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    Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
    Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
    Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
    Audiobook11 hours

    Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic

    Written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

    Narrated by Amy Landon

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Mary Tyler Moore made her name as Dick Van Dyke's wife on the eponymous show; she was a cute, unassuming housewife that audiences loved. But when screenwriters James Brooks and Allan Burnes dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, network executives replied: "Americans won't watch television about New York City, divorcees, men with mustaches, or Jews." But Moore and her team were committed, and when the show finally aired, in spite of tepid reviews, fans loved it.

    Jennifer Keishin Armstrong introduces listeners to the show's creators; its principled producer, Grant Tinker; and the writers and actors who attracted millions of viewers. As the first situation comedy to employ numerous women as writers and producers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show became a guiding light for women in the 1970s. The show also became the centerpiece of one of greatest evenings of comedy in television history, and Jennifer Keishin Armstrong describes how the television industry evolved during these golden years.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 13, 2013
    ISBN9781452683454
    Author

    Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

    Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed Everything, When Women Invented Television, Sex and the City and Us, and Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. She writes about entertainment and pop culture for the New York Times Book Review, Fast Company, Vulture, BBC Culture, Entertainment Weekly, and several others. Armstrong lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

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    Reviews for Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      An intelligent piece of cultural journalism. Armstrong doesn't create a guide to the series, or spend a lot of time on interviews with the cast; instead she takes much of this information from other sources, in this age of the internet. Instead, she seeks to place MTM in the larger story of television and its impact on culture in the '60s and '70s, particularly well done by exploring the roles of the executives, head writers, prominent females in an industry still fraught with sexism, and one slightly obsessed fan. It's a fascinating story that is able to really capture the challenges faced in the era.

      At the same time, this IS a history of MTM as a show. The fantastic rise of White and Engel, the insecurities of Harper and McLeod, the ups-and-downs for Asner and Knight, and the challenges of working with Leachman - all captured objectively but thrillingly. And Moore emerges as a more complex figure than I had initially realised. As someone who only came to the show two years ago (and watched the entire run since then), this is just what I wanted.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Anyone who loved the Mary Tyler Moore Show (and who doesn't?), will enjoy this look at the making of the groundbreaking comedy. You'll meet the writers, producers, directors, guest stars, and actors. I thought I knew it all, but I didn't. Enjoy!
    • 4/5
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    • 3/5
      An entertaining book about one of my favorite TV shows. The author is clearly a fan. There's some pretty great behind-the-scenes stuff and she does a good job of telling the story of both the show and the larger '70s TV landscape. 3.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Might be considered dated material but I learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes of television writing and producing from this read.

      Engaging people and material regardless of whether or not you're old enough to have watched this show when it aired...but especially interesting for those of us who were.

      Very recommended for anyone thinking of a career writing or working in television...especially if you've got spunk!
    • 5/5
      I love tv. I love books. This title was a perfect one for me to read. As a child we watched all the shows we could ; all the shows. Armstrong tells us all about the quirky cast of actors and professionals who brought it to life. The 70s were a golden age for sit-coms. Writers typically wrote a fairly formulaic sort of script, prior to this time. Sit-coms tended to deal with mix-ups and miscommunication, adding a bit of laughter as a solution to the problem came to be, or they filled the scenes with guffaws and slapstick. The Mary Tyler Moore Show took comedy to places writers hadn't previously dared go. They wrote a show that dealt with the mundanities of daily life with a bit of mostly genteel, butg slightly veering humor. They also pushed themselves and the audience to accept a bit of the utter sadness that rears its head in life, but still managed to make us laugh, or at least giggle a bit, in the process. This show was such a hit that it spun-off series for Valerie Harper as Rhoda, Cloris Leachman as Phyllis, and Ed Asked as Lou Grant. Imagine that! We co hkd explore characters who had been important to the series but hadn't been meant to be the center of attention. The MTMShow writing was so good that it made us yearn for more, and we were fortunate to receive it. Later, Gavin McCloud led The Love Boat from the helm of a ship, not stealing all the limelight, but still being the star of the show. Ted Knight starred in Too Close for Comfort, and even Caddyshack. Betty White graced us in The Golden Girls, while John Amos impressed everyone wijrh his portrayal of Toby in the adaptation of Alex Haley's book 'Roots' into a made-for-tv mini-series. Asner, too, had a role.
    • 4/5
      Behind the scenes of the iconic 70's show. I learned quite a bit about the people who created, produced, and wrote the show. I did not realize before reading the book how many women writers were hired for the show. I would say the majority of the book is about the people and situations behind the scenes of the show and not as much about the actors. Still, I read it cover to cover. I really liked it.
    • 4/5
      For those who didn’t watch it at the time, it’s a bit hard to describe The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It was funny, but avoided cheap laughs; it was realistic at a time when shows like Gilligan’s Island and The Beverly Hillbillies were popular. It was sweet without being cloying, yet it wasn’t afraid of a little wickedness, such as casting Betty White, whose image at the time was completely wholesome, as a hilariously self-serving bitch. Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted puts the show in the context of the times and tells one repeatable story after another about its creation, evolution, and end. In that way, it’s a wonderful sequel (prequel?) to Alan Sepinwall’s The Revolution Will Be Televised (which I also reviewed here), about the birth of the current age of television that began with The Sopranos. Like that book, it touches on the fine moments of the show that you might have forgotten while telling tales you couldn’t have known, straight from the mouths of those who were there.