The Mary Tyler Moore Show

S01E01 Love is All Around 1970-09-19

On the rebound from a busted relationship, Mary Richards relocates to Minneapolis, where she quickly finds a new apartment, an associate producer's job at WJM-TV, and new friends.

Pilot note — From the desk: The Mary Tyler Moore Show opens its catalog run with “Love is All Around” (1970-09-19). Workplace family sitcom perfected; feminist milestone without a lecture. Cast chemistry lore and Mary's off-screen industry power.

Mary is upset because she is outside the 15-29 demographic group, which the news channel considers young. However, she really cannot believe it when the mailroom boy calls her Ma am. Rhoda soon takes it upon herself to get Mary to call her old boyfriend to see if they want to get together.

When Phyllis's husband, Lars, takes ill, she asks Mary to babysit Bess for a few days. However, Phyllis is heartbroken when she discovers that Bess wants to stay with Mary forever.

Rhoda convinces Mary to join the "Better Luck Next Time Club," an organization for divorced people, so they can take advantage of its discounted charter flights to Paris.

Mary helps out a luckless former pro football player who wants to be WJM's new sportscaster.

Rhoda's mother, Ida, comes visiting and Rhoda refuses to see her. Ida stays with Mary but drives her crazy.

Mary accepts a date with a very short visiting author.

A snowstorm leaves Mary producing her first program, broadcasting the results of the local elections. The show has to remain on until a winner is declared and no word is received at the newsroom.

Mary, Murray and Ted receive nominations for Teddy Awards; Rhoda's new boyfriend shows more interest in Mary.

Mary's workload gets too much so Lou allows her to hire an assistant. She chooses Phyllis who hinders more than she helps.

Mary is audited by the IRS, and the shy auditor takes an interest in her. Unfortunately, he has great difficulty telling her how he feels.

Ted loses his self-confidence after speaking at Phyllis's club and Mary has to find a way to get Ted back on a high.

After Mary invites Lou's nephew home for dinner, she must confront false rumors in the newsroom the following day.

Feeling sympathetic for a co-worker who hasn't spent Christmas with his family for years, Mary is forced to stay alone at WJM-TV on Christmas Eve.

Mary begins seeing Paul Arnell, the brother of her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, and is shocked to discover that the brothers' parents still believe that she and Howard are an item.

Mary gets a tempting offer from a rival television station, but becomes reluctant to leave when her WJM-TV colleagues throw a farewell party for her.

A traveling journalist visits the station and catches Mary's eye but Mary can't seeing past the fact that he is married.

Mary's apartment is burgled, with only her clothes, stereo and television taken but then next night the whole apartment is cleaned out.

Murray's play, All Work and No Play, is finally produced but his happiness is short-lived when he discovers that the leading role will be played by Ted.

Mary is admitted into the hospital to have her tonsils removed, and shares a room with a grouchy woman who refuses to get along with anyone.

Lou and his wife Edie separate and Mary becomes involved when she is asked for advice.

A long forgotten perky and annoying friend from Summer Camp turns up as WJM's new receptionist and decides she's going to be Mary's best friend....and maybe Rhonda's .

Rhoda falls in love with a top executive, and is shocked to find that he wants to give up the high-flying lifestyle to become a forest ranger.

When Lou is fired, Mary goes to confront the station owner, Wild Jack Munroe.

After Mary produces a "What's Your Sexual IQ?" documentary for the Six O'Clock News, Phyllis calls on Mary to teach Bess the facts of life. Meanwhile, the WJM-TV newsroom is shelled with phone calls responding to the documentary.

Mary is intrigued by the voice of Lou Grant's friend, Mike Cooper, and asks to be set up with him. Lou breaks his policy of not matchmaking friends and colleagues.

Mary and Rhoda take an unplanned vacation to Mexico but have to do a strange favor for a Mexican restaurant owner for reservations.

Mary and Rhoda enroll in a night school course in journalism and Mary begins dating the lecturer.

When Ida, Rhoda's mother, visits, she sees how well Phyllis and Bess get on, and how closely Mary appears to her mother when they chat on the telephone, that she tries to be Rhoda's "friend".

Jack Cassidy guest stars as professional model Hal Baxter, who comes to visit his brother Ted at WJM-TV and engage in sibling rivalry about everything.

Mary attends her high school reunion and meets up with her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, who continues to have feelings for Mary. Meanwhile, Rhoda tags along believing that people will "remember" her although she didn't attend Roseburg High.

