Playback is currently unavailable for S2 E1 · The Bird and ...Um ...Bess. Episode details remain available below.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.
- Created by:
- Allan Burns, James L. Brooks
- Cast:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- CBS
Episode guide
Seasons
Season 2
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
★ 8.0The Bird and ...Um ...Bess
1971-09-18 · 25mIn the second-season premiere, after Mary Richards produces a ""What's Your Sexual IQ?"" documentary for the Six O'Clock News, Rhoda confesses to failing and Phyllis says that young Bess watched it. Phyllis calls on Mary to teach Bess the facts of life, but it turns out that Bess already had learned it from her friends. Meanwhile, the WJM-TV newsroom is shelled with phone calls responding to the documentary. According to Mary, more people are appalled by it than anything else.
Current episode
E02
Episode 2
I Am Curious Cooper
1971-09-25 · 25mMary is intrigued by the voice of Lou Grant's friend, Mike Cooper, and asks to be set up with him. Lou breaks his policy of not matchmaking friends and colleagues.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E03
Episode 3
He's No Heavy . . . He's My Brother
1971-10-02 · 25mMary and Rhoda take an unplanned vacation to Mexico but have to do a strange favor for a Mexican restaurant owner for reservations.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E04
Episode 4
Room 223
1971-10-09 · 25mMary and Rhoda enroll in a night school course in journalism and Mary begins dating the lecturer.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E05
Episode 5
A Girl's Best Mother Is Not Her Friend
1971-10-16 · 25mWhen Ida, Rhoda's mother, visits, she sees how well Phyllis and Bess get on, and how closely Mary appears to her mother when they chat on the telephone, that she tries to be Rhoda's ""friend"".
Watch progress · Not tracked
E06
Episode 6
Cover Boy
1971-10-23 · 25mJack Cassidy guest stars as professional model Hal Baxter, who comes to visit his brother Ted at WJM-TV. Immediately, the two engage in a heated battle of sibling rivalry about EVERYTHING -- salaries, cars, & even women. In an effort to size up his brother, Ted claims that Mary is his girlfriend. Ted & Hal decide to go on a double-date with Mary & Rhoda. At the restaurant, Ted doesn't know any etiquitte, and it shows. Back at Mary's apartment, Ted & Hal arm wrestle before Hal decides to go with Rhoda up to her apartment to look thru magazines for his picture. Ted stays with Mary to make Hal think that he spends more time with his girl than he does.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E07
Episode 7
Didn't You Used to Be . . . Wait . . . Don't Tell Me
1971-10-30 · 25mMary attends her high school reunion and meets up with her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, who continues to have feelings for Mary. Meanwhile, Rhoda tags along believing that people will ""remember"" her although she didn't attend Roseburg High.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E08
Episode 8
Thoroughly Unmilitant Mary
1971-11-06 · 25mThe writing and technical unions go on strike, leaving only Lou, Mary, and Ted in the newsroom. WJM-TV makes Lou be second cameraman on ""The Chuckles the Clown Show"". Because an upset Murray is on strike, Mary has to write the news stories. They are terrible, and when Lou criticizes them, she starts crying. Things take a turn for the worse: Ted's union strikes, and Lou has to fill in as anchorman! On his first brodcast, he has ""clammy hands"", and he bombs. At a local bar, Murray, Gordy, & Mary share a laugh over this. After drinking before his 2nd brodcast, he is ""as cool as a cucumber""--that is, until he falls asleep at breaktime. Herb fills in for Lou for the rest of the brodcast. The next day, the unions come to an agreement, and everything goes back to normal. Rhoda Morgenstern & Phyllis Lindstrom do not appear in this episode.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E09
Episode 9
And Now, Sitting in for Ted Baxter
1971-11-13 · 25mTed is forced to take a vacation and the anchorman hired to sit in for him becomes a huge success.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E10
Episode 10
Don't Break the Chain
1971-11-20 · 25mMary gets a chain letter from Lou, and she is persuaded to send it on. To her surprise, one of the recipients comes for a visit, giving Mary a less than pleasant time dealing with him.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E11
Episode 11
The Six-and-a-Half-Year Itch
1971-11-27 · 25mMary, Rhoda and Lou go to a John Wayne movie, where they spot Lou's son-in-law with an unknown woman.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E12
Episode 12
. . . Is a Friend in Need
1971-12-04 · 25mRhoda loses her job as a window-dresser and isn't in a hurry to find something new. When there is a job opening at WJM-TV, Mary lies to Rhoda and tells her the job has been filled, to Lou's surprise.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E13
Episode 13
The Square-Shaped Room
1971-12-11 · 25mWhen Edie is out of town, Lou hires Rhoda to redecorate his living room. However, Rhoda's tastes are too modern.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E14
Episode 14
Ted Over Heels
1971-12-18 · 25mAfter Ted appears on the Chuckles the Clown Show, he falls in love with Chuckles' daughter.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E15
Episode 15
The Five-Minute Dress
1972-01-01 · 25mAfter volunteering some of her spare time for a worthy cause, Mary begins dating the Governor's aide. Unfortunately, the aide's duties cause him to break every date.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E16
Episode 16
Feeb
1972-01-08 · 25mAn incompetent waitress is fired after Mary complains about her poor service and Mary feels obliged to hire her when she applies for an assistant's job at WJM-TV.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E17
Episode 17
The Slaughter Affair
1972-01-15 · 25mMurray takes on a night job as a cab driver in order to save up and buy his wife Marie a new car for their 10th wedding anniversary. However, Marie becomes suspicious about Murray's absences and fears that Murray is having an affair with Mary Richards.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E18
Episode 18
Baby Sit-Com
1972-01-22 · 25mMary agrees to babysit Bess for the weekend, but then a former boyfriend, in town for a few days, asks her out. When she can't find a babysitter for Bess on such short notice, she ends up asking Lou.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E19
Episode 19
More Than Neighbors
1972-01-29 · 25mAfter being persuaded by Phyllis, Ted moves into a vacant apartment below Mary's but Mary and Rhoda are not thrilled by the prospect.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E20
Episode 20
The Care and Feeding of Parents
1972-02-05 · 25mBess gets top marks for a report she wrote for school, and Phyllis pressures her to write a book based on it, calling on Mary for help.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E21
Episode 21
Where There's Smoke, There's Rhoda
1972-02-12 · 25mWhen Rhoda's apartment is destroyed by fire, she moves in with Mary. The two find that while they are best friends, they make awful roommates.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E22
Episode 22
You Certainly Are a Big Boy
1972-02-19 · 25mMary begins dating an architect and is astonished to learn that his son is only six years younger than she is.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E23
Episode 23
Some of My Best Friends Are Rhoda
1972-02-26 · 25mThrough a minor car accident, Mary befriends a young woman, Joanne. Rhoda becomes jealous when Mary spends more time with Joanne but Mary quickly ends the new friendship when she discovers Joanne is anti-Semitic and disapproves of Rhoda.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E24
Episode 24
His Two Right Arms
1972-03-04 · 25mMary gets city councilman Pete Peterson to appear on Face the People and discovers that he is completely incompetent. She and his aides try to bring him up to speed on current events so he can make a good impression on the show.
Watch progress · Not trackedCast
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Richards
Ed Asner
Lou Grant
Gavin MacLeod
Murray Slaughter
Ted Knight
Ted Baxter