''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
that aired in daily weeknight
syndication
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
from January 1976 to July 1977. The series follows the titular Mary Hartman, an
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
housewife attempting to cope with various bizarre and violent incidents occurring around her. The series was produced by
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
, directed by
Joan Darling
Joan Darling (née Kugell; born April 14, 1935, Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an American actress, film and television director and a dramatic arts instructor.
Biography
Born Joan Kugell in Boston, Darling began her career with the ...
,
Jim Drake, Nessa Hyams, and Giovanna Nigro, and starred
Louise Lasser
Louise Marie Lasser (born April 11, 1939) is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.'' She was ...
,
Greg Mullavey
Greg Mullavey (born Gregory Thomas Mulleavy Jr., September 10, 1939) is an American film and television actor who has had roles as Tom Hartman in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Carly's grandfather in ''iCarly''. He has ...
,
Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...
,
Norman Alden
Norman Alden (born Norman Adelberg, September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on ''The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He p ...
,
Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy ...
,
Graham Jarvis
Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
Early years
Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...
,
Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953 – April 5, 2005) was an American comedic actress best known for her roles on the sitcoms ''Welcome Back, Kotter''; '' Angie''; ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''; and '' Forever Fernwood''. Scott was born and raised i ...
, and
Victor Kilian
Victor Arthur Kilian (March 6, 1891 – March 11, 1979) was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.
Early life, career, and homicide
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Victor Kilian began his ...
. The series writers were
Gail Parent
Gail Parent (born August 12, 1940) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author.
Life and career
Parent was born Gail Kostner in New York City, New York, the daughter of Ruth (née Goldberg) and Theodore Kostner, a Wall Street ...
and
Ann Marcus
Ann Marcus (August 22, 1921 – December 3, 2014) was an Emmy Award-winning American television writer and film producer.
She graduated from Western College for Women, worked for the ''New York Daily News'' and ''Life'', where she worked with fa ...
.
Developed by Lear with the intention of examining the effects of
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...
on the American housewife, the series premiered in January 1976, and was filmed at
KTLA Studios in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The show's title, featuring the title character's name stated twice, is a reference to Lear's observation that dialogue within soap operas tended to be repeated.
In 2004 and 2007, ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' was ranked #21 and #26 on "''TV Guide''
's Top
Cult Shows Ever."
''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' ranked the death of Coach Leroy Fedders, who drowns in a bowl of Mary's chicken soup in the first season, #97 on its list of the 100 Greatest T.V. Moments of All Time.
Premise
''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' follows the titular character through increasingly complex and compounding life events and scenarios often reflective of the changing social fabric of America in the 1970s. Some of the character's key traits, unusual but prescient for the times, include her initially numbed-out response to both external and emotional conflicts, her indecisiveness and her potential to suddenly snap out of one state of mind and swing to its opposite. Moral quandaries frequently seem on the verge of vanishing into apathy, until she is reminded of her love for her family and the need to keep them together. The show's elaborate plots and tongue-in-cheek melodrama lampooned the soap opera format much as ''
Soap
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...
'' and ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
'' would later do.
In its first episode, ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' introduced the Lombardi family of five, all of whom, along with their two goats and eight chickens, had been murdered by young Davey Jessup, an event witnessed by both Mary's daughter, Heather, and the "Fernwood Flasher", who turned out to be Mary's grandfather, Raymond Larkin. Other characters on the show also died in bizarre ways, including by being
electrocuted
Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death.
The term "electrocution" was coined ...
in the bathtub (Jimmy Joe Jeeter), by
drowning
Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...
in
chicken soup
Chicken soup is a soup made from Chicken (food), chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common addition ...
(Coach Leroy Fedders), and by being
impaled on a pink bottle brush artificial
Christmas tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
(Garth Gimble).
Mary Hartman had a nationally televised
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
on ''The
David Susskind
David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond th ...