Lou and Mary have to cover all aspects of the news when the writing, technical, and anchorman unions go on strike.

Mary has to convince Ted to take is contract mandated vacation. Ted worries his replacement will become permanent.

Mary ends up with unwanted suitors when she reluctantly forwards Mr. Grant's chain letter.

Mary, Rhoda and Lou go to a John Wayne movie, where they spot Lou's son-in-law with an unknown woman.

Rhoda loses her job as a window-dresser and isn't in a hurry to find something new. When there is a job opening at WJM-TV, Mary lies to Rhoda and tells her the job has been filled, to Lou's surprise.

When Edie is out of town, Lou hires Rhoda to redecorate his living room. However, Rhoda's tastes are too modern.

After Ted appears on the Chuckles The Clown Show, he falls in love with Chuckles' daughter.

After volunteering some of her spare time for a worthy cause, Mary begins dating the Governor's aide. Unfortunately, the aide's duties cause him to break every date.

After receiving terrible service at a restaurant, Mary complains leading to the waitress being fired. Mary feeling guilty gets her a job at the station.

Murray takes on a night job as a cab driver in order to save up and buy his wife Marie a new car for their 10th wedding anniversary. However, Marie becomes suspicious about Murray's absences and fears that Murray is having an affair with Mary Richards.

Mary commits to watching Bess over the weekend but an old flame comes into town leading to an unlikely babysitter in Mr. Grant.

Ted decides he wants to move into a vacant apartment below Mary's -- but Mary and Rhoda are less than thrilled by the prospect.

Bess gets top marks for a report she wrote for school, and Phyllis pressures her to write a book based on it, calling on Mary for help.

When Rhoda's apartment is destroyed by fire, she moves in with Mary. The two find that while they are best friends, they make awful roommates.

Mary begins dating an architect and is astonished to learn that his son is only six years younger than she is.

Through a minor car accident, Mary befriends a young woman, Joanne. Rhoda becomes jealous when Mary spends more time with Joanne but Mary quickly ends the new friendship when she discovers Joanne is anti-Semitic and disapproves of Rhoda.

Mary gets city councilman Pete Peterson to appear on Face the People and discovers that he is completely incompetent. She and his aides try to bring him up to speed on current events so he can make a good impression on the show.

Mary is given the task of making The Six O'clock News more upbeat, and her plans are on target to succeed until they're frustrated by Ted.

Mary is interviewed by a newspaper columnist and ends up telling a little too much.

Lou is promoted to the position of program director but has to decide to whom his old job should go. Meanwhile, The Six O'clock News begins falling apart without him.

Ida Morgenstern, Rhoda's mother, mistakenly believes that her husband is seeing other women, so Rhoda and Mary try to clear things up between them.

After Lou's trip to Vegas is canceled because of a snow storm, Mary arranges a poker game for the guys unaware that Murray has a gambling problem.

After losing twenty pounds, Rhoda is selected by her store for a beauty contest.

Mary is worried that her parents, who have moved to the Twin Cities to be close to her, may pry into her life too much.

Mary tries to help her new boyfriend with a spot on the news after he quits his job writing for Chuckles the Clown.

Ted gets Lou to strike the clause from his contract preventing him from doing outside work. Ted ends up doing cheesy TV commercials.

After Mary's friends, Jack and Linda, split up, Mary considers dating Jack.

Mary becomes concerned when her father, newly retired, appears to have no friends or hobbies in Minneapolis, and tries to take on the role herself.

Bess's 15-year-old boyfriend falls in love with Mary and begins to surprise her with visits to her apartment and her work.

Lou has to have an operation and Ted's thoughtful behavior causes Lou to rethink their relationship; Mary is put in charge of the newsroom.

Rhoda returns after a visit to New York and announces she is has accepted a job there.

Mary runs into her former boyfriend Dan Whitfield in an elevator by chance. Subsequently, Dan realizes he still has feelings for Mary, breaks off his engagement, and begins dating her again.

Lou decides to buy a bar but soon realizes that he is not cut out to be a friendly neighborhood bar owner.

Phyllis wants to set up her visiting brother with Mary, but instead he hits it off with Rhoda and begins spending time with her to Phyllis's disapproval.

Mary and Rhoda try to encourage Georgette to take a stand for herself after seeing how Ted takes advantage of her.

Rhoda introduces Mary to a very irritating Warren Sturges, who tries everything including a giant billboard across the road from the WJM-TV offices to get her to accept his marriage proposal.

WJM gets a new program director who develops a crush on Lou.

