Another episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the pick for this week. This episode comes from the fifth season. In response to WJM newscasts becoming “static,” Lou decides to add a female perspective to the show. Lou has in mind a woman that is exactly like Mary, so much like her that Mary decides to audition for the job herself.
Look for Rosalind Cash in one of her earlier acting roles on this episode, as she plays one of the people auditioning, Enid Berringer. Also a rarity happens on this episode, Ted actually takes a good jab at Murray!
The Mary Tyler Moore episode "A Girl Like Mary," myonlinepick of the week!
It’s been announced earlier today that Rich Fields will be replaced with a new announcer this upcoming season. On-air auditions similar to what happened after Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy passed away will take place this fall.
I’d say that while I wasn’t a huge fan of Rich’s actual announcing, I did enjoy his chemistry with Drew Carey very much. I found it much more enjoyable than his interactions with Bob. With Bob Barker, it seemed way too much like Rich was looking up to this superior being, but when he was with Drew it was like two pals; the host and his sidekick having a good time. The odd thing about it is that I found that his voice during the early part of his tenure was better. It’s almost like listening to two different people when hearing him announce anything when comparing, say 2005 to today.
All I can say now is that I hope they find someone good to take over. No Daniel Rosen’s, please.
As much as I'm not a fan of Reid, I was glad to see Bob stand up for him. No one should ever be discriminated against because of their sexuality. But the problem with this latest story development though is that it really seemed out of the blue that Mona was suddenly homophobic. Just three weeks before, the objections had nothing to do with that. Bob himself emphasized that the first day this issue of Luke and Reid being in a relationship came to blows. Now suddenly the woman that wants to buy the hospital is a homophobe? More disjointed writing.
Reid wasn't bothering me as much as he usually does this time around, but the lack of Noah in this storyline is really annoying. This storyline is supposed to be a triangle, but it’s coming off very L-shaped. Such a shame. My opinions on the writing aside, I'd say the potential is there with three talented actors. Van is as great as usual; same as Jake (when he's actually on), and I'm actually warming up to Eric rather nicely. It's the writing and story direction that makes me want to throw something at the television set at the end of an episode. And it is this way with the rest of the show too. I remember Guiding Light actually increasing somewhat in quality post-cancellation notice; with this show, it's the opposite.
I've been going around YouTube and I've found a number of old promos for Nick@Nite. And I see that not only was the programming better back then but even the promos were more imaginative and unique. Reminds me how much fun the network used to be.
I guess what really annoys me these days is that I actually like a show like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which is one show that's seen a lot of exposure over the past couple years, a lot. I just don't think it belongs on Nick@Nite. Same especially goes for The George Lopez Show. It's like Nick@Nite evolved over time periods with their history of the network. Showing series from the 1950's and 60's, then 70's, and the '80's started, but they seemed to skip over a lot of the 1980's and a number of the 1990's series and just decided to focus on some of the same few shows. Also back then marathons were seen but other shows did get the proper amount of airtime they deserved.
Popular shows deserve airplay but they also shouldn't air everywhere on multiple networks like Fresh Prince does, and there are also plenty of other shows that did reasonably successfully and don't get much airplay anymore that should be on television too.
Nick@Nite, one of the many networks that quality wise for me has gone down ever since Viacom took over. But the good news for classic lovers is that we have DVD releases. In the meantime, it's nice to enjoy a few older promos, like this one:
Here's another batch for Mary Tyler Moore lovers. Bob Newhart fans will like this one.
From TVshowsonDVD: the seventh and final season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show will be released this October 5th! Being that this is my number one favorite show of all time I could not have been more happy to read this news.
What always stands out to me is that this is one of those series that was good in really all of its years on the air. There are a number of enjoyable episodes from the final season. Can’t wait to see them all in their glorious re-mastered form! Episodes such as “Mary’s Insomnia”, “Lou Dates Mary”, “Mary Midwife”, “Sue Ann’s Sister,” and of course, one can’t forget “The Last Show!”
Also finding out that the original final curtain call credit roll from the last episode will be included? The same credit call that has only aired once on television since March 19, 1977 that fans like myself have been hoping would see the light of day again on DVD if the show ever got this far in releases? Icing on the cake.
In other MTM-related news, season 4 of the spinoff Rhoda, will be released by Shout!, however, it will be a Shout! Select program, meaning that the set will sell exclusively on their website. Good thing this classic is in the hands of Shout!. It’ll get completed no matter what. Another reason why I favor them so much over many of the other DVD companies. Sure they’ve messed up a few times (unfortunately including season 1 of this particular show), but I love their commitment to finishing a show they start. There's no waiting for years like with other shows.
Ending this post with the Mary finale closing credits is only the best way to go:
Another classic this week chosen for the online pick, this time it's an episode from from the critically acclaimed and in this day unfortunately under aired Taxi, which ran from 1978-82.
Here, in season 4's "Jim The Psychic", the character Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) has psychic dreams that often come true. This time one of them involves Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) meeting a certain fate. My favorite part is towards the end. Danny DeVito does an excellent job when his character Louie De Palma starts panicking when the elements of said dream start coming true in droves, and it's a hilarious watch.
The writing on this show is like a damn yo-yo which makes enjoyment of this storyline for me extremely difficult. For a little while the writers kept alternating on who broke up with whom, when it was LUKE who broke up with NOAH on March 16th. And now, for the past 2 weeks they've been writing it as if Luke and Reid were already in a relationship... this episode, it's an entirely different story. Now we have Luke saying "I was about to start a relationship" with Reid in his scenes with Bob and Mona. Which is it show? You can't tell it both ways. And there's also the show minimizing Noah's appearances in this storyline. This is supposed to be a TRIANGLE, but most of the time we only get two points of view and it's driving me bananas. If anything, it's more L shaped, with the third line joining in on occasion.
It's a shame, because we've got very talented actors here. And the potential for a good story is there. But the writing is a disappointment.
Another episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the pick for this week. This episode comes from the fifth season. In response to WJM newscasts becoming “static,” Lou decides to add a female perspective to the show. Lou has in mind a woman that is exactly like Mary, so much like her that Mary decides to audition for the job herself.
