Mary Tyler Moore
by Kristin Battestella
In 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiere introduced Mary Tyler Moore as the idealistic Mary Richards, the new associate producer at perpetually low-rated WJM-TV Minneapolis
News. Mary left her doctor fiancé, who couldn’t say I love you.
She portrayed a modern working woman and the trials—and humor—to go with it. The series tackles Mary living alone amid robbery fears and endears viewers with sitcom familiars
from the beloved wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Early in the series, ageism and divorced friends are addressed before pushing the envelope with career choices and the “lonely single gal guilt-tripped into working on Christmas Eve” trope. The awkwardness of someone short dating someone tall…
Read more from Kristin Battestella in SEARCH Magazine’s Winter 2022 #KeepLaughing issue.
SEARCH Magazine 