Murray becomes depressed when he realizes that the years are passing him by, after he learns that a contemporary has won a Pulitzer Prize.

A former boyfriend visiting Minneapolis calls Mary who, deep down, wants to see him again but she has been hurt by him too many times before.

Everything goes right for Rhoda and everything goes wrong for Mary on a disastrous day when she is due to go to the Teddies.

Mary lends Rhoda some money to start a new venture and worries she may never see her money again, after Rhoda postpones repayment, hires Georgette full-time and begins expanding her business.

Phyllis finds out that Lars has been having an affair with Sue Ann Nivens, the star of WJM-TV's The Happy Homemaker show.

Mary's boyfriend is younger than she is and she and Rhoda discover there is a generation gap when they go and visit his friends at a party.

Rhoda and Mary fly to New York for Rhoda's younger sister's wedding. Rhoda's mother downplays the whole thing fearing that Rhoda is envious.

On the advice of their marriage counselor, Lou's wife, Edie, decides to move out. Lou is heartbroken by the prospect.

In this episode Dick Gautier guest stars briefly as Ed Cavenaugh, a sleazy sportscaster. Have a look at his website at Dick Gautier.com. Gordon Jump, later of MTM Enterprises' "WKRP" is seen for a few minutes playing one of the sportscaster applicants. When Ted asks Mary to order tweezers and other assorted supplies for his personal use, she gets more than a little flustered and asks Lou to give her something challenging to do. At the drop of a hat, he assigns her the task of hiring a new sportscaster...and firing the old one. In order to let Ed Cavenaugh down easy, she invites him to lunch and he tries to mesmerize her with his suavity with the opposite sex. Then Mary learns a lesson: don't fire the current sportscaster until you've hired another one. After days of screening applicants, listening to demo tapes and perusing their eight-by-ten glossies, she decides on Andy Rivers. On the night of Andy's first broadcast, Mary once again gets a case of the blues when all Andy has to say on the air are three football scores. Her melancholy lapses once more when Andy invites her to dinner. "Careful!", Ted warns him..."that's how she fired the last guy." Check out Ted's fantastic conquistador boots gimmick, which seems to be good for livening up one or two scenes! Classic Lou/Mary talk, wherein he tells her that we live on a planet the size of a pin, and are specks of dust waiting to be blown away. This average episode of MTMS was far better than most shows' best episodes.

Ted meets his father, who deserted him as a baby.

Mary's former boyfriend, Wes Callison, gets a job in the newsroom but his affection for Mary gets in the way of his work.

Lou gives Mary the task of finding him a date for an awards' ceremony. A name mix-up means that Lou winds up taking out an 80-year-old woman.

Rhoda begins dating the boss of Hemple's and falls deeply in love with him. She wants to tell him how she feels, but Mary warns her to take things slowly.

Mary invites Congresswoman Geddes to a fancy dinner at her home, trying hard to ensure that everything is perfect.

Lou is still heartbroken over Edie's departure and asks Mary to help them get back together.

Phyllis persuades Ted to stand for local government. Ted agrees and goes so far as to quit his job at WJM-TV.

Murray's daughter, Bonnie, is looking for a job and Mary is persuaded into giving her one but Bonnie is not as efficient as everyone had hoped.

Georgette finds Ted making out with a woman in his dressing room. She then decides to enter a nunnery, but the head nun talks her out of it.

Lou is closing in on fifty and today is his birthday. Mary can't stand the thought of the now-separated Lou celebrating his birthday all alone, so she arranges a surprise party for him. That evening, she invites Lou over for a drink and the doorbell rings just as he tells her how much he appreciated her not throwing an office party for him that afternoon.

Mary begins dating the anchorman from Minneapolis's top news show and becomes ashamed of WJM-TV's smaller news operation.

Phyllis, who has gotten her real estate license, persuades Lou to sell his house. However, Lou hasn't really made up his mind whether he wants to move.

Mary and Rhoda are given permission to develop a new show for WJM but their dreams begin to fade when they find out that the hosts will be Ted and Sue Ann, who both begin to interfere with their plans.

Rhoda tells the secret of Mary's that she never graduated from college, as she claimed on her job application, and their friendship is suddenly put at risk.

To relieve her boredom, Mary jokingly writes a humorous obituary of one of the people in the WJM-TV file. Coincidentally, the same person dies the following day and the obituary is read on the air. Lou has no choice but to suspend Mary, but she threatens to quit in response.

After a heavy self-promotion campaign, Ted wins his first Teddy Award. When Walter Cronkite comes to the newsroom, Ted assumes that he will be hired by the networks.

