These are the original 1970 CBS promotional TV Spots, recovered from the archives, advertising the premiere of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The classic series begins its classic 7-year run in Mary's apartment. Mary Richards, a 30-year-old single woman, has left her long-time boyfriend, Bill, to be with her old friend, Phyllis Lindstrom, in Minneapolis. (Mary originally lived in Roseburg, MN.) Why did Mary leave Bill? After promising to her that he would marry her right after his internship at the hospital, he said, "Why rush into things???" Meanwhile, she's already having troubles with her new apartment--a bitter upstairs neightbor, Rhoda Morgenstern, insists that she owns Mary's apartment! Later, Mary goes on a job interview at WJM-TV's The 6:00 News for a secreterial job. Lou Grant, the boss, tells her that the job has already been filled, but he does say that the job of Associate Producer is open. Sure, it offers $10 less per week than the secreterial job, but Mary is fine. "If you can get off with $15 less per week, I'll make you Producer," he says. She declines, then goes on to meeting Ted Baxter, the ridicul
Mary is worried now that she's outside the 15-29 demographic group which the station classifies as 'young', and the mailboy has called her 'Ma'am'. Rhoda persuades her into calling an old boyfriend for a get-together.
When Phyllis's husband Lars takes ill, she asks Mary to babysit Bess for a few days. Bess decides she wants to stay permanently with Mary, to Phyllis's dismay.
Mary and Rhoda find out that divorcees at the Better Luck Next Time club can get group rates on cruises and decide to join. However, Mary proves a hit with the club's members and gets elected to its board.
A football player turned insurance salesman applies for a job as a sportscaster and attaches himself to Mary. Mary and Rhoda discover that he hasn't had much success at anything and encourage him to pursue his dreams.
Rhoda's mother, Ida, comes visiting and Rhoda refuses to see her. Ida stays with Mary but drives her crazy.
Mary begins seeing an author who appeared as a guest on WJM-TV's Scrutiny, and becomes extremely self-conscious after discovering he is several inches shorter than her.
A snowstorm leaves Mary producing her first program, broadcasting the results of the local elections. The show has to remain on until a winner is declared and no word is received at the newsroom.
Mary is nominated for her first Television Editors' Award (the "Teddies"), but at home Rhoda's boyfriend Bob takes more of an interest in Mary than in Rhoda.
Mary's workload gets too much so Lou allows her to hire an assistant. She chooses Phyllis who hinders more than she helps.
Mary is audited by the IRS, and the shy auditor takes an interest in her. Unfortunately, he has great difficulty telling her how he feels.
Ted loses his self-confidence after speaking at Phyllis's club and Mary has to find a way to get Ted back on a high.
After Mary invites Lou's nephew home for dinner, she must confront false rumors in the newsroom the following day.
Feeling sympathetic for a co-worker who hasn't spent Christmas with his family for years, Mary is forced to stay alone at WJM-TV on Christmas Eve.
Mary begins seeing Paul Arnell, the brother of her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, and is shocked to discover that the brothers' parents still believe that she and Howard are an item.
Mary gets a tempting offer from a rival television station, but becomes reluctant to leave when her WJM-TV colleagues throw a farewell party for her.
Mary reluctantly finds herself romantically involved with a married man.
Mary's apartment is burgled, with only her clothes, stereo and television taken but then next night the whole apartment is cleaned out.
Murray's play, All Work and No Play, is finally produced but his happiness is short-lived when he discovers that the leading role will be played by Ted.
Mary is admitted into the hospital to have her tonsils removed, and shares a room with a grouchy woman who refuses to get along with anyone.
Lou and his wife Edie separate and Mary becomes involved when she is asked for advice.
An irritating childhood friend drops by Mary's apartment, making use of her connection as Mary's former camp mate to introduce herself to the newsroom's staff.
Rhoda falls in love with a top executive, and is shocked to find that he wants to give up the high-flying lifestyle to become a forest ranger.
When Lou is fired, Mary goes to confront the station owner, Wild Jack Munroe.
In the second-season premiere, after Mary Richards produces a "What's Your Sexual IQ?" documentary for the Six O'Clock News, Rhoda confesses to failing and Phyllis says that young Bess watched it. Phyllis calls on Mary to teach Bess the facts of life, but it turns out that Bess already had learned it from her friends. Meanwhile, the WJM-TV newsroom is shelled with phone calls responding to the documentary. According to Mary, more people are appalled by it than anything else.
Mary is intrigued by the voice of Lou Grant's friend, Mike Cooper, and asks to be set up with him. Lou breaks his policy of not matchmaking friends and colleagues.
Mary and Rhoda take an unplanned vacation to Mexico but have to do a strange favor for a Mexican restaurant owner for reservations.
Mary and Rhoda enroll in a night school course in journalism and Mary begins dating the lecturer.
When Ida, Rhoda's mother, visits, she sees how well Phyllis and Bess get on, and how closely Mary appears to her mother when they chat on the telephone, that she tries to be Rhoda's "friend".
