60 Fun Facts About Mary Tyler Moore Show

In which city was The Mary Tyler Moore Show set?

Co-creator Allan Burns said Minnesota came up because one of the writers began talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the Vikings.

What were the call letters of the TV station where Mary Richards worked?

She had applied for a secretarial job there, found it filled, and was offered a job on the six o'clock news instead.

On which network did the show air from 1970 to 1977?

CBS was nervous about the original premise for Mary's backstory, partly fearing viewers would think she had divorced Rob Petrie.

Who played gruff news producer Lou Grant?

He won five Emmys for the role across two shows and remains the male performer with the most Primetime Emmys for acting, seven.

What was the name of the vain, dim-witted anchorman played by Ted Knight?

He was constantly criticized by Murray and Lou but never fired. Kent Brockman on The Simpsons is an homage to the character.

Which actor played head newswriter Murray Slaughter?

He later captained the Pacific Princess for nine seasons as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat and became Princess Cruises' global ambassador.

Mary's upstairs neighbor and best friend Rhoda Morgenstern was played by whom?

She won three supporting-actress Emmys for the part before taking it to New York in her own series, where she won a fourth as lead.

What was Phyllis Lindstrom's relationship to Mary, apart from being her friend?

Mary rented a third-floor studio in the 19th-century house. Phyllis's husband Lars, a dermatologist, was never seen on screen.

Betty White's Sue Ann Nivens hosted which show at WJM?

Her syrupy on-air persona was the exact opposite of her man-hungry, acid-tongued self, and she was relentlessly attracted to Lou.

Georgia Engel's soft-voiced Georgette Franklin eventually married which character?

The wedding took place in Mary's apartment, as did the birth of their daughter; they also adopted a boy named David.

How many Primetime Emmy Awards did The Mary Tyler Moore Show win in total?

The tally included Outstanding Comedy Series three years running, from 1975 to 1977, and three lead-actress wins for Moore.

Which sitcom finally broke the show's Emmy record in 2002?

Moore herself won three of the show's Emmys, for lead actress in a comedy.

Which of these was NOT one of the show's three spin-offs?

All three real spin-offs aired on CBS. Two were sitcoms; the third was an hour-long newspaper drama that ran until 1982.

What was Mary Richards's job title when she was first hired at WJM?

She was later promoted to producer, though the show noted her duties stayed exactly the same.

What did Mary do at the end of every opening title sequence?

The moment, filmed in front of Donaldson's department store on Nicollet Mall, was ranked the second-greatest moment in 1970s television by Entertainment Weekly.

Which cable network unveiled a statue of Mary's hat toss on Nicollet Mall in 2002?

Moore attended the dedication on May 8, 2002. The department store behind the original toss burned down in a 1982 Thanksgiving Day fire.

Who wrote and sang the theme song, 'Love Is All Around'?

He was a member of Buddy Holly's Crickets. The song is often misattributed to Paul Williams; the show's incidental music was by Pat Williams.

Which Twin Cities band covered the theme song and recreated the opening titles on location for its video?

Joan Jett and Sammy Davis Jr. also recorded versions; the 2000 TV movie Mary and Rhoda used the Joan Jett cover.

The exterior of Mary's apartment house was a real 1892 home on which street?

The fictional address was 119 North Weatherly. The real owners eventually put a political sign in the window to discourage film crews.

What sign did the owners of the real house put in Mary's window to stop crews from filming more footage?

Tour buses were still stopping outside more than a decade after the show ended, and the house was listed for $1.7 million in 2017.

Where was the show actually filmed, apart from location shots?

Only the title sequence and establishing shots came from Minnesota; the show was shot in Studio City.

The character of Mary was originally going to be what, before CBS objected?

The network worried viewers would think she had divorced Rob Petrie, so she became a woman recovering from a broken engagement.

How did Chuckles the Clown die in the episode 'Chuckles Bites the Dust'?

Ted had wanted the grand marshal job Chuckles took. Everyone laughs at the death except Mary, who then breaks up uncontrollably at the funeral.

Who wrote 'Chuckles Bites the Dust', winning an Emmy for it?

TV Guide ranked the episode No. 1 on its 1997 list of the 100 greatest episodes of all time.

According to the eulogy, what was Chuckles's motto?

The minister tells the mortified, giggling Mary that laughter is exactly what Chuckles would have wanted, and she bursts into sobs.

In the series finale, who is the only newsroom staffer NOT fired by the new station manager?

The person widely blamed for the low ratings keeps his job. Ted signs off by quoting 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary' because it was all he could think of.

In the finale's famous group hug, why does the whole huddle shuffle across the newsroom together?

Nobody wants to let go. Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman later called the episode the gold standard for a sitcom finale.

Which two departed friends fly back to town to comfort Mary in the finale?

It is the only episode in which all eight regular characters appear, and the curtain call was the only time all eight actors were seen together.

Who played the new WJM station manager, Mr. Coleman, in the finale?

Ted threatens to resign if the rest of the staff are fired, prompting Murray's line about not blaming a flying donkey for not staying up long.

Which 1977 program passed Rhoda's 1974 wedding as the highest-rated TV episode of the 1970s?

More than 52 million Americans watched Rhoda marry Joe Gerard. Howard Cosell joked on Monday Night Football that he had not been invited.

What record did the pilot of Rhoda set on September 9, 1974?

It beat ABC's Monday Night Football in the process.