Show'' at the end of the first season. Mary then found herself in a
psychiatric ward
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
, where she was delighted to be part of their selected
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
"family".
One of her sanitarium mates, widowed Wanda Rittenhouse (Marian Mercer), would become more prominent later on when she married Merle Jeeter, the mayor of Fernwood.
Cast
Main cast
*
Louise Lasser
Louise Marie Lasser (born April 11, 1939) is an American actress, television writer, and performing arts teacher and director. She is known for her portrayal of the title character on the soap opera satire ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.'' She was ...
as Mary Shumway Hartman, the show's titular character.
*
Greg Mullavey
Greg Mullavey (born Gregory Thomas Mulleavy Jr., September 10, 1939) is an American film and television actor who has had roles as Tom Hartman in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Carly's grandfather in ''iCarly''. He has ...
as Tom Hartman, Mary's unfaithful husband and Heather's father.
*
Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy ...
as Loretta Haggers, Mary's best friend and neighbor, and aspiring country singer.
*
Graham Jarvis
Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
Early years
Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...
as Charlie "Baby Boy" Haggers, Loretta's much older husband and Tom Hartman's best friend.
*
Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...
as Martha Shumway, Mary's often daft mother known for talking to her plants.
*
Debralee Scott
Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953 – April 5, 2005) was an American comedic actress best known for her roles on the sitcoms ''Welcome Back, Kotter''; '' Angie''; ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''; and '' Forever Fernwood''. Scott was born and raised i ...
as Cathy Lorraine Shumway, Mary's vampish sister.
*
Victor Kilian
Victor Arthur Kilian (March 6, 1891 – March 11, 1979) was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.
Early life, career, and homicide
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Victor Kilian began his ...
as Grandpa Raymond Larkin, Martha's father, who was revealed in the pilot episode to be the "Fernwood Flasher."
*
Philip Bruns
Philip Bruns (May 2, 1931 – February 8, 2012) was an American television and movie actor and writer. He portrayed George Shumway, the father of Mary Hartman on the 1970s comedic series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' and Morty Seinfeld, the fa ...
(and for a few episodes after the show was rebranded as ''Forever Fernwood'',
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...
) as George Shumway, Martha's husband and Mary and Cathy's father. He worked at an automobile assembly plant along with Tom and Charlie.
*
Claudia Lamb
Claudia Lamb (born December 3, 1963) is a former radio journalist and child actress known for portraying Heather Hartman in the syndicated soap opera satire ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' as well as the show's sequel ''Forever Fernwood''. About s ...
as Heather Hartman, Tom and Mary's troubled daughter.
Supporting cast
* Samantha Harper as Roberta Wolashek, Grandpa Larkin's young social worker, who falls in love with him.
*
Salome Jens
Salome Jens (born May 8, 1935) is an American dancer and actress of stage, film and television. She is perhaps best known for portraying the Female Changeling on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' in the 1990s.
Early years
Jens was born in Milwa ...
as Mae Olinski, Tom's Amazonian co-worker at the assembly plant and the payroll officer, with whom he had an affair.
*
Bruce Solomon
Bruce Peter Solomon is an American film and television actor, best known for the roles of Sgt. Foley in the TV show ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Kenny Zuckerman in ''Beverly Hills, 90210''.
Television and film
Solomon starred as the tit ...
as Sgt. Dennis Foley, a Fernwood police officer who liked Mary and with whom she eventually ran off. (See ''Forever Fernwood'', below.)
*
Norman Alden
Norman Alden (born Norman Adelberg, September 13, 1924 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor who performed in television programs and motion pictures. He first appeared on television on ''The 20th Century Fox Hour'' in 1957. He p ...
as Coach Leroy Fedders, Tom's former high school coach. He died drowning in Mary's chicken soup.
