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https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/america-meets-letterman-and-keaton-on-a-failed-mary-tyler-moore-variety-show.html
America Meets David Letterman and Michael Keaton on a Failed Mary Tyler Moore Variety Show
By Ramsey Ess
Aug. 9, 2013
Photo: Sean Meredith/YouTube
[...]
In Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s new book, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, she accurately describes The Mary Tyler Moore Show as “a classic” that “helped usher in a more woman-friendly era in the television industry, [and] elevated the sitcom to an art form.” So if you are the titular star of said sitcom, what do you do after your long-running show ends? Mary Tyler Moore took a year off from television. Then she did what most celebrities did in the 1970s: she starred in a variety show.
In 1978, Mary was an hour-long variety program featuring comedy sketches, musical guests, and dance. More importantly, it was among the world’s earliest introductions to Swoosie Kurtz, Michael Keaton, and David Letterman, who were all regulars on the program for the three episodes it lasted. Today we put what I believe to be the third and final episode of Mary under the microscope as we try to figure out just what the hell happened here.
The first voice one heard when watching an episode of Mary was that of a 31-year-old David Letterman proclaiming: “From Television City in Hollywood, it’s time for Mary!” Then the most seventies colors and music begin flashing in front of you in the non-candid rehearsal footage of Dave and Michael Keaton cavorting with Hollywood old-timers Dick Shawn and James Hampton, articulating visually one of the key problems with the series: old meets young. In Mike Sacks’ book Here’s the Kicker, staff writer Merrill Markoe describes this problem: “The show was an uncomfortable combination of old showbiz style variety, mixed with a miscalculated attempt to include some of that wacky, absurdist comic sensibility that the kids liked so much from that new program Saturday Night Live.” But how irreverent can you be at 8PM Sunday on CBS following 60 Minutes? The answer: not very.
[...]
By Ramsey Ess
Aug. 9, 2013
Photo: Sean Meredith/YouTube
[...]
In Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s new book, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, she accurately describes The Mary Tyler Moore Show as “a classic” that “helped usher in a more woman-friendly era in the television industry, [and] elevated the sitcom to an art form.” So if you are the titular star of said sitcom, what do you do after your long-running show ends? Mary Tyler Moore took a year off from television. Then she did what most celebrities did in the 1970s: she starred in a variety show.
In 1978, Mary was an hour-long variety program featuring comedy sketches, musical guests, and dance. More importantly, it was among the world’s earliest introductions to Swoosie Kurtz, Michael Keaton, and David Letterman, who were all regulars on the program for the three episodes it lasted. Today we put what I believe to be the third and final episode of Mary under the microscope as we try to figure out just what the hell happened here.
The first voice one heard when watching an episode of Mary was that of a 31-year-old David Letterman proclaiming: “From Television City in Hollywood, it’s time for Mary!” Then the most seventies colors and music begin flashing in front of you in the non-candid rehearsal footage of Dave and Michael Keaton cavorting with Hollywood old-timers Dick Shawn and James Hampton, articulating visually one of the key problems with the series: old meets young. In Mike Sacks’ book Here’s the Kicker, staff writer Merrill Markoe describes this problem: “The show was an uncomfortable combination of old showbiz style variety, mixed with a miscalculated attempt to include some of that wacky, absurdist comic sensibility that the kids liked so much from that new program Saturday Night Live.” But how irreverent can you be at 8PM Sunday on CBS following 60 Minutes? The answer: not very.
[...]
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