Norman Lear had made a cottage industry with his network sitcoms, such as All in The Family, which were American remakes of British shows. In 1976, Lear felt it was time to go in a different direction with his next project.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman parodied daytime soaps, and made a star out of Louise Lasser, who played the title character, and was at the front of a deep ensemble cast.
The series launched in January 1976, and ran for 2 seasons in all, ending in May 1977, replaced by Fernwood 2-Night. When Lasser decided to leave the show after the first season, the 2nd season was run under the title, Forever Fernwood. Lasser's departure, one could argue, made it difficult for the show to get past that second season.
Speaking of the supporting cast, Hartman gave Dabney Coleman his first regular TV gig. Dody Goodman would later turn up in the "Grease" movies. Norman Alden (ex-Rango) had his character killed off, presumably in the first season, and he later resurfaced in the Kroffts' Batman parody, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, a component of The Krofft Supershow. Michael Lembeck also shifted over to the Supershow, serving as its host, Kaptain Kool, for the duration of its 2 year run, before moving back under the Lear umbrella and joining the cast of One Day at a Time. Martin Mull's character of Garth Gimble was killed off, but Mull would return as Garth's twin brother Barth, host of Fernwood 2-Night and its follow-up, America 2-Night. Today, Mull co-stars on Fox's The Cool Kids.
Here is the intro:
No rating. Never saw the show.
4 comments:
Corrected Version:
The first season of Mary Hartman was Spring of '76.
There followed a rerun cycle that summer.
In the Fall of '76, Mary Hartman came back for its second season, with Louise Lasser, who left at that cycle's end.
In Summer '77 came Fernwood 2-Night as its replacement.
That Fall came Forever Fernwood, which was the parent show's final season.
In Summer '78 came America 2-Night, the last gasp of the franchise.
#LookThingsUp#
I was trying to remember all that.
BTW, Mike, I was wondering. Weren't you involved with the Newsarama website at one time? Your name rings familiar to me.
Given that I've never heard of Newsarama, the answer to your question is: probably not …
I do have a perfect name for crossword puzzles, however …
Hmmm. There was another guy with the same name, then. Thank you.
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