Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted

March 18, 2013
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran for seven seasons (1970–1977), made it big, and the series remains one of TV’s most acclaimed, with 29 Emmys total. Entertainment writer Armstrong’s affectionate and meticulous history offers a captivating behind-the-scenes look at all of the personalities who turned the show into a success. Fast-paced and charming, Armstrong’s chronicle brings to life writers Treva Silverman (who wrote scripts for The Monkees), Allan Burns (My Mother the Car), and James L. Brooks (Rhoda; Taxi), who labored mightily in 1970 on the scripts for Mary Tyler Moore. The show pulled Moore back from the brink of the career disasters since the end of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and created for her a forceful persona surrounded by actors such as the irascible Ed Asner, the indefatigable Betty White, and the lovably eccentric Valerie Harper. Even more important, Armstrong points out, the show provided significant opportunity for women television writers to establish their careers in an industry in which they were noticeably absent. Armstrong’s absorbing cultural history offers the first in-depth look at a series that changed television.