Mary Tyler Moore Movies

Terminally ill Bernadette Peters develops a deep friendship with psychologist Mary Tyler Moore in this drama. ~ All Movie Guide

This 1989 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Mary Tyler Moore and features musical guest Elvis Costello. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

A timid aerobics instructor learns that her new best friend is also her husband's mistress in this domestic drama starring Mary Tyler Moore. Suffering from a bit of empty-nest syndrome as her children pass through adolescence, indecisive homemaker Holly Davis (Moore) reluctantly accepts a part-time gig teaching exercise classes for frazzled gym owner Helga (Salome Jens). There, she meets struggling, independent-minded broadcast journalist Sandy Dunlap (Christine Lahti) and they quickly become thick as thieves. As it turns out, though, Sandy is actually an adulteress -- she's engaged in a clandestine affair with Chip (Ted Danson), Holly's seismologist husband. Chip loves both women and wants to continue seeing Sandy, but she breaks things off with him now that she knows his wife. When Chip dies suddenly, Sandy helps Holly cope and finances Phase Two of her life as the new owner of Helga's aerobics center. Unfortunately, though, evidence of Chip's infidelity lies around just waiting to be discovered. In the end, it's up to Chip's friend Harry Crandall (Sam Waterson) -- who's been nursing a crush on Holly for years -- to help a pregnant Sandy and a heartbroken Holly come to terms with their complicated friendship. Just Between Friends marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Allan Burns. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Successfully sustaining its dramatic intensity for 150 minutes, Heartsounds was adapted by Fay Kanin from the autobiographical best-seller by Martha Weiman Lear. James Garner stars as Mrs. Lear's husband, Manhattan urologist Harold Lear. At 53, Lear suffers a debilitating heart attack. His recovery is hampered by a second attack, which necessitates a double-bypass operation. Though the surgery is successful, its long-ranging effects leave Lear with brain damage and a scant few months to live. With the support of his wife Martha (Mary Tyler Moore), who battles tooth and nail with hospital staffers to make certain that her husband receives the best care possible, Lear endeavors to make every moment of his last days on earth count. Originally telecast September 30, 1984, Heartsounds was produced by Norman Lear, the real-life cousin of Dr. Harold Lear. ~ 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

NBC correspondent Betty Rollin's book about her own mastectomy, First You Cry, was adapted for television by Carmen Culver. Mary Tyler Moore plays Ms. Rollins, who discovers after her breast surgery that her "loving" husband (Anthony Perkins) is a cad who can't withstand the pressure of living with a woman in dire need of emotional support. Thankfully, Ms. Rollins is able to begin a new life with the tender, compassionate man (Richard Crenna) who's loved her all along. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is just as simplistic as its romantic angle. Despite Mary Tyler Moore's consummate performance, First You Cry (originally telecast November 8, 1978) is better read than seen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, 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

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, All Movie Guide

"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, 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

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