Shark Bytes

Reverse-jumped with the introduction of Sue Ann Nivens, played by Betty White. Sue Ann was the funniest character on the show; maybe the funniest TV character of the Seventies. Who else could make you laugh and cringe so much at the same time? Without Sue Ann Nivens, “Mary Tyler Moore” was “Mary Tyler LESS”!

Teh show went downhill AFTER Rhoda and Phyllis left the show. It got boring after that. I got tired of the show being all about Ted. He whined and cried like a baby.
Mary really had noone to pal around with after that.
There should have been more storylines about Mary and her men. The Joe/Mary relationship should have been more developed. They should have gotten engaged and then Joe could have been transferred overseas and Mary would decide she could not leave her friends.Something like that, maybe.

Actually, the suave anchorman was offered a job in NY--it had nothing to do with Lou's decision.

Kind of sad that over the years your heart has hardened and your brain has closed up shop that you take a sitcom so seriously.

A sitcom that made you feel so good, the meat and bones of it made up of Mary,of course. Sweet, plucky, smart, loving Mary.

You've lost your Mary-loving powers. And that's a bad, bad thing. Your cesspool of cynicism and hyperanalysis makes me shudder.

Amazing how some movies and tv episodes develop iconic status over the years. Citizen Kane for isntance. I never liked that movie andnoone I ever known liked it, yet we are told its the best movie of all time. Same with this Chuckles the clown episode. It won TV guides funniest tv episode of all time. huh? The damned episode was barely funny at all. I agree with the poster who said it wasnt even the funniest MTM show. My God, I can think of about 75 episodes of All in the Family or 40 episodes of Everyone loves Raymond or 30 episodes of King of Queens that were much funnier. In all honesty, that episode shouldnt even be in the top 300 of all time. Other than Mary snickering at the funeral, it wasnt much of an episode at all. Interesting how things get this iconic status that dont deserve it.

This was one of the most important shows in television history. Who could forget that beautiful theme song, "Love Is All Around", and Mary throwing her hat up in the air? In That Girl, which was the first show about a single girl who wanted a career, Ann Marie still depended on her parents and her boyfriend. Also, she wasn't really successful in her acting career. Mary was the first single woman who unashamedly lived alone and wanted to be a career woman. She didn't have a steady boyfriend, and wasn't desperate to get married. Mary Richards was an iconic character just like Laura Petrie who was the first young, sexy modern housewife who didn't do housework in dresses, pearls and high heels.

The supporting characters were first rate as well, gruff Lou Grant, offbeat Rhoda, uptight Phyllis, pompous Ted, sarcastic Murray, and the most unforgettable in my opinion, Sue Ann Nivins. Another poster said Sue Ann was like Martha Stewart. I agree, but she was like a nympho version. In it's spotlighting of unlikable characters MTM was like the best of British television.

As for Mary changing and becoming more hard edged, she had to mature over time from that innocent wide eyed young lady who first walked into the newsroom. When middle age approaches, a person who gives their all to a career might say to themselves, Is that all there is? Anyway, MTM was wise to end it when she did, and the ending was absolutely perfect.

I also agree that this show was the template for most of the sitcoms about single girls and guys that followed for decades. That's the problem. The American public has suffered for years because lazy Hollywood keeps using the formula of normal girl/guy with gruff boss and wacky friends. Then again, that just proves how great the Mary Tyler Moore show was. Never jumped.

Yes, the "Chuckles" ep was not the funniest MTM show. That honor goes to Ted & Georgette's wedding! Especially when Sue Ann waltzes in like a proto-Martha-Stewart with all her self-created wedding accessories. (What's really weird about Sue Ann is that she's doing Martha schtick BEFORE Martha even started her career!)

The last few season's were the best. when Rhoda and Phyllis were out of the picture and it basically was about Ted. Pure Gold. Ted Knight was the funniest. A great underestimated comedian, talent.

