Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted - 9781451659221

"An energetic account of the show's history and legacy...Armstrong's book is fascinating...she deals thoughtfully with some fraught issues" (The New York Times Book Review).

Mary Tyler Moore made her name as Dick Van Dyke’s cute, unassuming housewife on the eponymous show, and audiences adored her. But when her writer-producers James Brooks and Allan Burnes dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, network executives replied: “Americans won’t watch television about New York City, divorcees, men with mustaches, or Jews.” But Moore and her team were committed, and when the show finally aired, in spite of tepid reviews, fans loved it for its funny and modern depiction of urban life.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted tells the stories behind the making of this popular classic, introducing the groundbreaking female writers who lent real-life stories to their TV scripts; the men who created the indelible characters; the lone woman network executive who cast the legendary ensemble—and advocated for this provocative show—and the colorful cast of actors who made it all work. As the first situation comedy to employ numerous women as writers and producers, The Mary Tyler Moore Show became a guiding light for a generation of women seeking to navigate the changing cultural landscape in the 1970s. The show also became the centerpiece of one of greatest evenings of comedy in TV history, compelling millions of Americans to stay home and tune in every Saturday night.

Hailed as “warm and funny and rife with juicy details” (The Boston Globe), Armstrong’s fascinating narrative tells how the television industry evolved in an era when everything seemed possible.