "The Critic," guest-starring Eric Braeden as a waspish arts critic who is given a gooey comeuppance by an unwitting Ted; "Hail the Conquering Gordy," marking a return appearance by John Amos in the role of former WJM weatherman Gordy Howard; "Mary's Big Party," in which Johnny Carson makes a guest appearance -- we think; and the series' only fantasy episode, "Mary's Three Husbands." The Mary Tyler Moore Show neatly wraps things up after seven seasons with the now-classic series finale, in which the new manager of WJM-TV fires everyone on the staff -- except, amazingly, Ted Baxter! (It's a long way to Tipperary....) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1975
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 06 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 06 to top of Queue
If for no other reason, the sixth season of The Mary Tyler Moore would be memorable for the Emmy-winning episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust," which has been listed in innumerable media publications as one of the funniest sitcom episodes of all time. Just in case you need remembering, this is the half hour in which Chuckles the Clown, resident kiddie host at Minneapolis station WJM-TV is killed in a freak accident during a circus parade -- seems he was dressed as a giant peanut, and a rogue elephant tried to "shell" him. As her co-workers Lou Grant (Edward Asner), Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) compensate for their loss by making hilarious bad-taste jokes about Chuckles' demise, the outraged Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) insists that they behave themselves and treat the occasion with the dignity and sobriety it deserves -- only to dissolve in laughter herself during the minister's eulogy at Chuckles' funeral ("A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants"). Not that this was the only season-six highlight. The opening episode, "Edie Gets Married," finds Lou Grant trying to bear up as a guest at his ex-wife's wedding; "Mary Moves Out" introduces Mary's new high-rise apartment, a move dictated by the departure of her former landlady Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman had, of course, left the series to star in her own spin-off, Phyllis); "Murray in Love" poses a crisis of conscience for the very married Murray when it dawns upon him that he's fallen in love with Mary; "Mary's Aunt" introduces Eileen Heckart in the role of wordly journalist Flo Meredith, who finds an apt sparring partner in the form of the envious Lou; "Ted's Wedding," in which Ted finally ties the knot with his long-suffering fiancée, Georgette (Georgia Engel), with a pre-Three's Company John Ritter as the minister who performs the ceremony (in tennis clothes!); "The Happy Homemaker Takes Lou Home," wherein we finally see the erotically furnished "bachelorette apartment" of TV household-hint hostess Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White); "The Seminar," featuring an unforgettable cameo appearance by then-first lady Betty Ford; and "Ted and the Kid," distinguished by the first appearance of Robbie Rist as Ted and Georgette's adopted son, David. Also, Ted Bessel appears in a handful of episodes as Joe Warner, whom the series' producers were obviously hoping to develop as Mary's permanent boyfriend. Although it had dipped to number 19 in the ratings, The Mary Tyler Moore Show remained an audience favorite during its sixth season, and also won its second Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy award in the bargain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1974
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 05 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 05 to top of Queue
Season five of The Mary Tyler Moore Show gets under way with all but one of its familiar regular characters in attendance: Valerie Harper has departed the series in the role of Rhoda Morganstern to star in her own weekly spin-off, Rhoda. However, Harper and Mary Tyler Moore would be reunited in a "crossover" Rhoda episode telecast October 28, 1974, in which Rhoda is married to her boyfriend, Joe Gerard (David Groh). Otherwise, it is business as usual in Minneapolis, as Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) divides her time between her associate-producer duties in the WJM-TV newsroom and her home life in the apartment house owned by flighty Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). Mary's grouchy boss, Lou Grant (Edward Asner), is still adjusting to his recent divorce; newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) continues to mask his neuroses with a smile and a wisecrack; the "humanization" of dimwitted, self-centered anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) carries on under the watchful and loving eye of his fiancée, Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel); and "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens proves tireless in her efforts to sleep with every eligible man within a 50-mile radius.