Lou and Rhoda find they have a lot in common and begin seeing each other on a casual basis but everyone assumes that the romance is serious.

Ted joins Mary at a night-school class in creative writing, and winds up plagiarizing her assignment.

Mary goes to a singles bar to research a documentary, but on the night the crew arrives for filming, the same people who were willing to tell Mary everything don't want to be seen on camera.

Mary refuses to reveal a news source for a story she produced and has to spend a night in jail.

Mary dates a man with whom she has nothing in common and becomes concerned that their relationship is superficial.

Lou finally loses his temper with Ted when he endorses a political candidate on The Six O'clock News and throws him through the office doors. Lou feels guilty, and Ted takes advantage of him.

Lou begins seeing a cocktail lounge singer but becomes uncomfortable about her past.

WJM-TV hires a young business consultant, who demands certain changes for The Six O'clock News, offending every member of the news team.

Murray meets an attractive woman at one of Mary's parties and considers having an affair. On the pretext of buying her old piano, he goes to see her.

A young fan, Gloria, persuades Sue Ann to hire her for The Happy Homemaker. Sue Ann is less than pleased when Gloria plays up to the station manager and gets a larger role on the show at the expense of her own.

Phyllis dates a man on a platonic basis, but he is attracted more to Mary and begins seeing her.

The entire newsroom staff is arguing with each other, and when they are trapped at the office due to bad weather, Sue Ann decides to serve her Christmas dinner early.

Mary and Sue Ann go to a convention in Chicago and Mary finds out that Sue Ann leads a lonely life.

Ted is shocked when he finds out his mother does not intend to marry her boyfriend, but will live with him.

When Murray his wife Marie are at odds over having another child, everyone on the WJM news team gets involved.

Lou wants a smaller place and moves in to Rhoda's old apartment but can't help interfering in Mary's private life.

Lou wants to hire a female newscaster 'like Mary', so Mary decides to audition for the job herself.

Now that Mary is producer, Ted thinks that he can make his move on her. He convinces the rest of the newsroom that they are having an affair.

Mary doesn't feel she deserves the title of producer and asks Lou that she be given the chance to produce The Six O'clock News alone.

When Ted's formula for betting on football games works, Lou goes into partnership with him. He winds up betting all of the season's winnings on the Super Bowl without telling Ted.

Phyllis and Lars have a dispute and she finds her credit cards cut off. She looks for a job but finds that she has no relevant skills.

Lou wants to research his own news story now that Mary's producer and decides to launch a major investigation on a city councilor only to discover that he is completely honest.

After attending Murray and Marie's 20th wedding anniversary party, Ted pops the question to Georgette, live on the news, and then gets cold feet.

Mary agrees to help a troubled crime prone girl go straight and find a job.

Lou wins the Albert Mason Award, which he had once said was for broadcasting veterans who couldn't chew their own food.

A con-man tricks Ted into setting up a broadcasters' academy. When he finds out he's been had, he asks Lou, Mary and Murray to be the faculty and give the semester's opening lectures.

Mary likes her new boyfriend but finds his son absolutely intolerable.

Lou puts on a brave face when he learns that his ex-wife Edie is remarrying.

Mary, wanting some change in her life, makes the decision to move to a new apartment.

Mary researches a documentary with the help of a priest. He eventually decides to leave the Church, and Mary thinks that he has fallen in love with her.

Murray realizes that he's always been in love with Mary and wants desperately to tell her.

Ted's jocular nature is ideal for hosting a game show in New York, and he successfully auditions for the job. But Mary and Lou wonder if they really want to see him go.

Mary's high-flying journalist aunt comes for a visit, and Lou finds that he has a rival in her.

Chuckles the Clown is crushed to death by a rogue elephant in a parade, which leaves all the newsroom staff in hysterics except Mary.

Mary joins a Big Sisters scheme and tries to bring a teenage shoplifter to the side of good. Sue Ann, pursuing an award, decides to "adopt" a little sister as well but finds herself getting influenced.

Ted proposes to Georgette while at Mary's apartment for brunch which leads to an impromptu wedding, complete with the minister coming straight from his tennis match.

Lou meets up with a woman who had sent him a 'Dear John' letter during World War II but is disappointed to learn her motives for doing so.

Mary is convinced she has really fallen in love, but her boyfriend seems reluctant in saying those three magic words, 'I love you'.

Ted is overjoyed when he gets a tax refund and splurges out on everyone at the newsroom, but is later shocked when the IRS informs him that he will be audited.

