The Mary Tyler Moore Show (TV Series) One Boyfriend Too Many (1975) User Reviews

Heavy on the Romance

[Rrrobert · 6/10 · 31 January 2020]

I don't really like the 'dating' episodes, and this is a dating episode on steroids. Amid Mary's serious romance with Joe (Ted Bessell) her old beau Dan (Michael Tolan) returns and asks Mary on a date. Mary must decide between two suitors.

This one bogs down in romance and drama. Romantics in the audience might like it but it isn't my thing. Like many dating episodes it does a few retcons. This one emphasises how Dan left town and broke Mary's heart. It ignores the reality that Dan asked Mary to marry him and she rejected the offer (though they continued dating, offscreen). Meanwhile Mary had dealt with another old suitor - who apparently was her one true love - in episode 'Remembrance of Things Past' between episodes that depicted or mentioned dates with Dan.

The other thing I dislike about many of the dating episodes is they can't help but have a happy ending - the relationship is rock solid and the romance will continue... except the guy is usually never seen or mentioned in any later episode. Even Dan, who made returns, had broken-up with Mary offscreen before each return.

Mary Has One Too Many

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 25 February 2017]

Not much here this time. Mary has been seeing Joe and it's getting serious. Then Dan shows up, the guy she went with for over a year. She agrees to a date with him and Mary even tells Joe. So some of the usual predictable stuff happens. The romance thing is really secondary. The funny scenes involve Joe hanging out with Lou, Murray, and Ted. Ted has too much to drink and that is pretty hilarious. Joe is frustrated, like he should be, and crashes Mary's party. Just an average episode.

Feminist comeuppance

[robert3750 · 8/10 · 19 January 2022]

Mary has been getting serious with Joe, but her old boyfriend Dan, whom she was apparently engaged to (and with whom it's implied she was having sex with) before he moved to New York) returns to complicate things, since he wants to resume where they let off. Mary has to decide whether she's now going to turn her back on Joe. What I liked about the episode was that it didn't let Mary get away with feminist hypocrisy. Mary is forced to confront the fact that for all the feminist twaddle about the supposed lack of caring by men, for her to dump Joe in favor of Dan would be every bit as hurtful to Joe as it would be to Mary if the roles were reversed (ie Joe dumping her for an old girlfriend).

Joe, we hardly knew ye!

[bobicafge · 8/10 · 16 December 2023]

I liked this episode more than some did, and I like Ted Bessel. However, this episode once again seems to bring up the same questions raised by others in terms of Mary's boyfriends. The amusing parts of the episode are fun - Lou utters a classic line when Ted gets drunk when he notes this was Ted's first time getting falling-down drunk (I apologize if I don't quote the line correctly): "In drinking terms, Ted lost his olive." What frustrated me was that Joe (the character played by Ted Bessel) seemed perfect for Mary. Unlike Dan, who always seemed a bit highbrow to me, Ted was down to earth, smart and funny. At the end of the episode, Mary chooses Joe, but fast forward to the next episode (I believe), and she sees him off on a two-week business trip. After that, Joe is never seen or spoken of again! Once again, we never find out what happened to a guy Mary was seemingly serious about. Other than that, this was a funny episode.

That Girl's beau doesn't click with This Girl

[AnnieLola · 5/10 · 17 November 2023]

This episode strays dangerously into soap opera territory, and come on, guys-- we don't watch Mary for soap. Ted Bessell was right at home with Marlo Thomas' Ann Marie on the lightweight That Girl, but seems positively alien to the world of Mary Tyler Moore's Mary Richards.

And then there's his rather chillingly true pronouncement on being hurt-- this injects a sour, even bitter taste into what was always a sweet show. It would have been more typical to convey the point on a wise and whimsical note. Bessell's character ends up being both too light and too heavy to belong with Mary. The script didn't serve him well, and it's easy to see why he wasn't kept on as a recurring cast member.

Of course, Mary could never really be allowed to meet her match; possibly the only candidate the fans would ultimately have approved would be Dick Van Dyke-- or perhaps someone else strong and likable enough to have carried his own show.

Well, mistakes happen.