Which future Simpsons voice actress played Rhoda's sister Brenda on the spin-off?

Nancy Walker played their mother Ida, and MTM writer Lorenzo Music voiced the never-seen doorman Carlton.

In the spin-off Lou Grant, Lou takes a job as city editor of which fictional newspaper?

The decision to make the spin-off an hour-long drama was influenced by the film All the President's Men. It won 13 Emmys.

After Ed Asner, who became the second actor to win Emmys for one character in both comedy and drama?

Aduba's Orange Is the New Black was judged a comedy in one year and a drama the next.

In the spin-off Phyllis, the newly widowed Phyllis moves with daughter Bess to which city?

It was explained as her and Lars's original hometown, where his mother and stepfather still lived. Cloris Leachman won a Golden Globe for the series.

Cloris Leachman won an Academy Award for which 1971 film, released while she was playing Phyllis?

She played the neglected gym teacher's wife Ruth Popper. She later tied Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most acting Emmys ever, eight.

Which pageant did Cloris Leachman compete in as Chicago's representative in 1946?

She placed in the top 16 and won a scholarship that took her to study under Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio.

Ted Knight had an early bit part guarding Norman Bates at the end of which Hitchcock film?

Born Tadeusz Konopka in Connecticut, he later played Judge Smails in Caddyshack. His gravestone reads 'Bye Guy'.

Betty White joined the main cast full time in season five after which actress left the show?

White won back-to-back Emmys in 1975 and 1976. NBC even dropped her as Rose Parade host, thinking she was too identified with CBS.

Why did NBC replace Betty White as its Rose Parade commentator in 1975?

She had held the hosting job for nineteen years. Her husband Allen Ludden and the Tinker-Moores were close friends.

What animal appears in the MTM Enterprises logo at the end of each episode?

The logo spoofs MGM's lion; the cat's name was Mimsie. Moore founded the company with her husband Grant Tinker in 1969.

Grant Tinker, Mary Tyler Moore's husband and MTM co-founder, later chaired which network?

He left MTM in 1981 to run NBC and later regretted it, believing the company declined without him.

Mary Tyler Moore's first TV job was dancing as the elf 'Happy Hotpoint' in commercials for what?

She shot 39 spots in five days and was let go when her pregnancy became too hard to hide in the elf costume.

Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for an Oscar for which 1980 film?

She played a grieving, brittle mother; co-star Timothy Hutton won Best Supporting Actor. It was her big-screen return after a string of late-1960s films.

In her first regular TV role, on Richard Diamond, what part of Mary Tyler Moore was seen on camera?

She played Sam, a sultry switchboard operator. She asked for a raise after 12 episodes and was promptly fired.

Tina Fey said the show inspired the office relationships in which 2006 sitcom of hers?

Entertainment Weekly noted that the main characters of Fey's show mirror those of the WJM newsroom.

In Anchorman, Ron Burgundy's dog is named in tribute to which WJM character?

The newsroom boss in the film is named Ed, honoring the actor who played Lou.

Where was the actress who played Rhoda working when a casting agent spotted her?

She based Rhoda partly on her Italian-American stepmother and on a dancer she had worked with in the musical Wildcat.

Georgia Engel earned three straight Emmy nominations as Robert's mother-in-law Pat on which sitcom?

In 2012 she reunited with Betty White on Hot in Cleveland, playing Elka's best friend Mamie Sue.

What was the birth name of the actor who played Murray Slaughter?

He grew up in Pleasantville, New York, and studied acting at Ithaca College before McHale's Navy, MTM and The Love Boat.

Which real high-rise was used for establishing shots of Mary's later apartment from season six?

Mary moved to a one-bedroom in a high-rise after both of her old neighbors left for their own shows.

Per co-creator Allan Burns, a writers' chat about which NFL team led to the Minnesota setting?

James Brooks picked a TV newsroom as the workplace because of the colourful supporting characters found there.

What job did Rhoda Morgenstern hold at Bloomfield's and later Hempel's department stores?

Insecure about her looks but outgoing and sardonic, she was a regular for four seasons before her own spin-off.

Which cable channel launched the show in 1992 with a week-long 'Mary-thon'?

In its early syndication the show had never been seen in more than 25% of the United States at any one time.

On which sitcom did the show's five female stars reunite on screen for the last time in 2013?

Leachman, Harper, Moore, White and Engel appeared together; Katie Couric interviewed them on Katie.

How many Primetime Emmys did Ed Asner win in total, the most of any male performer?

Five were for Lou Grant: three as comedy supporting actor and two as lead dramatic actor; Roots and Rich Man, Poor Man brought the others.

Which slave-ship skipper did Ed Asner play in the miniseries Roots, winning an Emmy?

Captain Davies commanded the Lord Ligonier, the ship that carried Kunta Kinte to America; Asner grew up in Kansas City and studied journalism in Chicago.

Which Pixar character did Ed Asner voice to critical acclaim in 2009?

One critic suggested a new awards category should be created for the performance; he reprised the voice for Disney+ shortly before his death.

What was Lou Grant's ratings position when CBS cancelled it in 1982, sparking controversy?

Asner, then SAG president and active in causes such as El Salvador, believed his activism cost the show its renewal.

On which British channel did the show first air in 1971, before being dropped after 34 episodes?

ITV companies picked it up from 1975, and Channel 4 repeated the first 39 episodes in 1984.