*
Reva Rose
Reva Rose (born July 30, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress of stage and screen, best known for her award-winning performance as Lucy van Pelt in the 1967 Off-Broadway production of Clark Gesner's ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brow ...
as Blanche Fedders, Coach Fedders' constantly protesting and militant wife.
*
Martin Mull
Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...
as wife-beater Garth Gimble, who died by being impaled by a star on an aluminum Christmas tree. Mull later played Garth's twin brother, talk show host Barth Gimble on ''
Fernwood 2 Night
''Fernwood 2 Night'' (or ''Fernwood Tonight'') is a comedic television program that was broadcast weeknights from July 1977 to September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement for ''Mar ...
'' and ''
America 2-Night
''America 2-Night'' is the continuation of the talk-show parody series ''Fernwood 2 Night'', broadcast weeknights from April to July 1978. As on ''Fernwood'', Martin Mull portrayed host Barth Gimble and Fred Willard appeared as sidekick/announcer ...
''.
*
Susan Browning
Susan Browning (born Susan Brown; February 25, 1941 – April 23, 2006) was an American actress.
Early years
Browning was born Susan Brown in Baldwin, New York, and graduated from Baldwin High School in 1958. She attended Penn State Universit ...
as Garth's wife, Pat, the target of his abuse.
*
Sparky Marcus
Sparky Marcus (born Marcus Issoglio; December 6, 1967) is an American former actor.
Early life
Marcus was born in Hollywood, California.
Career
Marcus was well known for playing the role of the precocious child but also worked extensively as a ...
as Jimmy Joe Jeeter, child
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
, who died when a TV set he was watching fell into the bathtub, electrocuting him.
*
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor.
Coleman's best known films include '' 9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), ''WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...
as Merle Jeeter, Fernwood's slightly devious mayor and Jimmy Joe's father.
*
Marian Mercer
Marian Ethel Mercer (November 26, 1935 – April 27, 2011) was an American actress and singer.
Career
Born in Akron, Ohio, Mercer was the daughter of Samuel and Nellie Mercer. She graduated from the University of Michigan, then spent several ...
as Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter, a widow of a city commissioner and a former sanitarium mate of Mary's, who became Jeeter's second wife while also carrying on a
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
relationship with their maid, Lila.
*
Gloria DeHaven
Gloria Mildred DeHaven (July 23, 1925 – July 30, 2016) was an American actress and singer who was a contract star for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Early life
DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter De ...
as
CB radio
Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
aficionado Annie "Tippy-toes" Wylie, a bisexual who also had an affair with Tom Hartman.
*
Orson Bean
Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small ...
as Reverend Brim, one of Fernwood's clergymen, mainly in ''Forever Fernwood''.
*
George Furth
George Furth (born George Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor.
Life and career
Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth. He was ...
as Reverend Harold Standfast, who helped Mary through the Davey Jessup hostage crisis. He had to swear on a stack of Bibles to have Mary released, but only did so after being threatened with the exposure of an extramarital affair he had with Florence Baedecker, the choir mistress of his church.
*
Mary Carver
Mary Carvellas (May 3, 1924 – October 18, 2013), better known as Mary Carver, was an American actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. She may be best known for her role as matriarch Cecilia Simon on the series ''Simon & Simon'' appearin ...
as Christine Standfast, Reverend Standfast's wife, who knew all about her husband's extramarital affair.
*
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
as Eleanor Major, a woman who Tom Hartman fell in love with after Mary had left him and Heather for Sgt. Foley.
*
Judith Kahan
Judith Kahan (born May 24, 1948) is an American actress and television writer. Early years
Kahan was born May 24, 1948, in Roslyn Heights, New York, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Kahan. She attended Boston University's School of Fine and ...
as Penny Major, Eleanor's sister, who married Tom Hartman in the series finale.