Season five kicks off with the Emmy-winning "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail," in which wide-eyed Mary finds herself in the slammer with a pair of cynical "working girls" after she refuses to reveal a news source. Subsequent first-rate episodes include "You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate," with a contrite Lou Grant bending over backward to patch things up with Ted Baxter after tossing him through his office doors over an on-the-air gaffe; "Lou and That Woman," featuring Sheree North as Lou's sometimes girlfriend, lounge singer Charlene Maguire; "The Outsider," guest-starring Richard Masur as WJM's new business consultant, who manages to get on the wrong side of everyone in the newsroom; "A New Sue Ann" (or "All About Eve in Minneapolis"), in which Sue Ann is hoodwinked into hiring a perky young assistant (Linda Kelsey) who is plotting to take over as the Happy Homemaker; "Mary Richards: Producer," Mary's annual blow struck on behalf of feminism; "Marriage Minneapolis Style," in which Ted finally pops the question to Georgette -- then begs his friends to help him break the engagement; and the deathless "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School," which surely needs no synopsis. Arguably, the season's most interesting episode is "Phyllis Whips Inflation," which serves a the pilot for Cloris Leachman's own spin-off series, Phyllis. Ranking at number 11 in the 1974-1975 ratings, the fifth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also the first in which the program earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Also earning Emmys were Betty White as Outstanding Supporting Actress and Cloris Leachman for Outstanding Single Performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Season five kicks off with the Emmy-winning "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail," in which wide-eyed Mary finds herself in the slammer with a pair of cynical "working girls" after she refuses to reveal a news source. Subsequent first-rate episodes include "You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate," with a contrite Lou Grant bending over backward to patch things up with Ted Baxter after tossing him through his office doors over an on-the-air gaffe; "Lou and That Woman," featuring Sheree North as Lou's sometimes girlfriend, lounge singer Charlene Maguire; "The Outsider," guest-starring Richard Masur as WJM's new business consultant, who manages to get on the wrong side of everyone in the newsroom; "A New Sue Ann" (or "All About Eve in Minneapolis"), in which Sue Ann is hoodwinked into hiring a perky young assistant (Linda Kelsey) who is plotting to take over as the Happy Homemaker; "Mary Richards: Producer," Mary's annual blow struck on behalf of feminism; "Marriage Minneapolis Style," in which Ted finally pops the question to Georgette -- then begs his friends to help him break the engagement; and the deathless "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School," which surely needs no synopsis. Arguably, the season's most interesting episode is "Phyllis Whips Inflation," which serves a the pilot for Cloris Leachman's own spin-off series, Phyllis. Ranking at number 11 in the 1974-1975 ratings, the fifth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also the first in which the program earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Also earning Emmys were Betty White as Outstanding Supporting Actress and Cloris Leachman for Outstanding Single Performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1973
This animated series features the adventures of Lassie and the Rescue Rangers. As always, Lassie tries to save the day. ~ Rovi
- 1973
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 04 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 04 to top of Queue
The big news of The Mary Tyler Moore Show's fourth season is the introduction of a new regular: Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens, the host of WJM-TV's "Happy Homemaker" household-hints show. Outwardly sweet and Pollyanna-ish, Sue Ann is actually the most predatory female in all of Minneapolis, targeting Lars Lindstrom, the (never-seen) husband of supercilious Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) as her latest sexual conquest in the season's Emmy-winning opening episode, "The Lars Affair." It takes the eleventh-hour intervention of Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore), associate producer of WJM's "Six O'Clock News," to prevent Sue Ann from adding Lars to her male harem. Subsequent season-four episodes constitute some of The Mary Tyler Moore Show's best and most memorable efforts. These include another Emmy winner, "The Lou and Edie Story," in which Mary's boss, Lou Grant (Edward Asner), goes into a deep funk over the breakup of his marriage to wife Edie (Priscilla Morrill); "Lou's First Date," guest-starring veteran comic actress Florence Lake as the sweet octogenarian whom the newly single Lou escorts to an awards ceremony; "Father's Day," wherein pompous WJM anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) is reluctantly reunited with his long-absent dad, Robert (Liam Dunn); "The Dinner Party," the season's annual "Mary's terrible parties" episode, featuring a pre-Happy Days Henry Winkler as Mary's date, Steve Waldman; "I Gave at the Office," a tour de force for Gavin MacLeod as WJM newswriter Murray Slaughter, who frets and fumes when his daughter (Tammi Bula) takes a part-time job at the station; "Better Late...That's a Pun...Than Never," in which a red-faced Mary is suspended from her job after capriciously writing a humorous obituary for Minneapolis' oldest citizen -- who unexpectedly kicks the bucket; and the unforgettable, and imminently self-explanatory, "Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite." In addition to the aforementioned Emmy awards for the episodes "The Lars Affair" and "The Lou and Edie Story," gold statuettes were doled out to series regulars Mary Tyler Moore and Cloris Leachman. The Mary Tyler Moore Show wrapped up its fourth season as America's ninth most popular network series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1972
