Mary Tyler Moore Movies

Taken from the popular television series, an enthusiastic reporter follows around bounty hunter Josh Randall in an episode entitled "The Twain Shall Meet." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

It is now part of TV folklore that the classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show was originally conceived as a starring vehicle for the series' creator, Carl Reiner. In the pilot episode "Head of the Family," filmed in New York in 1959, Reiner played TV comedy writer Rob Petrie (then pronounced "pea-tree"), who divided his time between his job as a head writer on "The Alan Sturdy Show" with co-workers Buddy Sorrell (Morty Gunty) and Sally Rogers (Sylvia Miles) and his home life in New Rochelle with his wife, Laura (Barbara Britton) and son, Ritchie (Gary Morgan). Potential sponsors and networks liked the premise but not the cast...or to be more blunt, no one wanted to buy a series with Carl Reiner as star. Swallowing his pride, Reiner limited himself to the jobs of producer, director, and writer. He retooled "Head of the Family," and recast the property with Dick Van Dyke as Rob, Mary Tyler Moore as Laura, Larry Mathews as Ritchie, Morey Amsterdam as Buddy, and Rose Marie as Sally; the rest, as they say, is history.

Debuting October 3, 1961, on CBS, The Dick Van Dyke Show, as mentioned, top-billed the titular star as Rob Petrie, who was now head writer for "The Alan Brady Show" During the series' first few seasons, Alan Brady (a brash, dictatorial character reportedly inspired by Reiner's former boss and colleague Sid Caesar) was seldom seen -- and when he was, it was only from the back. It was an open secret that Carl Reiner himself played Brady, though he did not take screen billing. Only in the series' fourth season was Brady's face actually seen, and only then was Reiner credited on-screen as the actor playing the part. Other recurring characters included Richard Deacon as Alan Brady's producer (and beleaguered brother-in-law) Mel Cooley, Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert as the Petries' next-door neighbors Jerry and Millie Helper (he was a dentist, she was Laura's best friend), future director Bill Idelson as Sally Rogers' erstwhile boyfriend, Herman Glimpshire, and Joan Shawlee as Buddy's ex-showgirl wife, Pickles.

Although the series was distinguished by the high level of wit in its writing and its wonderful physical-comedy set pieces, the strong suit of The Dick Van Dyke Show was the warm rapport among its principal players. Indeed, only a handful of TV sitcoms have been so perfectly cast, making one wonder how the series would have fared with its original cast members. Incredible though it may seem today, The Dick Van Dyke Show was not an instantaneous hit. Indeed, the series fared so poorly opposite its first season competition, Bachelor Father and Laramie, that CBS canceled the show outright, sending out notices to the cast members on the last day of shooting. The series might have been just another one season wonder had not one of its sponsors picked it up for a second season, insisting that CBS find a better time slot than Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. Thus, the show was moved to Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. -- fortuitously right after CBS's biggest success of the 1962-1963 season, The Beverly Hillbillies.

Although The Dick Van Dyke Show's somewhat higher ratings still did not set the world on fire, the series received a great deal of word-of-mouth buzz during its second season, and its audience grew steadily throughout the remainder of its run. The fact that the series picked up several Emmy Awards along the way was the icing on the cake. After five seasons, star Dick Van Dyke and producer Carl Reiner opted to quit while they were ahead -- a rare move in the mid-'60s (and even rarer four decades later). Thus, The Dick Van Dyke Show concluded its nighttime run on September 7, 1966, though reruns continued to air on CBS's daytime schedule until 1969. Thereafter, the series entered off-network syndication, where its has continued to flourish mightily well into the 21st century. And in 2003, the surviving cast members were reunited for a two-hour special, The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The best thing that ever happened to The Dick Van Dyke Show was The Beverly Hillbillies. After languishing in a low-rated Tuesday night slot throughout its first season, Dick Van Dyke was moved to Wednesday during season two -- with Hillbillies, CBS' number one attraction, as its lead-in. Though ratings did not immediately skyrocket, "word of mouth" helped to build a large and loyal audience for Dick Van Dyke -- and by the time its second season had ended, the series had climbed to the number nine berth in the overall ratings. In many ways, the most exciting aspect of the series' first season had been the matriculation of co-star Mary Tyler Moore from just another pretty ingénue to gifted comic actress in the role of Laura Petrie, the wife of TV comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke). By the time season two rolls around, Moore is as poised and confident as any of her more experienced co-stars, who in addition to Dick Van Dyke include Rose Marie as Sally Rogers, Morey Amsterdam as Buddy Sorrell, and Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley.

