Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? The answer: Mary Tyler Moore. The Library recently added the first four seasons of the show to our collection.
The show, in addition to being one of the highest-rated sitcoms in history, broke new ground in television. The Museum of Broadcast Communications writes:
As Mary Richards, a single woman in her thirties, Moore presented a character different from other single TV women of the time. She was not widowed or divorced or seeking a man to support her. Rather, the character had just emerged from a live-in situation with a man whom she had helped through medical school. He left her upon receiving his degree and she relocated to Minneapolis determined to "make it on her own." This now-common concept was rarely depicted on television in the early 1970s, despite some visible successes of the women's movement.
Growing up in Minneapolis, I was naturally a huge fan of the show. It seemed to always be on in syndication and I have fond memories of watching it with my mother nearly every day. In May of 2002, I was even present for the unveiling of the Mary Tyler Moore statue in downtown Minneapolis (erected on the very corner where Mary threw her hat up in the air during the show's theme song). Everybody in attendance received a beret. Mary Tyler Moore and Paul Williams, who performed the show's theme, were there to lead a crowd sing-along of "Love is All Around." Of course, at the end we all threw our hats in the air.