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 03 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 03 to top of Queue
The eponymous star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show launches her third season in the role of Mary Richards, the still lovable, still unmarried associate producer of "The Six O'Clock News" on Minneapolis TV station WJM-TV. Also returning are the familiar supporting characters: irascible producer Lou Grant (Edward Asner), cheerful newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), vain-and-stupid anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), Mary's tough-talking best friend Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper), and her flighty landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). The season opener is the classic "The Good-Time News," in which Mary lobbies for a raise from her chauvinistic boss Lou, while Ted makes a public ass of himself (again!) by trying to be an on-the-air jokester. The subsequent episode "Rhoda the Beautiful" unveils the "new," svelte-and-slim Rhoda Morganstern, reflecting the well-publicized diet upon which Valerie Harper embarked during the summer hiatus (and which encouraged co-stars Edward Asner and Gavin MacLeod to drop several pounds themselves). In "But Seriously, Folks," Jerry Van Dyke, brother of Mary Tyler Moore's former sitcom co-star Dick Van Dyke, makes his first appearance as aspiring comedian (and Mary Richards' erstwhile boyfriend) Wes Callison; and in "Rhoda Morganstern: Minneapolis to New York," future series regular Georgia Engel is introduced as Ted's naïve, soft-spoken girlfriend, Georgette Fanklin. Also, Ted tries to fatten his bank account by doing embarrassing pork-sausage commercials in "Farmer Ted and the News." Phyllis' 15-year-old daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen), is beside herself when her same-aged boyfriend falls for Mary in "It Was Fascination, I Know"; and in the season's most talked-about episode, Mary spends the night with former beau Tom Vernon (Joseph Campanella) in "Remembrance of Things Past." Emmy awards this season went to star Mary Tyler Moore and co-stars Valerie Harper and Ted Knight. As a bonus, season three found the series posting its highest-ever ratings, securely fastened into the number seven slot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1971
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 02 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 02 to top of Queue
Like the series' heroine, Mary Richards, The Mary Tyler Moore Show is a lot more confident and secure with itself as the program enters its second season. After a full year in Minneapolis, our Mary is handling her duties as associate producer of WJM-TV's nightly news broadcast with admirable efficiency. She has also formed enduring friendships with co-workers, grumbly producer Lou Grant (Edward Asner), affable news writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and dunderheaded anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). Off the job, Mary enjoys the companionship of next-door neighbor Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper), though she's not crazy about mediating the arguments between Rhoda and supercilious landlady Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). This season's best episodes include the classic opener, "The Birds...and...Um...Bees," in which Mary is recruited to explain the facts of life to Phyllis' spoiled daughter, Bess (Lisa Gerritsen); "Room 223," wherein Mary takes a night-school course in journalism and begins a romance with the lecturer (Michael Tolan); "A Girl's Best Mother Is Not Her Friends," marking a return visit by Nancy Walker as Rhoda's impossible mother, Ida; "Cover Boy," guest-starring Jack Cassidy as Ted Baxter's equally vapid brother, Hal (reportedly, this episode upset Ted Knight, who was worried that Cassidy was being brought in to replace him); "Ted Over Heels," in which Ted falls in love with the daughter (Arlene Golonka) of WJM's resident kiddie entertainer, Chuckles the Clown; "Feeb," illustrating the dangers of feeling sorry for someone, as Mary arranges to have a klutzy ex-waitress (Barbara Sharma) take a job at the TV station; "The Slaughter Affair," spotlighting Joyce Bulifant as Murray's wife, Marie, who is convinced that her husband is fooling around; "Where There's Smoke, There's Rhoda," in which Mary and Rhoda discover to their chagrin that best friends do not always make best roommates; and the season finale, "His Two Right Arms," originally designed as the pilot for a spin-off series starring Bill Daily as a stupid politician. (The pilot didn't sell, but Daily was hired on the strength of his performance as a regular on MTM Productions' The Bob Newhart Show.) Season two of The Mary Tyler Moore Show found the series ranking at number ten in the ratings. As icing on the cake, Edward Asner and Valerie Harper both took home their second Emmy awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actress, respectively. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