The Dick Van Dyke Show's second season is an embarrassment of riches, yielding some of the series' all-time best episodes. Among these are "Never Name a Duck," in which Rob and Laura Petrie can't convince their son, Ritchie (Larry Mathews), to give up his ever-growing pet duck, Stanley; "My Husband is Not a Drunk," a tour de force for Dick Van Dyke as he deftly switches from cold sobriety to falling-down inebriation and back again as the result of a post-hypnotic suggestion; "What's in a Middle Name," wherein Ritchie is given a long, convoluted, but ultimately logical explanation as to why his middle name is "Rosebud"; "It May Look Like a Walnut!," an outrageous Twilight Zone-esque affair capped with a guest appearance by the series' executive producer, Danny Thomas; "Give Me Your Walls!," featuring the inimitable Vito Scotti as an extremely eccentric house painter; "I'm No Henry Walden!," in which series creator Carl Reiner cameos as a pretentious poet named Yale Summers; and "When a Bowling Pin Talks, Listen," the story of how an innocent suggestion from Ritchie nearly results in a major lawsuit for "The Alan Brady Show." Best of all is "The Sam Pomerantz Scandals," a showcase for the musical talents of the principal players, topped by a classic Laurel and Hardy imitation with Dick Van Dyke as Stan and Henry Calvin as Ollie. Nominated for Emmy Awards in four categories during its second season, The Dick Van Dyke Show copped an "outstanding directing" statuette for John Rich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having reached its peak popularity during its third season on the air, The Dick Van Dyke Show faltered a bit in the ratings during season four, dropping to seventh place in the overall ratings. This, however, had absolutely no effect on the excellent quality of the series' writing, nor the stellar performances of leading players Dick Van Dyke (as TV comedy writer Rob Petrie), Mary Tyler Moore (as Rob's wife, Laura), Larry Mathews (as the Petries' son, Ritchie), Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam (as Rob's coworkers at "The Alan Brady Show," Sally Rogers and Buddy Sorrell). Among other highlights, this is the season in which series creator Carl Reiner finally appears full-face in the role of Rob Petrie's paranoid, dictatorial boss, comedian Alan Brady. This occurs in the episode "Baby Fat," which also features Strother Martin as a Tennessee Williams-like playwright.

The season gets off to its customary flying start with the episode "My Mother Can Beat Up My Father," in which petite Laura Petrie inadvertently humiliates her muscular husband Rob in public (twice) with her ju-jitsu skills. Other topnotch episodes include the wild and wooly horror spoof "The Ghost of A. Chantz;" "The Man From Emperor," in which Rob is offered a job by the publisher of a magazine that bears a very close resemblance to Playboy; "The Lady and the Babysitter," with Eddie Hodges as a moonstruck teenager who develops a crush on Laura; the two-part "4.5" and "The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail," guest-starring Don Rickles as hilariously unrepentant petty crook Lyle Delp; another two-parter, "Stacey Petrie," with Dick Van Dyke's brother Jerry Van Dyke appropriately cast as Rob's brother Stacey; "Pink Pills and Purple Parents," a flashback episode in which Laura takes the wrong "nerve pills" just before meeting Rob's parents; "Brother, Can You Spare $2500," featuring Gene Baylos as a bum who holds a lost copy of "The Alan Brady Show"'s script for ransom; "The Redcoats are Coming," a lampoon of Beatlemania featuring rock stars Chad and Jeremy; and "Never Bathe on Saturday," the one in which Laura gets her toe stuck in the faucet of a hotel bathtub. (Initially, Mary Tyler Moore balked at appearing in this episode because she was off-screen for the most part, but was eventually convinced that the end result would be hilarious.) Season four of The Dick Van Dyke Show was capped by Dick Van Dyke's second Emmy Award win in a row. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

