MovieChat Forums > Mary Tyler Moore (1970) Discussion > Better Late...Pun Intented...Than Never

Better Late...Pun Intented...Than Never

posted 8 years ago by gbennett5
15 replies | jump to latest

Although I've enjoyed MTM for 40 years plus, I had never seen this ep until
I caught it on Youtube last night. While the offering was well-acted and
funny, I couldn't believe how ungrateful, ungracious and unprofessional
Mary was in not accepting her suspension. Uh...HELLO...she not only
deserved a two-week suspension (her accident came about because she
and a personal friend - Rhoda - were goofing off!), but she was LUCKY not
to be fired! If I were Lou Grant, I would've told her she was damn lucky,
and if she couldn't be mature enough to accept the proper consequences,
then goodbye!

Anyone else agree??

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] communionsong 8 years ago

It's only a TV show.

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

Gee, is that so? I truly thought it was a reality show. But I digress...
Of COURSE it's just a TV show, but I felt the writers (and this show
is extremely well-written and acted) sort of wanted us to side with Mary
as if she were being victimized by an overly-reactive Lou. To me, he
seemed understandably angry and embarrassed (Mary made them all look
foolish) and was quite fair in his "punishment." She, on the other
hand, stated she was being treated as a child for such a suspension,
which is ridiculous.

Agree it's not a biggie, I was just surprised at Mary's lack of usual
humility and fair-mindedness. Just my two cents.

Funny episode in any case.

[–] brendanchenowith 8 years ago

Ed Asner's performance rocked in that episode. He was also superb in the 6th season episode in which Mary tells Murray about Lou's secret night with Sue Ann.
"Once I Had a Secret Love", I think it's called. When I wanted to act years ago, I would often get jealous of him, but I've since switched to writing.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.

[–] alanjobe 8 years ago

Murray did egg her on, though. I think she was grateful to Mr. Grant until Murray got all huffy about it.

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

Yeah, Murray always had a "thing" for Mary, despite being married
(another wonderful subtext to such joyous, human, and ultimately
complex characters). Nonetheless, Mary should've accepted such a
fair consequence with grace. I also think that Rhoda didn't take
enough responsibility for her klutzy contribution (although that
may have happened off-camera).

[–] mmaryrocksit 8 years ago

She would certainly be fired in 2016; I don't recall any instances in which a news anchor, talk show host etc. lost his/her job because of a comment that was inferred as inappropriate, facetious or off color. I was around when MTM was on, however too young to follow daily news. I agree with you that she was lucky to still have a job after Ted read the HILARIOUS obit on the air. I think Mary was using her "darling of the newsroom" as a safety net!

[–] gbennett5 8 years ago

One thing that occurred to me was that Mary worked for a relatively small
news outlet (they were usually in third place). Had Mary worked for, say,
CNN - in the present OR 1973 - she would definitely have been fired.

Ted is my very least favorite character on the show, as he's too silly
to be believable (no insult to Ted Knight. I just find the guy
way too "sketch-comedy" in a show peopled by such realistic characters).

[–] InherentlyYours 7 years ago

We could say this is an occasion where being a woman has it's advantages. A man could not have benefited by his emotions if he was fired in this way.

What I find more strange is writing obituaries. For what? Everyone who is famous and existed? That would take a lifetime. I can see writing them if everyone is elderly, but Raquel Welch was on the list. I don't know if actual news outlets do this. It must be simple enough to write an obituary when the death occurs.

[–] shango7200 8 years ago

I. LOVE. THIS. EPISODE.

Your question seemed odd to me as this is one of my favorite episodes! The plot is very original and almost pre-Seinfeld-y ? No?
1) Who here has never gotten in trouble for a small "harmless" practical joke that BLEW UP in their faces?
I have!------------------------ (read on OR skip to point #2) below!--------------------
In junior high school there was an obnoxious family on our block --their kids were always fighting with us and their parents were abrasive to say the least.
One afternoon we went to the Public Library to the wall of magazines in there and removed EVERY SINGLE "FREE" card, tag or envelope (i.e. send this in for a set of free steak knives, send this in for a 2 year subscription to Psychology Today, and on and on and on........ Every card & coupon we snatched had pre-paid postage--it cost us nothing....well , I paid for it later....
Days and weeks went by......it was the dog-days of summer - just riding our bikes around the neighborhood....watching the UPS man drop off packages to their house multiple times a day.
The father of the family - somehow- knew it was US ( YIKES ! we honestly thought we would never be caught!) and with a vodka and tonic in hand (was probably his 4th) made the rounds to my house and my friends house to speak to our parents.
He looked like an angry red-faced pitbull -- I was shaking...Let's just say that - without question- it was the biggest trouble I ever got into in my life (with my parents that is).
----------------------------------------

2) I LOVE how this episode so casually opens....late at night with Rhoda and Mary acting like slap-happy school girls with the incredibly tedious job of writing obituaries BEFORE someone passed away (I myself never heard of this...have you?)
3) I love the unexpected twists and turns this episode's plot takes! When Mary was reacting to Lou's punishment - she really looked like she was holding back tears.....(seriously superb acting in this episode).

TO ANSWER THE OP QUESTION:
No this was not typical of Mary to fight back with Lou but remember: MURRAY was always the voice of reason on the show. His "pep-talk" sent Mary into "adrenaline" gear shift! She really DID look and feel like he WAS treating her like a child. And she was furious. This was a defense mechanism . Does this make sense?
Typically - I do not like when sit-coms push the "serious drama" button (see :Edith Bunker's near-rape on "All in the Family"--if the show's plot & dialog is well written - anything situation can work out OR blend into the comedy-- seamlessly ........)
I mean - it was not like Mary entered Lou's office with a chainsaw.
Anyway - one of my favorite episodes that gets over-shadowed by , um, the "Death of Chuckles the Clown" (ducks)

[–] gpicto 7 years ago

I liked the early scenes, until Murray demurred Mary's suspension. From there, it was downhill.

I liked Ed Asner's performance a lot. I think Asner was trying to convey that Lou intended to fire Mary, but then lost his nerve & said she was merely suspended.

Wasn't that the one where Ted said, "Look who came crawling back."? LOL

Marriage is between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others.

[–] gbennett5 7 years ago

Again, I realize this is just a TV show, but Mary was wrong, acted unprofessionally
and deserved the suspension. WJM was more than fair.

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 3 years ago

I respectfully disagree. Murray was smart but never reasonable. He risked his marriage in season 6 by actually confessing he wanted Mary for his woman, disregarding his wife and children. He also acted like a gossip girl in Once I Had a Secret Love (one of the top 3 episodes of the series) and demands Mary tell him what happened with Lou "that night".

The voice of reason has always been Lou Grant. Everyone goes to Lou for advice, including Murray himself. The true bond was of course Mary and Lou discussing dynamics of work and relationships, sexism and money. But Lou was a prodigy and everyone in the station looked up to him. Murray was a bland quipper who was never more interesting then the bland coffee brewed every morning.

[–] Garyandfilm (513) 2 years ago

[deleted]

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

What pun?

The more I read historic IMDb posting, the lower my opinion of it sinks.