Although he was not the first choice to direct it, the hit black comedy MASH established Robert Altman as one of the leading figures of Hollywood's 1970s generation of innovative and irreverent young filmmakers. Scripted by Hollywood veteran Ring Lardner, Jr., this war comedy details the exploits of military doctors and nurses at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. Between exceptionally gory hospital shifts and countless rounds of martinis, wisecracking surgeons Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould) make it their business to undercut the smug, moralistic pretensions of Bible-thumper Maj. Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Army true-believer Maj. "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman). Abetted by such other hedonists as Duke Forrest (Tom Skerritt) and Painless Pole (John Schuck), as well as such (relative) innocents as Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), Hawkeye and Trapper John drive Burns and Houlihan crazy while engaging in such additional blasphemies as taking a medical trip to Japan to play golf, staging a mock Last Supper to cure Painless's momentary erectile dysfunction, and using any means necessary to win an inter-MASH football game. MASH creates a casual, chaotic atmosphere emphasizing the constant noise and activity of a surgical unit near battle lines; it marked the beginning of Altman's sustained formal experiments with widescreen photography, zoom lenses, and overlapping sound and dialogue, further enhancing the atmosphere with the improvisational ensemble acting for which Altman's films quickly became known. Although the on-screen war was not Vietnam, MASH's satiric target was obvious in 1970, and Vietnam War-weary and counter-culturally hip audiences responded to Altman's nose-thumbing attitude towards all kinds of authority and embraced the film's frankly tasteless yet evocative humor and its anti-war, anti-Establishment, anti-religion stance. MASH became the third most popular film of 1970 after Love Story and Airport, and it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. As further evidence of the changes in Hollywood's politics, blacklist survivor Lardner won the Oscar for his screenplay. MASH began Altman's systematic 1970s effort to revise classic Hollywood genres in light of contemporary American values, and it gave him the financial clout to make even more experimental and critical films like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), California Split (1974), and Nashville (1975). It also inspired the long-running TV series starring Alan Alda as Hawkeye and Burghoff as Radar. With its formal and attitudinal impudence, and its great popularity, MASH was one more confirmation in 1970 that a Hollywood "New Wave" had arrived. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland, (more)
- 1970
- Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 01 to Queue Add The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season 01 to top of Queue
"How will you make it on your own?" These lyrics from the original version of the Mary Tyler Moore Show's theme song, "Love Is All Around" were the first words heard by the viewers as 30-year-old Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) left her hometown and drove into Minneapolis in the opening episode of the series' inaugural season. Hoping to find new professional vistas -- and, incidentally, to get over a failed romance -- Mary moves into an attic apartment in the building managed by pretentious flibbertigibbet Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). Almost immediately, the sweet, insecure Mary finds herself embroiled in a war of words with her New York-born neighbor Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper), who had wanted the attic room for herself. Despite this bad beginning, Mary and Rhoda would soon be the closest of friends. Answering a want ad posted by local TV station WJM-TV, Mary has an unforgettable interview with Lou Grant (Ed Asner), irascible, hard-drinking producer of the station's nightly news broadcast. "You know what?" Lou effuses to Mary. "You've got spunk." Pause. "I HATE spunk!" Even so, and despite her complete lack of experience in the TV world, Lou offers Mary the job of the newscast's associate producer. This allows her to become acquainted with the rest of the staff, including good-natured news writer Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), weatherman Gordy Howard (John Amos), and especially anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), whose monumental ego is matched only by his miniscule brain.
Most of The Mary Tyler Moore Show's first-season episodes deal with Mary's efforts to acclimate herself to her new surroundings, her new job, and her new friends, and also her ongoing search for "Mr. Right" in the dating field. Incidentally, when the series was in development, Mary was supposed to have been a divorcée, but this notion was squelched when CBS executives, acknowledging the popularity of Mary Tyler Moore's previous series The Dick Van Dyke Show, worried that audiences would conclude that "Rob and Laura Petrie" had broken up! In another bit of trivia, it should be noted that the original pilot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show had been filmed in the traditional one-camera "movie" style, minus a live studio audience. That the decision to shoot the series with three cameras in front of a crowd was a wise one can be determined by a peek from the existing clip of the first pilot's "Mary meets Lou" sequence: the characters are there, the lines are there, but the warmth, the heart, and the immediacy are not.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its first season as the 22nd most popular series in America. It also took home its first Emmy awards, for Outstanding Supporting Actor (Ed Asner); Outstanding Supporting Actress (Valerie Harper); Outstanding Directorial Achievement (Jay Sandrich, for the episode "Toulouse-Latrec Is One of My Favorite Artists"); and Outstanding Writing Achievement (James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, for "Support Your Local Mother," in which Nancy Walker makes her first appearance as Rhoda Morganstern's obstreperous mom, Ida). