Love is All Around: The Making of the Mary Tyler Moore Show

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Love Is All Around is about a magic moment in the history of television, a moment that lasted from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977. The brainchild of writers James Brooks and Allan Burns, The Mary Tyler Moore Show is one of America's best-loved sitcoms, a show that pioneered the idea of the workplace as a kind of family while subtly tracking the changing roles of women in society. The extraordinary ensemble of writers and actors connected with the show made Saturday night on CBS a very nice place to be for seven years, a place in which love indeed was all around. Here at last is the first book to pay tribute to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It is an unabashed celebration of Mary and Rhoda and Phyllis and Ted and Lou and Murray and Sue Ann, from the rocky beginnings (the first performance before an audience was a total disaster) to the legendary Chuckles the Clown episode, from Mary's interview on the first show to the emotional farewells of the very last. Robert S. Alley and Irby B. Brown have interviewed the writers, producers, executives, and the cast itself to tell the story of the show's creation (Mary was originally envisioned as a divorcée, an idea nixed by the network) and its evolution over time, of the ways in which a closely knit group of talented people were able to delight audiences week after week, year after year. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout the text and including a guide to all 168 episodes, Love Is All Around is every fan's dream come true. ROBERT S. ALLEY is a professor of humanities at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He coauthored The Producer's Medium: Conversations with Creators of American TV. IRBY B. BROWN is a professor of English at the University of Richmond. He coproduced "Genuine or Counterfeit," a documentary about the portrayal of the American family on television. Together they have seen each episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show at least three times.

From inside the book

Contents

CHAPTER
1
THE CASTING
11
DARKNESS AND DAWN
21
Copyright

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