Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: December 29, 1936
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: In its first season, The Mary Tyler Moore Show‘s opening credits felt hesitant about its main character’s chances. “How will you make it on your own?” it asked in its opening moments, closing with a “you might just make it after all” that is far from a ringing endorsement. After one season, the lyrics were changed, getting rid of any questions about whether Mary Richards would make it in the big city if Minneapolis, Minnesota. We already knew that she would.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on television, and in particular television about women. Mary Richards was independent, single, working women who was the focal point of a wildly popular workplace sitcom. By this point in her career, Mary Tyler Moore was already a major TV fixture after her years playing Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke show. Either one of the two roles would have been enough to enshrine her in the TV Hall of Fame; with the both of them, though, Mary Tyler Moore became the most famous and revered TV comedienne since Lucille Ball.
If you’re looking for a particular episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to watch to properly celebrate Mary’s birthday, well, you could watch the pilot episode, which includes the first meeting between Mary and her boss, Lou Grant (Ed Asner). She has spunk. He hates spunk. You remember.
But the best episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show to watch on this day is “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” the episode where Mary gets the literal church giggles during the funeral service for Chuckles the Clown. It’s an episode that’s up there with the very best of television.
Happy Birthday, Mary Tyler Moore. Thanks for making it on your own.