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Most of The Mary Tyler Moore Show's first-season episodes deal with Mary's efforts to acclimate herself to her new surroundings, her new job, and her new friends, and also her ongoing search for "Mr. Right" in the dating field. Incidentally, when the series was in development, Mary was supposed to have been a divorcée, but this notion was squelched when CBS executives, acknowledging the popularity of Mary Tyler Moore's previous series The Dick Van Dyke Show, worried that audiences would conclude that "Rob and Laura Petrie" had broken up! In another bit of trivia, it should be noted that the original pilot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show had been filmed in the traditional one-camera "movie" style, minus a live studio audience. That the decision to shoot the series with three cameras in front of a crowd was a wise one can be determined by a peek from the existing clip of the first pilot's "Mary meets Lou" sequence: the characters are there, the lines are there, but the warmth, the heart, and the immediacy are not.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its first season as the 22nd most popular series in America. It also took home its first Emmy awards, for Outstanding Supporting Actor (Ed Asner); Outstanding Supporting Actress (Valerie Harper); Outstanding Directorial Achievement (Jay Sandrich, for the episode "Toulouse-Latrec Is One of My Favorite Artists"); and Outstanding Writing Achievement (James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, for "Support Your Local Mother," in which Nancy Walker makes her first appearance as Rhoda Morganstern's obstreperous mom, Ida). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, (more)
- 1969
Anatomy of a Crime is comprised of two episodes from the 1968-69 TV series The Outsider. Darren McGavin earns top billing as David Ross, an ex-cop who became a private eye after cooling his heels in prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Ever on the outside looking in, Ross only accepts case from other "outsiders" who've been wronged by Society. Most of the footage in Anatomy of a Crime consists of the 60-minute Outsider episode "There Was a Little Girl", wherein a young woman claims to be the kidnapped-in-infancy daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Joan Blondell, Simon Scott, and Dorothy Green do guest-star duty in this 1968 installment. Woven into the continuity of "There Was a Little Girl" are scenes from another 1968 episode, "Tell It Like It Was...and You're Dead." Marilyn Maxwell, Whitney Blake, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Knight play major roles in this story of an ex-burlesque queen who receives death threats after announcing plans to write a tell-all autobiography. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
- NR
Improvisational director Robert Altman hadn't yet found his cinematic "voice" when he helmed the conformist, stick-to-the-script Countdown. James Caan is top-billed as a scientist who is chosen over astronaut Robert Duvall for the upcoming NASA moon shot. In their haste to beat the Russians to the moon, the NASA folks have tried to sidestep several safety measures, but doctor Charles Aidman sees to it that every possible precaution is taken. When Caan makes it to the lunar surface, he stumbles upon gruesome evidence that the Russians had sent up a secret expedition themselves--and had fatally ignored all those extra security precautions which he's been subject to. Ted Knight, who received some of his best pre-Mary Tyler Moore roles in Altman's TV work, co-stars in Countdown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Caan, Joanna Moore, (more)
- 1968
The Saturnians are a race of extraterrestrials (from guess where?) who look and act like demons. Anticipating global warming by several decades, the Saturninans intend to melt the Arctic Circle in order to flood the earth so they can take over everything. Though Aquaman and Aqualad mete out a lot of painful punishiment to Saturnians, it's Aqualad's walrus pal Tusky who infiltrates the enemy's submarine in order to save the world from "the big meltdown". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
The supervillain-of-the-week is The Brain, who kidnaps Aqualad for more mental mischief. In what seems like record time, the enslaved Aqualad is not only brainwashed, but he is also endowed with superstrength, transforming him into the perfect weapon against Aquaman. Only after several awkward confrontations with his confused mentor does Aqualad regain his memory and rejoin the good-guy team, thereby affording Aquaman ample time to work out a strategy to outsmart the Brain and save the day again! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
The Octomen, a sinister race of multi-tentacled, scientifically advanced sea creatures, use giant suction cups to capture Aqualad and thereby lure Aquaman into a trap. It turns out that the King of Octo-City intends to steal Aquaman's power of telepathy--and if ordinary methods of persuasion fail, the villain is prepared to unleash his fearsome electronic Octo-Giant. But Aquaman figures out a way to turn the tables on the Octo-Men, proving (in this case at least) that two hands are better than eight. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
The wreckage of an ancient pirate ship turns out to be the headquarters of the evil, shapeshifting Torpedoman. Using methods both foul and fouler, Torpedoman manages to capture both Aquaman and Aqualad, the first step in his master plan to become the supreme ruler of the sea. But Aquaman is a lot fleeter of foot and fin than most cartoon superguys, and manages to do turn Torpedoman's own fiendish intellect and arsenal of weaponry against the villain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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