Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration Page #3

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That was in a speed test.

But it's true --

women today are free.

For the first time,

we're man's equal.

We can go out into the world

and make a life for ourselves.

And I fully intend to.

-So do I!

-NARRATOR:
Two years later,

Mary landed a starring role

in "Change of Habit."

But when Elvis Presley signed

on, Mary's role was diminished.

-John, please!

-W--

You gotta be kidding.

-I'm a member of the Order of

the Little Sisters of Mary.

[Scoffs]

John, please say something.

-I'll be damned.

-I'm sorry.

-NARRATOR:
Mary Tyler Moore

was Elvis Presley's

last leading lady

in his final

dramatic film.

-Let me show you how to do this.

You put these three fingers

right here like that.

Go ahead.

[Strumming]

That's right.

Now this one right here.

[Strums]

Very good.

Now these three here.

-What?

-These three right here.

-NARRATOR:
It wasn't only

Elvis' swan song --

Mary Tyler Moore also

gave up on films

for more than a decade.

Instead, she tried Broadway --

in a lavish musical based on

"Breakfast at Tiffany's."

The play failed miserably.

-NARRATOR:
By the late 1960s,

Mary's career was foundering.

-I even went to a psychologist

long after the show

went off the air,

just to see what I might have

done as a career

had I not chosen to be

a performer.

And it was three days

of testing.

And at the end of it, the result

was that, um --

in mathematics, I function at

about a fourth grade level,

just not there.

And that I would be best suited

for work either as

a model

or a member of

the armed forces.

[Laughs]

-NARRATOR:
Mary Tyler Moore

didn't need to enlist,

all she needed was a nudge from

her old friend Dick Van Dyke.

-He did a variety special,

asked me to be on it with him,

and he just gave me

the spotlight.

Are you all right?

-Huh?

-All you all right?

-Yeah.

You had me going for a second.

Oh...

May I ask you something?

Did walnuts come out of

that closet?

-Walnuts?

-Yeah.

We showcased her.

She danced,

and we did sketches.

And the network saw that

and gave her a series

right away.

-Hey, I've got another

"Remember When."

-What?

-Remember when I said

I'd like you to come on

my special?

-Mm-hmm.

-And you said how long was it,

and I said an hour?

-Yeah.

-Well, it's up.

And it was from that special

that CBS decided to ask me

to do my own series.

All thanks to Dick.

-NARRATOR:
Starting in 1970,

"The Mary Tyler Moore" show

began an unprecedented run,

winning more acting Emmy awards

than any show in TV history --

including four for Mary,

three for both Valerie Harper

and Ed Asner,

and two each for Betty White,

Cloris Leachman, and Ted Knight.

-Is this a picture of you with

Nikita Kruschev?

-Yeah.

-W--

-Oh, don't touch --

-You pasted your face

on somebody else's body?

-NARRATOR:
The structure of

the series

put Mary at the stable center in

a universe of quirky characters.

-She straighted for all of us.

She was the straight man

so much of the time.

-You have to wash a pot that you

just boiled water in?

-How should I know?

I only use paper pots.

-I kind of liked Murray.

He's a brown bagger I could kind

of associate with.

-Ted has this really silly idea

that you're carrying on

with some cheap floozie.

-And you promised you wouldn't

tell, darling.

-Oh-ho-ho!

-Phyllis, when I first read

the script,

it said she was neurotic.

I have to go to

my hairdresser's.

-Don't you have to be at

the office?

How can you have

your hair done?

-Mary, it's for those patients

I'm doing this.

If I look my best

it gives them hope.

Something to shoot for.

Eventually it turned out I think

that I was,

"the sure, firm touch on the

wrong note."

[Chuckling]

Confident.

[Laughs]

Proud of all the things

you shouldn't be proud of.

Did you know the male bee

is nothing but the slave of

the queen?

And once the male bee --

how should I say --

has serviced the queen,

the male dies.

All in all,

not a bad system.

-Lou Grant gave me my center.

You want to go on a date

with me?

You're outta your mind.

He's a simpler soul.

He's a more honest soul,

far less devious than I am.

We're friends!

We respect each other,

we care for each other

we care a great deal.

How can two people who feel like

that date each other?

-NARRATOR:
Perhaps the most

eccentric of all the characters

on the show was anchorman

Ted Baxter,

played by Ted Knight.

-The Chamber of Commerce

announced they're beginning to

take applications for queen of

the winter carnival.

So all you pink nosed

little snow bunnies...

Mary, can't you see

I'm doing the news?

Read it?

All right...

Out loud!

Why didn't you say so?

-His posture,

and then his delivery.

He was just fabulous.

-Ted, you're not getting

a Teddy Award.

You weren't nominated this year.

I'm sorry but there will be

other years.

[Wailing loudly]

-NARRATOR:
Despite all

the comic talent,

in the first few weeks of

the series, ratings were poor.

Critics called it a disaster,

and labeled Mary's character

a "spinster."

-Just trying to do the best show

we could,

getting to know each other,

becoming familiar with the role,

um, praying that it lasted.

-NARRATOR:
Within a few weeks,

the show found its footing

and soon became a Saturday night

institution.

-There was a night of TV that

was Mary Tyler Moore.

-I watched

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

There's not one show

that I missed.

-That show was big, big deal.

Yeah.

-Every Saturday Night,

for as long as that series

was on the air.

-NARRATOR:
Behind the scenes,

the atmosphere at

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

was more friendly than

the average sitcom,

thanks largely to Mary's

tireless efforts

to ensure a happy set.

-Generosity -- she would say in

a run-through,

"You know, Jim, Allan, I think

this joke is a Rhoda line.

I don't think it's as good

for Mary."

She's giving away laughs.

-If everyone is getting along,

they're obviously doing

their best work.

I don't care whether you're

a mechanic in a garage

or an executive high above

Park Avenue, you know.

If you like each other,

you work with each other,

and it can't help but make

the product good.

-The show was just full of love.

It's that basic. It's love.

It's love.

Mary Tyler Moore's theme

was "Love is All Around."

-NARRATOR:
Valerie Harper

and Cloris Leachman

were especially close --

their off-screen friendship

enhanced the comedy.

-We loved each other.

We're great friends.

We'd go to lunch every day

and decide what

we were going to do.

-I always had fun with Cloris

in a scene.

-Mary, you're not doing her

any favors,

encouraging her in this life

of sloth.

-Oh, come on Phyllis,

she's not slothy.

-The show where Valerie

has lost her job

as a window dresser,

and she is in Mary's apartment

day and night, night and day,

24/7, I'm just sick of it.

I'm just sick of it.

-Mary, as her friends,

we owe it to her

to straighten her out.

We have to force her to take

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