Sue Ann gets Mary to ask Lou out on a date on her behalf. Lou accepts, not realizing who Mary's 'friend' is.

Mary's old flame Dan Whitfield, who once proposed to her, returns to Minneapolis and she's forced to choose between him and her current boyfriend.

Initially delighted at the chance of producing the Happy Homemaker show, Murray quickly becomes miserable when he realizes the menial tasks he has to do for Sue Ann.

Ted and Georgette face marital problems, but Ted refuses to see a counselor unless Lou goes with him.

Lou and Mary go on a press junket to Washington, DC. Lou was once a correspondent there, but Mary has difficulty believing him about his contacts.

Lou has spent the night with Sue Ann, and confides in Mary. Their friendship is almost ruined when Mary is unable to keep the secret.

Lou almost ruins one of Mary's parties when his old girlfriend, Charlene Maguire, arrives with a date. He tries to make her jealous by taking out one of Mary's neighbors.

Murray is unhappy with the new station owner's policies and tells him off over the phone one evening. However, the station owner fires him the following day.

Mary's Aunt Flo and Lou both prepare competing ideas for a TV documentary.

Mary learns that an old friend seeking re-election to Congress had financial help from the mob. Lou threatens to use the story on the air.

Sue Ann has fallen in love, but her new boyfriend is less scrupulous than he first seems.

Ted and Georgette decide to adopt a son after Ted is informed he cannot have children.

Georgette gives birth at Mary's dinner party. With the hospital and doctor too far away, Lou and Mary help deliver the baby.

Mary is less than delighted Lou criticizes her efforts at writing and publishing a short story.

Sue Ann becomes deeply depressed when her sister arrives and gets an offer to do a competing homemaker show in Minneapolis.

Mary hires a new sportscaster who refuses to cover any sports but swimming and is faced with the prospect of firing her.

Ted suffers a heart attack on the air and for the next few days becomes conscious of how precious life is.

Lou promotes Murray to co-producer against Mary's wishes to prevent him from accepting a producer's job at a rival television station.

Ted and Georgette are initially disturbed to find that their son, David, is not doing well at school, but a psychiatrist's test shows that he is a genius. Unfortunately, David lets this go to his head and takes advantage of Ted.

Mary faces a contempt charge for not revealing her news source. Lou recommends a lawyer friend who takes a romantic interest in Mary.

Lou realizes that he has feelings for Mary's Aunt Flo, a journalist with a similar pride and passion in the news profession.

Lou learns from a source on the Teddy Award's panel that Murray will finally win an award for his news writing.

Mary is having trouble sleeping and resorts to pills, which has Lou concerned that she's become addicted to them.

Mary and Murray find it hard to believe that an attractive young journalist has tried to seduce Ted while they are at a convention in Hollywood.

Mary and Lou threaten to quit after the new station manager refuses to give them a raise.

A pompous but renowned critic is hired to provoke controversy on The Six O'Clock News, but the newsroom thinks he has gone too far when he begins attacking Minneapolis and its residents.

Lou desperately wants to find a way to return a favor to an army buddy but is distraught when he asks Lou to fix him up on a date with Mary.

Ted and Georgette successfully audition for their own variety show, which becomes a big hit, but Georgette eventually finds that she would prefer being a wife and mother.

Sue Ann's Happy Homemaker show is canceled but she is determined to stay at WJM and asks Mary to give her a job in the newsroom.

WJM's former weatherman, Gordy Howard, returns to visit Minneapolis after becoming a highly successful network presenter in New York. Ted is desperate for a chance to join Gordy.

Mary happily accepts a date from a charming older man without realizing that he's Murray's father, but everyone else has difficulty coming to terms with the difference in their ages.

Ted offers Murray $200 to write an article on his behalf. The article becomes a success, but Ted refuses to share the credit with Murray.

Murray, Ted and Lou fantasize about being married to Mary.

Mary has planned a fancy party at her apartment, with a mystery guest of honor, but the power in the building goes before he arrives.

Mary has another disastrous date and worries she'll never meet the right man, until Georgette points out that every quality she seeks can be found in Lou Grant.

S07E24 The Last Show 1977-03-19

Personnel changes occur in the executive department and when they want WJM News to be the highest-ranked in Minneapolis, everyone except Ted Baxter is fired.

Finale note — From the desk: The guide closes on “The Last Show” (1977-03-19) — a series bookend worth the package context. Cast chemistry lore and Mary's off-screen industry power.