Monday, February 07, 2000
That old gang sorely missed in 'Mary & Rhoda'
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
So much has changed since the Mary Tyler Moore show ended with that “group hug” 23 years ago.
Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern Gerard each got married.
Mary had a daughter. Rhoda got a divorce. Mary's husband was elected to Congress. Rhoda moved to France, got married again and had a daughter.
Mary's husband died. Rhoda got divorced again.
That brings you up to date for ABC's Mary & Rhoda, which is disappointing because it's not really a reunion movie. It's a failed pilot for a Mary Tyler Moore-Valerie Harper sitcom about single mothers with daughters that grew into a TV movie.
Fans of the beloved Mary Tyler Moore Show will be unhappy not seeing any trace of the old WJM-TV gang. No mention of Lou Grant, Murray Slaughter, Sue Ann Nivens, Phyllis Lindstrom or Ted Baxter.
Oh, Mare, what happened?
“I thought, having been married, it gave us this wonderful opportunity to see the younger versions, the next generation of Mary and Rhoda in our daughters,” says Ms. Moore, an executive producer on the film.
Mary and Rhoda started nearly 21/2 years ago, when ABC gave Ms. Moore a commitment for a comedy series about Mary, Rhoda and their college-aged daughters. After two years of rewrites, Ms. Moore gave up and made a movie instead.
To cram so much background into a 22-minute sitcom “was impossible,” she says. “I wish I had known it to begin with.”
Because she had invested so much in the project, she decided the movie “should stay with our new family ... rather than re-introducing old familiar people,” she says.
Depending on ratings, Mary, Rhoda and daughters could do another movie featuring her MTM pals.
“I wouldn't mind doing this again,” she says. “There's probably a great story with Ed Asner, ... Betty White and other people in the show. And yes, it could involve the daughters.”
In the movie, Mary works as a New York news producer for a young executive interested in sensational stories. Rhoda has just returned from Paris to work for a photographer.
Because Rhoda lived in France, their daughters — Mary's Rose called “Roe” and Rhoda's Meredith called “Mare” — had never met. (Isn't that odd?) Mary and Rhoda never talk about Mr. Grant or their old Minneapolis friends. (That's uncomfortably strange.)
Viewers will agree with CBS Television President Les Moonves, who was skeptical when Ms. Moore pitched the sitcom. He said: “Do you realize you're talking about possibly casting a shadow on what I think was arguably the best situation comedy ever on television?”
Ms. Harper recalls Ms. Moore telling her: “I will kick myself if I don't do it, because of our fear of how it will turn out. Maybe we'll fall on our faces, but let's take the chance. And I agree with her.”
“I am so proud of it,” Ms. Moore says. “This is a great little movie.”
Unlike Ms. Harper, I can't agree with her. It's OK, but not up to MTM standards. If enough watch, maybe Ms. Moore can make a real reunion movie with her old MTM gang.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic.
