Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis after a relationship goes bad. She finds work as an associate producer in a small television newsroom where the characters include Lou Grant, her gruff boss, Murray Slaughter the humorous writer, and Ted Baxter the Anchor Man who spends his time mispronouncing country names. Mary continues to hope for romance, but finds that her friends are more dependable.
Written by Anonymous
The shot in the opening credits where Mary Tyler Moore throws her hat into the air was shot at the corner of 7th Street and Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. In May 2002, TV Land erected a statue of her at that spot. The statue faces the opposite direction, however: the buildings that appear in the background of the shot were destroyed by a fire that took out an entire city block on Thanksgiving night in 1982. Many scenes in the opening credits (riding an escalator, window shopping) were shot within a one-block radius of this spot.
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Goofs
Continuity:
In the first season installment "Divorce Isn't Everything", Mary mentions that she can't speak French but can speak Spanish. Later in the series, while at a Mexican restaurant, she indicates that she can't read the menu because she took French in college.
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Quotes
Mary Richards:
Mr. Grant? Could I say what I wanted to say now? Please? Lou Grant:
Okay, Mary. Mary Richards:
Well I just wanted to let you know that sometimes I get concerned about being a career woman. I get to thinking that my job is too important to me. And I tell myself that the people I work with are just the people I work with. But last night I thought what is family anyway? It's the people who make you feel less alone and really loved.
[she sobs]
Mary Richards:
And that's what you've done for me. Thank you for beginning MY family. See more »
Crazy Credits
This series introduced the MTM Productions logo at the end - a tiny,
meowing kitten. This is a parody of the MGM Studios roaring lion. The
kitten logo (or variations thereof) would be used throughout the 1970s and
80s on a number of different TV series.
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