Saturday Nights, September 15, 1973

These days, networks treat Saturday nights as a deep, dark void, reserved as a dumping ground for unwanted television shows. There was a time, however, when Saturday night television was worth staying home to watch. The Honeymooners, Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jackie Gleason were Saturday staples in the early days. Before the networks declared Saturday nights dead in the 1990s, big hits like the Golden Girls, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island dominated. And for one season in the early 1970s, CBS lined up five classic television shows one after another, each show at their creative peak.

September 15, 1974, CBS' Saturday night fall season premiered with TV's #1 show, All In the Family. The follow-up show, M*A*S*H began its second and most critically acclaimed season. The centerpiece of the evening was the fourth season of the Mary Tyler Moore, the final season with Rhoda before her spin-off series. CBS wrapped up the Saturday line-up with The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show.

At the end of the 1973-74 season, those programs on CBS Saturday night received a total of 32 Emmy nominations and 14 wins. It was the most notable achievement in weekly programming and excellence in television history. The following season, CBS moved M*A*S*H, then All In the Family, followed by a drop in the ratings for each show. After nearly 2 decades at #1 in the ratings, CBS fell to ABC just 2 seasons later.



Sources:

The Emmy's, Thomas O'Neil

The Oakland Tribune, Sunday, November 2, 1975

The Advocate, Thursday, September 8, 1973

Chuckles Bites the Dust, October 25, 1975

On the eve of the home video explosion, TV viewers gathered at the same time, on the same channel, entering a type of national collective consciousness, as millions of minds, eyes, and ears would be tuned to their favorite programs. Some programming, such as Mary Tyler Moore (and much like I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, and All In the Family) promised better televsion than most shows, and on occassion, transcended into thirty minutes of excellence to be discusssed, not just the coming week over watercoolers, but for decades.

October 25, 1975 was one such rare occassion. Just a month into the new 6th season, Mary Tyler Moore took the unlikely comedic subject matter of death and left America doubled over from laughter. As our heroine Mary Richards listens, aghast, the WJM crew crack joke after joke about Chuckles the Clown's disturbing death. Dressed as a large peanut, he was crushed in a parade by a rogue elephant. Mary's dismay represents the moral view, and home viewers respected her struggle with the entire station's flip, disrespectful conduct. At the same time, the jokes about Chuckle's death were hysterical.

Of course, the payoff is Mary Richards, in the midst of the funeral service, as all involved have shamed themselves into respectful silence, gets the giggles. As the minister eulogizes, "If only we could all deal with it as simple and bravely and honestly as Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo. And what did Chuckles ask in return? Not much--in his own words--"A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants," our heroine can hold the laughter in no more.

Turning in a performance ranking as great as any Lucille Ball accomplishment, Moore's transcendance into gut-bursting laughter toward a final, embarrassed gut-wrenching wail is a comedic masterpiece. The entire viewing audience knew they had just witnessed a very special televison moment.

Mary Tyler Moore, March 19, 1977

Before the Mary Tyler Moore show, only once in television history had a sitcom ended with anything resembling a final episode. That was Here's Lucy, and while the final show might have been exchanged with any of the better Lucy shows over the years, it also concluded with a pie in the face of Uncle Harry, before he deadpans "I knew it would end this way." In many ways, it was the perfect ending to 25 years of regular television for Lucille Ball. But it was only an acknowledgment of the conclusion.

When the producers of Mary Tyler Moore decided to end the show's production in late fall of 1976, it was decided the season would build toward the conclusion. Numerous episodes wrapped up loose story lines and character threads, including a conclusion to the long suspected possibility of a Mary & Lou romance. All of this led to greater tension and publicity to that final date, March 19, 1977.

And the final show was another Mary Tyler Moore classic. Rhoda and Phyllis returned as the entire WJM crew lost their jobs . . . except the very problem of the news show, Ted Baxter. The final scene with the gang in a group hug, all moving toward the kleenex box 10 feet away, like one mass amoeba, was comedic perfection.

Many television viewers of the late 1970's will recall the sad emotions mixed with excitement of the final show. There just seemed to be a gigantic hole in network programming after the show's conclusion. The success of the final show, however, changed the way all television shows (with any choice in the matter) conclude a series. A series finale is a part of every hit show today, but on March 19, 1977, at 8:59 pm eastern time, it had not been done before. Sure Lucy wrapped her show up with a one-liner, and perhaps it had some impact on the producers of Mary Tyler Moore, but no sitcom before ended a show so perfectly, so hysterically, so emotionally, and so successfully as did the Mary Tyler Moore show and it set the standard for how any series attempts to conclude its run.