*
Will Seltzer
Will Seltzer is an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''Baby Blue Marine'' (1976), ''Citizen's Band'' (1977), ''The Chicken Chronicles'' (1977), '' The One and Only'' (1978), ''More American Graffiti'' (1979), ''Johnny Dangero ...
as Davey Jessup, the murderer of the Lombardi family, their two goats and eight chickens, who held Mary and Sgt. Foley hostage. Before that, he had also held Mary's daughter Heather and her best friend, Trudy Weathersby, hostage.
*
Doris Roberts
Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...
as Dorelda Doremus, a
faith healer
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
.
*
Michael Lembeck
Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984).
Life and career
Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...
as Clete Meizenheimer, television news reporter for Fernwood's local television station.
*
Archie Hahn
Charles Archibald Hahn (September 14, 1880 – January 21, 1955) was an American track athlete and is widely regarded as one of the best sprinters of the early 20th century. He is the first athlete to win both the 100m and 200m race at the same ...
as Harold Clemens, a reporter for the town's newspaper, the ''Fernwood Courier''.
*
Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine (born Vivian Stapleton; November 21, 1921 – December 9, 1995) was an American actress and singer, best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production of ''Guys and Dolls'', as well as appearin ...
as Betty McCullough, Mary's fortune teller neighbor who was helping her son and his male partner hide their true relationship.
*
Sid Haig
Sidney Eddie Mosesian (July 14, 1939 – September 21, 2019), known professionally as Sid Haig, was an American actor, film producer, and musician. He was known for his roles in several of Jack Hill's blaxploitation films from the 1970s, as well ...
as Texas, a production worker at the automobile plant in Fernwood.
*
Ed Begley Jr. as Steve, a deaf man who dated Cathy.
*
John Heffernan as Chester Markham.
* Laurence Haddon as Ed McCullough
* Beeson Carroll as Howard McCullough
* Hugh Gillin as Tiny
History and production
In December 1974, Norman Lear and his entertainment company,
Tandem Productions
Tandem Productions, Inc. (a.k.a. Tandem Enterprises, Inc.) was a film and television production company that was founded in 1958 by television director Bud Yorkin and television writer/producer Norman Lear.
History
Tandem Productions
In the ...
, created a pilot for his new
serial, ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a satire of the impact of American consumerism.
The pilot, consisting of two episodes and shot on a $100,000 (equal to $ today) budget,
was not picked up by the networks. Lear then pursued a syndication strategy by hiring a sales agent to sell the show at the 1976
National Association of Television Program Executives
The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) is a professional association of television and emerging media executives. The organization was established in 1963.
NATPE implements its mission by providing members with educati ...
(NATPE) market in San Francisco. The mostly independent stations that picked up the show began referring to themselves as the Mary Hartman Network.
KING-TV
KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...
of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
became the first station to procure syndication rights to ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''.
''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' was filmed at
KTLA Studios in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California.
Music
The theme song, "Premiere Occasion", was selected from the stock music library Southern Library of Recorded Music. It was written by British composer Robert Charles Kingston under the pseudonym Barry White and copyrighted in 1965, a full decade before ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' first aired, lending the illusion of a soap opera that already had a long history. Incidental music for the series was mostly written by
Earle Hagen
Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 – May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created music for movies and television. His best-known TV themes include those for ''Make Room for Daddy'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''I Spy'', ''That Girl'' and ...
.
As country and western singer-songwriter Loretta Haggers,
Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy ...
sang a number of songs over the course of the series. Place wrote some of those songs herself, including "Baby Boy" and "Vitamin L", both of which were released as singles by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in 1976. "Baby Boy" was a minor hit for Loretta Haggers in the series, which she played to a nationwide audience live on the set of ''
Dinah!
''Dinah!'' is a daytime variety talk show that was hosted by singer and actress Dinah Shore. The series was distributed by 20th Century Fox Television and premiered on October 21, 1974, in syndication. In 1979, the show became known as ''Dinah ...
'' in one episode, as well as a minor hit for Place, spending 13 weeks on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and peaking at #60. Place also released a full album of Loretta Haggers's music, titled ''Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers''.
