"Phyllis" (1975) TV series 1975-1977

Creators:

Stan Daniels
Ed. Weinberger

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

8 September 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Spinoff from the popular "Mary Tyler Moore" series has Mary Richards' landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom, moving...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Cloris Leachman	...	Phyllis Lindstrom (48 episodes, 1975-1977)
Jane Rose	...	Audrey Dexter (48 episodes, 1975-1977)
Henry Jones	...	Judge Jonathan Dexter (48 episodes, 1975-1977)
John Lawlor	...	Leonard Marsh (24 episodes, 1976-1977)
Garn Stephens	...	Harriet Hastings (24 episodes, 1976-1977)
Carmine Caridi	...	Dan Valenti (24 episodes, 1976-1977)
Lisa Gerritsen	...	Bess Lindstrom (23 episodes, 1975-1977)
Richard Schaal	...	Leo Heatherton (23 episodes, 1975-1976)
Liz Torres	...	Julie Erskine (20 episodes, 1975-1976)
Judith Lowry	...	Sally "Mother" Dexter (17 episodes, 1975-1977)

Runtime:

30 min (48 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

MTM Enterprises

Trivia:

Barbara Colby played Julie Erskine in the first three episodes of "Phyllis". The gifted actress was murdered not long after the third episode, "Up For Grabs", was in the can.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Biography: Mary Tyler Moore: All American-Girl (1995)" (????)

Such a waste of a great character

The character of Phyllis was not originally designed to be a leading role; rather she was a self-centered, opinionated, overbearing cameo character of sorts to add a zany counter to the tranquil Mary Richards. She was silly, but not really likable. Once the character had to stand on her own, she had to be toned down and made more appealing, thus losing the truly funny quality she added to the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

With the exception of Mother Dexter, her supporting characters did not do the necessary job of balancing the character of Phyllis, and the show often looked strained and weak. The show seemed to mirror the character of Phyllis in that it did not seem to know where it was going or what to do with itself after the pilot episode. The 'wacky' photography studio was dropped for the dull politician's office thereby dooming the show to current political topics and satire - but without the proper characters to pull it off. Nothing felt right and the second season was worse than the first.

I so wish Phyllis had stayed in Minneapolis!