"Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" (1976) TV series 1976-1978

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Bob Lally

Writer:

Brad Buckner (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

5 January 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Set in fictional Fernwood, Ohio, this deliriously demented serial focused on the beleaguered heroine Mary Hartman...

Plot Keywords:

Spoof | Soap | Indecent Exposure | Waxy Yellow Buildup | Cult TV

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Louise Lasser	...	Mary Hartman (16 episodes, 1976-1977)
Beverly Garland	...	Cookie LaRue (16 episodes, 1976-1977)
Greg Mullavy	...	Tom Hartman (15 episodes, 1976-1978)
Norman Alden	...	Coach Leroy Fedders (15 episodes, 1976-1977)
Debralee Scott	...	Cathy Shumway (14 episodes, 1976-1977)
Mary Kay Place	...	Loretta Haggers (13 episodes, 1976)
Graham Jarvis	...	Charlie Haggers (13 episodes, 1976)
Dody Goodman	...	Martha Shumway (12 episodes, 1976)
Philip Bruns	...	George Shumway / ... (10 episodes, 1976-1977)
Claudia Lamb	...	Heather Hartman (9 episodes, 1976)
Bruce Solomon	...	Sergeant Dennis Foley (9 episodes, 1976-1977)
Victor Kilian	...	Raymond Larkin (9 episodes, 1976-1977)
Salome Jens	...	Mae Olinski (7 episodes, 1976-1977)

Runtime:

30 min (325 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Company:

Filmways Television

Trivia:

Then Nixon aide Ben Stein wrote an impassioned letter in support of the show early in the first season, when its future was strongly in doubt; his piece is considered at least one of the reasons it continued airing.

Quotes:

Mary Hartman: [Mary realizes she went to elementary school with the man who has kidnapped her] Remember me, Mary Shumway? Mary Shumway?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Norman Lear/Boz Scaggs (#2.2)" (1976)

Goats. Chickens. A Deaf and Dumb Ed Begley, Jr.

These are but a few of the ingredients that add up to what I could very easily classify as the most brilliant television series ever broadcast. I had no idea that Louise Lasser's performance was the high art that it is until I witnessed it with my own two blessed eyes - it is something so perfectly conceived and executed that not only was she able to make Mary come across as dopey, smart, pitiful, strong, sympathetic, ridiculous, and believable all at the same time, but she managed to fashion a performance that one could laugh with and take dead-seriously at the same time. If I say that Mary Kay Place and Greg Mullavy aren't equally impressive, it's not in any way a slight to their wonderful conceptions of character - it's only that in this series Lasser transcended the exceptional and for 325 fabulous episodes shone like a goddess in this, the Picasso of Kitsch. (The hysterical, high-camp performances of Debralee Scott, Dody Goodman, and Claudia Lamb also deserve very special mention.) Never before has quality, camp, and crap come together in such a unique and glorious union - especially in a program that has an edgy fistful of smart, pointed comments and observations to make about not only our culture but our everyday lives.