The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Cast, Characters, Synopsis, & Facts

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• The Washington Post - Five ways �The Mary Tyler Moore Show� revolutionized women on television
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• USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism - Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture - The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) Summaries
• Television Encyclopedia - The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• Digital Commons at Illinois Wesleyan University - Mary Tyler Moore and Her Role in the Feminist Movement (PDF)
• Vanderbilt University Institutional Repository - The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Media Portrayal of the Second Wave Feminist Era

The Mary Tyler Moore Show American television series Ask Anything Homework Help Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Mar. 5, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, American television situation comedy that aired on CBS for seven seasons (1970–77). During its run the show consistently earned high viewership ratings and won 29 Emmy Awards, including three (1975–77) for outstanding comedy series.

Mary Tyler Moore was already well known to television viewers for her role on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66) when she starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary Richards, a single, 30-something woman trying to “make it on her own.” At the outset of the series, Mary, having been jilted by her fiancé, relocates to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she finds work at WJM-TV in the city’s lowest-rated television newsroom. Her colleagues there become a workplace family that includes Lou Grant (played by Ed Asner), Mary’s gruff boss; Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), the pessimistic copywriter; Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), the haughty, shallow anchorman; and (from 1973 to 1977) Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), the man-chasing host of WJM’s “Happy Homemaker” segment. Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper), Mary’s best friend, and Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), Mary’s superficial landlord, round out the cast of characters. The half-hour episodes chronicled the conflicts and debacles that occurred in the professional and personal lives of the characters.

Awards And Honors: Emmy Award (1977) Emmy Award (1976) Emmy Award (1975) (Show more) See all related content

The series broke new ground in the genre, most obviously in the protagonist Mary’s being a single, independent working woman at a time when female characters were defined as the wife, girlfriend, or widow of a male counterpart. Mary had several boyfriends during the series, occasionally staying the night with one of them, another sitcom landmark. The show was noted for the depth of its characters, several of whom were at the centre of successful spin-offs, including Rhoda (1974–78), Phyllis (1975–77), and Lou Grant (1977–82). Retrospective specials included Mary Tyler Moore: The 20th Anniversary Show (1991) and The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion (2002).

Britannica Quiz Pop Culture Quiz The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Patricia Bauer.