The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Hi There, Sports Fans
TV Flash files “Hi There, Sports Fans” as hour 77 of 168 in the TV Flash guide — The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) on CBS, season 4, episode 5, aired 1973-10-13, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E05: listed hour 77 of 168 in the The Mary Tyler Moore Show guide, hour 5 of 24 in season 4. It aired 1973-10-13 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Lou and Edie Story” (S04E04). Next is “Father's Day” (S04E06).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Hi There, Sports Fans sit in the The Mary Tyler Moore Show guide?
S04E05 is listed hour 77 of 168 — hour 5 of 24 in season 4, season 4 episode 5.
When did The Mary Tyler Moore Show S04E05 air?
Hi There, Sports Fans aired 1973-10-13 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Love is All Around. The hat, the job interview, and the newsroom manners are the whole silhouette. If you only have two hours, add Chuckles Bites the Dust.
In the series
Why this series still plays
For the silhouette: a single working woman in newsroom wool who made competence look like glamour, an ensemble that dressed like adults, and a hat toss that is still the hardest launch in sitcom photography.
The first image is not a joke. It is a woman in a coat, a city that photographs cold, and a hat that leaves her hand as if it had a publicist. Love is All Around does not announce a feminist lecture. It announces a silhouette: Mary Richards as single working woman in a market that still wanted her married by the first commercial. The beret in the air is not cute. It is a premiere look that the rerun still steals. Style is the plot. The newsroom is the closet she will live in for seven seasons.
Filed against
- Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards
Mary Tyler Moore tossed her hat as Mary Richards and made the single working woman sitcom a second home — newsroom family without a lecture. Dick Van Dyke Show roots as Laura Petrie fed 1970s feminist milestone craft. On TV Flash she is…
- Ed Asner as Lou Grant
Ed Asner played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show — newsroom bark as affection, Minneapolis wool, a boss who could file a grievance with a growl. TV Flash files him as the ensemble's gravel center, the man who made competence look…
- Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern
Valerie Harper’s Rhoda Morgenstern made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a city friendship in newsroom-adjacent wool — Minneapolis as a fitting room for a new kind of leading lady, an ensemble that dressed like adults, a hat toss still sitcom…
- Ted Knight as Ted Baxter
Ted Knight’s Ted Baxter is The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s anchorman as a walking punchline in newsroom wool — Minneapolis as a fitting room for a new kind of leading lady, an ensemble that dressed like adults, a hat toss that is still sitcom…
- Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens
Betty White played sweet-as-pie Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls while building a seven-decade career as TV’s most beloved survivor — including Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. From early game-show sparkle to late-life meme…