I know why this gay boy who grew up watching "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" on Saturday night while my parents were at their bowling league still remembers the series so fondly all these years later. The idea of leaving one identity behind -- a school boy who got picked on for being too good at jumping rope -- and starting over in "the big city" resonated with me for as long as I can remember. (And if Rhoda could be my hag, so much the better.)
But let's just say it's the show's enduring critical legacy -- and not misogyny -- that would prompt a supermarket tabloid to be marking the series's 50th anniversary with a cover story purporting to reveal details of all the "catfights, affairs and tantrums."
If someone had told me Dick Van Dyke and Ed Asner -- or even Betty White -- would still be alive after Mary, Valerie Harper, or Georgia Engel (MTM's baby) I'd have said you were crazy. We were lucky to have each of them for as a long as we did, but life sure is strange that way.
P.S. If you're not following Mr. Grant on Twitter, you're missing out!
1 comment:
I loved that show, too. I grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis and the city drew me in just like it did Mary.
Post a Comment