Jack Cassidy guest stars as professional model Hal Baxter, who comes to visit his brother Ted at WJM-TV. Immediately, the two engage in a heated battle of sibling rivalry about EVERYTHING -- salaries, cars, & even women. In an effort to size up his brother, Ted claims that Mary is his girlfriend. Ted & Hal decide to go on a double-date with Mary & Rhoda. At the restaurant, Ted doesn't know any etiquitte, and it shows. Back at Mary's apartment, Ted & Hal arm wrestle before Hal decides to go with Rhoda up to her apartment to look thru magazines for his picture. Ted stays with Mary to make Hal think that he spends more time with his girl than he does. The next morning, Mary, who got no sleep last to night, falls asleep while typing. When Ted asks her for another double-date, she refuses. Ted feels beated and, when Hal comes in to WJM-TV, tells him the truth: he's not dating Mary. Hal admits to being a career slump and having a mole surgically installed. As the 2 walk out together
Mary attends her high school reunion and meets up with her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, who continues to have feelings for Mary. Meanwhile, Rhoda tags along believing that people will "remember" her although she didn't attend Roseburg High.
The writing and technical unions go on strike, leaving only Lou, Mary, and Ted in the newsroom. WJM-TV makes Lou be second cameraman on "The Chuckles the Clown Show". Because an upset Murray is on strike, Mary has to write the news stories. They are terrible, and when Lou criticizes them, she starts crying. Things take a turn for the worse: Ted's union strikes, and Lou has to fill in as anchorman! On his first brodcast, he has "clammy hands", and he bombs. At a local bar, Murray, Gordy, & Mary share a laugh over this. After drinking before his 2nd brodcast, he is "as cool as a cucumber"--that is, until he falls asleep at breaktime. Herb fills in for Lou for the rest of the brodcast. The next day, the unions come to an agreement, and everything goes back to normal. Rhoda Morgenstern & Phyllis Lindstrom do not appear in this episode.
Ted is forced to take a vacation and the anchorman hired to sit in for him becomes a huge success.
Mary gets a chain letter from Lou, and she is persuaded to send it on. To her surprise, one of the recipients comes for a visit, giving Mary a less than pleasant time dealing with him.
Mary, Rhoda and Lou go to a John Wayne movie, where they spot Lou's son-in-law with an unknown woman.
Rhoda loses her job as a window-dresser and isn't in a hurry to find something new. When there is a job opening at WJM-TV, Mary lies to Rhoda and tells her the job has been filled, to Lou's surprise.
When Edie is out of town, Lou hires Rhoda to redecorate his living room. However, Rhoda's tastes are too modern.
After Ted appears on the Chuckles the Clown Show, he falls in love with Chuckles' daughter.
After volunteering some of her spare time for a worthy cause, Mary begins dating the Governor's aide. Unfortunately, the aide's duties cause him to break every date.
An incompetent waitress is fired after Mary complains about her poor service and Mary feels obliged to hire her when she applies for an assistant's job at WJM-TV.
Murray takes on a night job as a cab driver in order to save up and buy his wife Marie a new car for their 10th wedding anniversary. However, Marie becomes suspicious about Murray's absences and fears that Murray is having an affair with Mary Richards.
Mary agrees to babysit Bess for the weekend, but then a former boyfriend, in town for a few days, asks her out. When she can't find a babysitter for Bess on such short notice, she ends up asking Lou.
After being persuaded by Phyllis, Ted moves into a vacant apartment below Mary's but Mary and Rhoda are not thrilled by the prospect.
Bess gets top marks for a report she wrote for school, and Phyllis pressures her to write a book based on it, calling on Mary for help.
When Rhoda's apartment is destroyed by fire, she moves in with Mary. The two find that while they are best friends, they make awful roommates.
Mary begins dating an architect and is astonished to learn that his son is only six years younger than she is.
Through a minor car accident, Mary befriends a young woman, Joanne. Rhoda becomes jealous when Mary spends more time with Joanne but Mary quickly ends the new friendship when she discovers Joanne is anti-Semitic and disapproves of Rhoda.
Mary gets city councilman Pete Peterson to appear on Face the People and discovers that he is completely incompetent. She and his aides try to bring him up to speed on current events so he can make a good impression on the show.
Mary Richards-Cronin returns to her native New York City following the death of her Congressman husband in a rock climbing accident. Similarly, Rhoda Morgenstern-Rousseau returns to New York from Paris where she has just recently left and divorced her second husband, Jean-Pierre. Both Mary and Rhoda are trying to deal with their college-aged daughters. Mary’s daughter Rose is a student at New York University and Rhoda’s daughter Meredith is pre-med at Columbia. They now face the challenges of motherhood and reestablishing their careers in a very difficult time.
Not only did Mary Tyler Moore “turn the world on with her smile,” as her show’s theme song declared, she also influenced a generation of women to become more independent and to pursue successful and fulfilling careers. Moore’s own 50-plus-year career has spanned award-winning films and Broadway shows, as well as two beloved television series that broke ground and continue to entertain viewers. This one-hour special includes highlights from a recent interview with Mary Tyler Moore, tributes from her co-stars and clips from iconic moments throughout her career. The program looks at her breakthrough role on The Dick Van Dyke Show, her iconic turn as TV's first independent career woman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and her Academy Award-nominated work on Ordinary People. In addition to the interview with Mary, the program includes comments from Betty White, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Gavin MacLeod, John Amos, Carl Reiner and Dick Van Dyke. Plus, Oprah Winfrey agreed to a special interview in which she recounts Mary Tyler Moore's critical role in inspiring Oprah — and millions of other women in the 1970s.
A behind the scenes look at the relationships and working operations of putting the show together.
CBS one-hour special celebrating the career of actress Mary Tyler Moore. This tribute aired the day after the actresses death.
"How will you make it on your own?"
"Who can turn the world on with her smile?"
