MTM was a great program that reflected the changing lifestyles and social mores of the 70's. Mary Richards, indeed, was a spunky young woman, learning how to make it on her own, with optimism, humor, an adorable apartment, and the help of some friends and co-workers.How well I remember the Saturday night TV line-up. MTM was the highlight of my week as a young teenager. Each week we got to see the opening scenes of Mary driving into the city, and walking in the beautiful city parks in her gorgeous coats. Each week we shared Mary's excitement in starting a new life for herself, even though there was the inevitable humorous glitch.Time moves along and so do people. Five years later, Mary was clearly middle-aged and no longer believable as the slightly naive young lady. Several of the original characters had left to pursue their own thing. They were replaced by characters not as good, in my opinion. In particular, I did not care for Betty White as the horny homemaker, I just didn't find her funny at all. Mary Richards was intriguing because her sexuality was subtle. The homemaker was just disgusting.At any rate, the first several seasons were excellent. Towards the end, the writers were starting to run out of good ideas, so the show was wisely canceled.

This was my favorite show of the 1970s. I loved this series from the first time I saw it in 1970. This was a show that had it all. Humor, pathos, great scripts and great direction. The initial cast was one of the best in television history. Along with incomparable Mary we had Valerie Harper, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight, Ed Asner and Cloris Leachman. Each one of these performers put a unique spin on characters which were allowed to be three-dimensional and grow. After a few seasons, when several of the main characters were spun-off into their own series, new characters, such as Georgette and Sue-Ann were introduced. Geogia Engel as Georgette was sweet and adorable, and Betty White, as memorable man-trap Sue-Ann were marvelous in their parts. A true classic that bears multiple viewings.

Mary Tyler Moore was such a nice sweet woman. She was always thinking about others and trying to please others. She was naive, but she succeeded in a man's World. She started out as a secretary, but made it as a television producer. The pilot episode is a classic. She meets her new boss, Lou Grant, a complete grump from the traditional manly, man World. He is fierce, crude, and brutally honest. At first you are terrified of Lou Grant. Once you get to know him, he is really a nice guy. Don't say that to his face, though. Ted Knight makes the show. His character Ted Baxter is a lovable, pretentious, dolt, who thinks that he is actually competent. Then there is Rhoda. She is obviously from out East, and is more vocal than the average Midwesterner. I really think that this show was one that showed a woman making it in the man's World, but doing it with a lot of class. Perhaps the best episode was when Betty White's character was cheating with Cloris Leachman's character's husband. Betty White's character insists on continuing the affair, so Mary Tyler Mary says that she will let everybody know about what she is doing. That ended that.

The MTM Show was a damn good comedy, but some of the comments here comparing it with the superior Dick Van Dyke Show are a little silly.First of all, on the Van Dyke show Moore actually had a larger role, and got to do more comedy, than on the MTM show. On MTM she mostly played straight woman, and while the show more or less revolved around her, Valerie Harper or Ed Asner or another actor were the larger sources of humor. On DVD, while Rose Marie was originally planned to be the comedic center of the show, Moore took over more and more of that focus as the show developed. She wasn't just saying "Oh Rob!" and playing the dutiful wife, as someone (who never saw the DVD show?) has said.Also, on the DVD Show Moore got to sing, dance, and use far more of her considerable talents.Now, in comparing the shows-someone here wrote that MTM was the first great ensemble comedy. Really? In no way is the MTM ensemble superior to the DVD ensemble. It's a smaller cast, no doubt, but the characters are much more human. There are no cardboard people like the Ted Baxter character on Van Dyke.Again, I like the MTM show. It was a well-written and well-acted program. But it's hardly the equal of several comedies from the 70's, especially the early years of MASH, or Bob Newhart, let alone classic earlier shows like Van Dyke or Andy Griffith.