With a clever title that has more than one meaning, Chuckles Bites The Dust is an excellent study of tragedy and comedy, and how they can both coexist not only within the same fictional work, but in our real lives. Be honest, how many of us have at least once gotten a bit of the CHUCKLES after coming across a very ridiculous news story, however sad (like men killing themselves while playing "chicken"), and then feeling gloomy because of the loss of life? The Darwin Awards website isn't popular for nothing. I thought that when Mary began bawling for the deceased right after finding the eulogy so hilarious, it was a powerful statement about how bittersweet life and human nature is. But was the episode itself funny? IMO, not really. The jokes were cliche' and downright corny. The delivery wasn't very speical, either. Perhaps this one's a classic for the themes it explored so well.

I think the quality of this show was pretty consistent over the years. I just saw the infamous "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode for the first time yesterday and I agree with others who say it was way over-rated. I can't believe TV Guide rated it as the #1 best tv episode ever. IMO, that honor belongs to WKRP's "Turkey Drop" episode. "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Last night on Chicago station WGN, they played Chuckles Bites The Dust. It was my first time seeing it. Over all, it was a good episode with some chuckles (no pun intended), but I didn't find it a hilarious laugh riot. And I have a huge sense of humor. I'm not sure which parts exactly are supposed to be so side-splittingly funny. Ted informing TV viewers that Chuckles had been killed and creating an silly impromptu obituary of him-- so-so, didn't laugh personally. Lou & co. cracking jokes about his unusual manner of death while guffawing- amusing at best, obnoxious at worst. Mary- who had earlier chastised the others for their morbid humor- trying to muffle her uncontrollable laughter during the service while other mourners gawked at her- made me LOL, but I wasn't in stitches. The funniest thing about the episode was the cause of Chuckles death- he was dressed as a peanut and a parade elephant stepped on him. Funny if not macabre. One interesting thing I noticed, as a huge Golden Girl fan, is that the actor playing the funeral minister later played Blanche's love interest in a GG episode. He was Ham, the obese one-who-got-away from her in high school. In the MTM episode, which was like 15 years earlier, he was about 200lbs thinner.

My favorite show of all time, did slip up in the last two seasons: Clunker episodes include Murray thinking he's in love with Mary, Mary dating Lou, Mary's new neighbor--Penny Marshall, Mary seriously dating Ted Bissell, Too many Georgette & Ted episodes, etc. The last episode was great, however! The best thing about the Mary Tyler Moore Show was that it NEVER got preachy, like say The Golden Girls "Rose, blind people don't want to be treated like they are special, they just want to be treated like everyone else". Vomit. I could never, ever accept Betty White in any way, other that Sue Ann Nivens!

Never jumped, but would sure like to see (and own) the last 3 seasons to refresh my memory. Most days I go home for lunch and watch an MTM episode. And I laugh every time. In season 4, Mr. Grant's birthday party and his "first date" are very funny. I love Mary and I love every season of that show!

Shark jump? Nope, not ever. It definitely approached the ramp at times over the last season or so (Ted & Georgette story arcs; the possibility of Lou & Mary as a couple [eeewww; definitely, as an earlier poster put it, more mentor-mentee than romantic item]), but that's as close as it came.

In short, great series, & they knew to quit while they were ahead.

One of the reasons this show is one of the best is that it BORROWED (I suppose some would say "stole) from one of the best! Mary learned her lessons well from her tenure on the Dick Van Dyke show, as I am now realizing since D.V.D. and M.T.M. reruns are now being shown on a local Chicago station.
DVD had a dual-plot setting, with home and work life getting about equal attention on most episodes. Same with MTM.
DVD had a strong supporting cast of co-workers and friends. The newsguys at WJM are echoes of the Alan Brady staff on DVD.The Mary/Rhoda relationship was clearly influenced by the Laura/Millie friendship on DVD.

Most importantly, both series had writers who knew how to create a story, pepper it with snappy dialog (Morey Amsterdam on DVD is without peer in this regard), and make it all believable even when far-fetched.

These were lessons well-learned by Mary when she did her classic show; too bad she and her people seemed to forget them in her subsequent sitcom attempts.

when , oh, when are they going to release the last three seasons?????