Being Mary Tyler Moore

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 1:29pm

To premiere May 26th on HBO.

I miss you, Mary Tyler Moore.

 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 2:08pm

Wonderful lady and could do it all. From TV comedy shows to Best Actress Oscar nomination (she was robbed IMO) for her role in "Ordinary People".

[inception]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 2:29pm

I've been watching the remastered episodes of Cheers in HD that Paramount/CBS/Viacom did, and was just thinking how much I wish that 20th Century Fox had cared as much about their properties & back catalogue.  Who knows if any of the original elements from The Mary Tyler Moore Show even still exist?  Fortunately everything from The Dick Van Dyke show was saved at Desilu, and the HD remaster of that show is glorious. 

[pethian]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 2:56pm

inception said: "Who knows if any of the original elements from The Mary Tyler Moore Show even still exist? ."

 

Surely they still exist. It wasn't all that long ago that two episodes a night were run every night on late night/early morning TV on cable, here in the NY metro market anyway. I miss them.

 

[inception]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 6:41pm

Yes the original videotaped broadcast recordings in Standard Definition (SD) are readily available.  What I meant is that for some older shows, like The Dick Van Dyke Show, the original film negatives were saved.  This allowed the studios to remaster the episodes for High Definition (HD).  It isn't possible to do that from video tape.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/22/23 at 10:12am

pethian said: "inception said: "Who knows if any of the original elements from The Mary Tyler Moore Show even still exist? ."

Surely they still exist. It wasn't all that long ago that two episodes a night were run every night on late night/early morning TV on cable, here in the NY metro market anyway. I miss them.

You misunderstood him. The ENTIRE series is streaming on Hulu and countless other streaming platforms (like PlutoTV, etc). The entire series is also available on DVD.  He means having the series remastered to higher quality HD. 

 

[UWS10023]

Posted: 5/26/23 at 4:26am

On another note, the Carol Burnett tribute was number one that week in the Nielsen ratings.

Updated On: 5/26/23 at 04:26 AM

[Blue_Lotus]

Posted: 5/27/23 at 7:09pm

inception said: "I've been watching the remastered episodes of Cheers in HD that Paramount/CBS/Viacom did, and was just thinking how much I wish that 20th Century Fox had cared as much about their properties & back catalogue. Who knows if any of the original elements from The Mary Tyler Moore Show even still exist? Fortunately everything from The Dick Van Dyke show was saved at Desilu, and the HD remaster of that show is glorious."

Sadly all Fox properties reside with Disney now who  show little to no interest in the Fox library they acquired outside of the “Star Wars” and “X-Men” franchises. 

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 5/27/23 at 9:05pm

Just have to comment, she’ll always be miss Dorothy. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 5/28/23 at 8:34am

I watched this last night. For those interested in Moore's theater career, there is some discussion of the failed BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S musical and her successful stint later in WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY. There is no mention of the ROSE'S DILEMMA debacle. The legendary TV director Jim Burrows (son of Abe Burrows) is interviewed with regard to BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, and Michael Lindsay-Hogg and Manny Azenberg are interviewed about WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY.

Overall, I found the documentary worthwhile but a little stiff. Although it doesn't shy away from touching on the darker chapters of MTM's life (her alcoholism, the death of her son, etc), it seemed not to want to mine those topics in its attempt to present a flattering portrait.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/28/23 at 3:07pm

I went to the opening night of the second iteration of Whose Life Is It, Anyway? because - wait for it - the Sunday evening 6:30 performance was on the TKTS board that afternoon. I sat in jeans amid those in black tie. Moore was terrific, her characterization less funny than Conti’s, but in every way persuasive.
The gender reversal was actually daring for 1980, and she gave unstintingly. The character cannot move, for those unfamiliar with the play, and Moore immobilized was a fascinating challenge she rose to meet. I’m glad it’s in the documentary; it changed her career. Sweet Sue, which I also saw, was not compelling in the same way, though not the fault of its two stars, who famously did not get along off stage. 

Updated On: 5/28/23 at 03:07 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/29/23 at 11:28pm

I watched this tonight. While I enjoyed it, I feel it shorted the depth of her legacy and who she was as a woman.

This easily could have been several episodes each looking at her various eras. She was such an interesting, complex, talented and remarkable person. She deserved a much deeper dive. Much of the Mary interview footage comes from a Rona Barrett interview, who in retrospect, I find very sensationalistic, exploitative, and quite disrespectful  as an interviewer at times  

Im not a fan of the insertion of stock footage that’s not really of the subject and just inserted as filler for voice overs. That happens a good amount. I prefer current on camera interviews of which there are none. It’s all voiceover. I realize many of the voiceovers are old clips from deceased people, but many who have worked with her are still living. Bernadette Peters gets ONE sentence of voice over, Broadway Barks is never mentioned or shown  Bernadette and Mary were very close. I’m sure Bernadette could have lent some lovely insight. 

They also have decided to use some really poor video footage at times that doesn’t translate at all to HD televisions. Faces aren’t even visible. 
 

Mary was responsible for HUGE shifts in the culture. Laurie Petrie was one of the first, if not the first time woman saw themselves on TV and were represented as they were-wearing pants, having opinions and not being perfect. This can’t be understated.

The doc is lovely and very touching. I just feel it could have been so much more.