Mary Tyler Moore R.I.P.*

Finally getting into some of the meat and potatoes, still the first 20 minutes could have been better.

 

Is Everyone's Favorite Commentator Whoopi Goldberg going to chime in?

 

Of course, we have to see it with the top and bottom of the picture of the old TV show clips chopped off. Gotta have it in wide-screen! I'm surprised they are even showing black & white clips.

 

No Whoopi, but plenty of Okra Winfree

 

Yeah unfortunately it really wasn't a terribly impressive special, and the first 20-25 minutes was a typical Oprah "hey look at how everything is about me" segment.

 

What's even worse is they aren't even consistent. Some of the clips are stretched, some are cropped.

 

Outside of too brief new interviews with Reiner, Sonny Curtis and Van Dyke the "special" was poorly done. Too much Oprah and what was with the guy dissing her movie career? Yes, TV was her strong suit but those comments seemed borderline insulting and we're at best inappropriate for the topic at hand. Some of the TV clips looked awful including some that looked like beaten up 16mm prints.

Hopefully the 20/20 special tomorrow night will be better especially if they get interviews with folks that actually worked with her and knew her.

 

I ran across "Just Between Friends" on TV a few weeks ago. Written and directed by MTM Show veteran Allan Burns, it was described by someone on IMDb as "a PG-rated Lifetime movie", which isn't too far off the mark. Mary plays a housewife opposite Ted Danson and Christine Lahti (her husband, and the woman he has an affair with). It'll never be mistaken for great art, but fans of both Mary and the 1980s may find it of interest.

RIP. You shall be greatly missed.

 

Sounds like Dick Van Dyke wasn't a fan of the tribute, either:

 

I had such a crush on her when I was a kid watching the Dick Van Dyke show. Reruns for me, of course, as I'm only 43.

 

Agreed with the last Newhart....I didn't see that coming.

 

Yeah me too,very spontaneous thing as a kid in the 70`s.Along with that babe from Taxi of course!

 

And when you're Oprah and already makes everything about yourself to begin with, and then your best friend is hosting the show, it is a recipe for disaster.

Remember when CBS was the Tiffany Network? Obviously it isn't anymore.

 

Thank you. I checked a TV schedule online and the show was there.

 

Thanks again.

 

Last I heard, Okra still brings ratings with her. Not to defend her appearance. Since the network turned this thing around so fast, I would think some of the thought process was expediency. "Who can we get quick?"
Gayle and Okra are __________, so she get Okra with no problem. Now we have to fill up the remaining 30 minutes.
They should have waited another day, taped Okra, cut it down, and put in more clips. See if they can get Tim Hutton, Redford, Dansen, Gavin M, maybe old clips of Ted interviews, etc

 

Except that nobody was going to make their decision on watching a MTM tribute because Oprah was on it. The ability of Gayle King to easily get Oprah on is one thing, devoting a third of the tribute to Oprah talking about Oprah is another. There were plenty of other resources to draw on, and certainly could have extended any of the other ones they already were using. Plus I can guarantee you a lot of this was ready to go before it aired. Much like any other obituary, this and other programs dealing with the passing of major figures are put together well in advance, and the use of current comments and interviews can be dropped in easily.

 

good point.
If you noticed, on the on screen 'guide' for the special, Okra was the only name featured. so they definitely got some publicity from the 'big name'.

 

I had no idea that Rose Marie was still alive and at 93 on Facebook and Twitter, I feel like a total Luddite.
R.I.P. Mary, you were a great one.

 

I had high hopes for that CBS show given that they were the network that pretty much gave us the bulk of Mary product for two decades. There's another retrospective on ABC's 20/20 tonight. All we ask is that it be not about Oprah.

MeTV will do its MARY TYLER MOORE episode marathon Sunday afternoon starting at 2 Eastern.

And a bit of an odd one, GETTV will have two hours devoted to Mary on Monday night at 11 PM Eastern, 8 Pacific with a run of DICK VAN DYKE AND THE OTHER WOMAN followed by her appearance on a JOHNNY STACCATO. GETTV has aired the DICK VAN DYKE special before - as I recall there's at least one musical number cut - but it was a special that aired on CBS back in the later 60s when THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW had gone off the air but the idea of his & Mary's reunion was still a popular idea.

 

What about that oddball musical special that Mary did? Man, was that thing negatively received! I watched most of it, it was painful.
It was like a poorly conceived concept album.

 

'Mary's Incredible Dream'?

 

Inside Edition is also doing something about Mary's last days as well.