George Roy Hill directed this original musical set the 1920s that mixes pop standards with new tunes written by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen. Julie Andrews, in a role that recalls her Broadway triumph in The Boy Friend, stars as Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York is search of a secretarial job and an unattached boss. She moves into a hotel for women, run by kindly Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie), and she befriends the pretty, petite orphan Dorothy Brown (Mary Tyler Moore). Millie finds work with the handsome bachelor Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), but Trevor has his eyes on Dorothy. So too does Mrs. Meers, who despite her kindly exterior is actually an unscrupulous white slaver. Paper clip salesman Jimmy Smith (James Fox), on the other hand, pledges his undying love to Millie. One day, after attending a weekend party being given at the opulent Long Island mansion of Muzzy Van Hossmere (Carol Channing), Dorothy disappears. When Jimmy and Millie smell opium in Dorothy's room, they realize the awful truth about Mrs. Meers. Trying to rescue Dorothy and find the location of Mrs. Meers' hideout, Jimmy disguises himself as an orphaned woman and tries to get himself kidnapped. The scheme backfires, however, and Mrs. Meers drugs and kidnaps both Jimmy and Trevor. It is left to Millie to find the white slavers, free her friends from bondage and save the day. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, New York City undergoes a dramatic change when a toucan carrying a strange virus is smuggled through customs. In those it infects, the virus causes an intense euphoria and a desire to do good. The first man to receive the infected bird is a misanthropic, cynical artist who lives in an apartment with his girlfriend. The couple names the toucan "Amigo," and soon they are indeed happy. They decide to spread it around and so the bird is freed. The Big Apple goes into an economic tailspin as its residents become deliriously happy and stop buying cigarettes, booze and tranquilizers. To save the financially foundering city, the mayor and a presidential envoy begin distributing unpleasant masks to the happy city-dwellers. The artist and friends thwart the officials' scheme by infecting the masks. So begins a battle between the officials and the artist. Eventually Amigo is caught, and an antidote is delivered. The renowned rudeness, cruelty and selfishness of the native New Yorkers quickly returns, and the city is saved. The artist realizes that his quest has been futile, and he devotes the rest of his time and energy to making his girlfriend happy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis Presley) helps the economically disadvantaged in an inner-city medical clinic. Three nuns are assigned to help out at the facility and are allowed to wear regular clothes instead of the traditional habits. Sister Michelle (Mary Tyler Moore) is the speech therapist who Dr. Carpenter would like to examine personally after hours. Along with the other sisters (Barbara McNair and Jane Elliot), Michelle is subjected to the criticism of the local parish priest (Regis Toomey) in the social experiment of non-traditional dress. Two spinsters even mistake the nuns for prostitutes without their habits. The priest wins out in the end, and the nuns must again don their habits. As the good doctor sings to the ailing children, Sister Michelle is transfixed both by a crucifix hanging on the wall and by Elvis Presley in an ironic and symbolic scene that flashes between the two icons. This was Presley's last studio feature and he welcomed the move from stifling screen images as he returned his focus to live performances and recording for the remainder of his illustrious career. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Series star Mary Tyler Moore made her directorial debut (and swan song) with this episode, which focuses on neurotic TV anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). It is bad enough when Ted's mother develops a romance with an old duffer named Walter Tewksbury (Nolan Leary). But Ted is really knocked for a loop when Mama Baxter announces that she intends to shack up with Walter without benefit of the clergy's approval. "A Boy's Best Friend" originally aired November 23, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Robert Redford's directorial debut ended up the 1980 Oscar winner for Best Picture. It is a simple but painfully emotional story of the disintegration of a "perfect" family. Teenager Conrad (Timothy Hutton) lives under a cloud of guilt after his brother drowns after their boat capsizes in Lake Michigan. Despite intensive therapy sessions with his psychiatrist (Judd Hirsch), Conrad can't shake the belief that he should have died instead of his brother; nor do his preoccupied parents (Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore) offer much in the way of solace. The boy is brought out of his doldrums through his romance with Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern). A winner in every respect, Ordinary People (adapted from the novel by Judith Guest) scores highest in the scenes with Mary Tyler Moore, who superbly and perceptively portrays a blinkered, ever-smiling suburban wife and mother for whom outward appearance is all that matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide