Was Mary Tyler Moore a Princess? A Fashion Icon?

Looking back on my book 'Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted,' and all the lessons I learned from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and from writing the book.

I’ve been celebrating The Mary Tyler Moore Show and my book about it, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, for the past month or so on social media. It originally came out in 2013, and that was a time when I couldn’t quite do as much on social—I remember I attempted a “Mary Tyler Meme” contest to try to get folks to make Mary-related content, and it was … mostly clunky. But it’s fun to look back on some of the 1970s promotional material, especially; it’s a unique glimpse of what made the show so special in its time.

This is my absolute favorite: a commercial before the show premiered that tries to make Mary’s central story—a woman coming to Minneapolis after a break up to seek a job and make it on her own—into a princess (?!?!) narrative. Because, at the time, the network was terrified about this premise. Co-creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns originally pitched the idea of Mary being divorced, and that was a hard no on CBS’s part. The compromise was to give her a recent breakup instead, and, apparently, to do this soft sell to get folks used to the idea. Remember that this was a time when fantasy ruled the airwaves, with shows like I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Ed, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Hilariously, there was a point during the first season when the network executives, still a little nervous, asked the producers if they could work in a storyline where Mary meets a prince. Fairy tales were clearly hot! (The producers declined.)

Eventually people got on board with the basic premise, which allowed CBS to promote it later as “the office party that never stops,” which highlights how unusual the series was at the time in focusing not only on a workplace, but on a woman in the workplace:

The show was hugely influential, perfecting the workplace comedy and making TV safe for single, professional women over 30. (According to some vice presidential candidates, this makes her a rebel to this day.) Mary’s style was also groundbreaking, making her one of the first TV characters that real women wanted to emulate:

Mary’s best friend, Rhoda, was also a huge influence on many of us, especially me!

This book was such a passion project, but it wasn’t deemed “successful. On the other hand, it changed my life, maybe more than my bestseller, Seinfeldia. Here’s how.