Several songs have been written about Mary Hartman, many of them incorporating elements of the theme song. All-woman rock group
The Deadly Nightshade
The Deadly Nightshade is a New England-based rock and country trio consisting of members Anne Bowen, Pamela Brandt, and Helen Hooke, who originally began performing under the name Ariel in 1967, along with Gretchen Pfeifer and Beverly Rodgers. It ...
's disco-flavored "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Theme)" reached #79 on the Hot 100, and at least four other Mary Hartman-related disco songs were released by
Vincent Montana Jr.
Vincent Montana Jr. (February 12, 1928 – April 13, 2013), known as Vince Montana, was an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist, and percussionist. He is best known as a member of MFSB and as the founder of the Salsoul Orchestra. He has b ...
,
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
,
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signature ...
, and
The Marketts
The Marketts were an American instrumental pop group, formed in January 1961 in Hollywood, California, by Michael Z. Gordon. They are best known for their 1964 million-seller, "Out of Limits".
Biography
The Marketts' line-up featured Michael Z. ...
during the show's run.
Legal issues
In 1976, Lasser was arrested at a Los Angeles charity boutique and police found $6 worth (or 88 milligrams) of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser's
American Express
American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
card was denied and she refused to leave without possession of a $150
dollhouse
A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America ...
. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one for
jaywalking
Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway that has traffic, other than at a designated crossing point, or otherwise, in disregard of traffic rules. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phras ...
), but the officers then found the cocaine in her handbag and she claimed the drug had been given to her several months earlier by a fan. Lasser was ordered to six months in counseling, which was easily satisfied as she was already seeing an analyst.
A fictionalized version of Lasser's refusal to leave a store without a dollhouse was incorporated into ''Mary Hartman''s first season.
Legacy
In 1976, Ted Morgan assessed in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'': "The dreams and nightmares of the American people are reflected darkly through the glass of ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''
....No longer merely a television program, ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' has become a cultural event, in the same league as those other sociological signposts that culture watchers...are always on the lookout for to help us explain ourselves."
Of the series' influence on pop culture, Claire Barliant also writes: "For some, the 1970s...was a descent into chaos, a dissolution of self, but also a kind of awakening....The Seventies' nervous breakdown coincides with women's lib and a strengthening gay rights movement....''MH2'' is relevant today because it entertains but still shocks, because the social commentary and satire and bravery of the show are as fresh as ever."
In 2000, Lasser appeared on a panel with her former ''MH2'' cast and crew members at the
Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...
in Beverly Hills, California for a seminar, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion. The panel was moderated by Steven A. Bell and recorded for the museum archives.
In 2004 and 2007, ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' was ranked #21 and 26 on "''TV Guide''s Top
Cult Shows Ever."
''Forever Fernwood''
When Lasser left the show in 1977, it was re-branded ''Forever Fernwood'' and followed the trials and tribulations of Mary's family and friends after she had run away with a policeman, the aforementioned Sgt. Dennis Foley, with whom she had had a lot of contact during the first season. Aside from Lasser, the rest of the cast remained intact even while additional actors became part of the cast:
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
as Eleanor Major, who began dating Tom after Mary had left him;
Judith Kahan
Judith Kahan (born May 24, 1948) is an American actress and television writer. Early years
Kahan was born May 24, 1948, in Roslyn Heights, New York, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Kahan. She attended Boston University's School of Fine and ...
as Eleanor's stuttering sister, Penny Major; and
Randall Carver
Randall Carver (born May 25 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actor. Carver started his acting career in the late 1960s, and had roles in films and television. He portrayed John Burns throughout the first season (1978–79) of ''Taxi (TV seri ...
as Cathy Shumway's gangster husband, Jeffrey DeVito. On the very last episode of the series, Penny married Tom Hartman. ''Forever Fernwood'' ended in 1978, after 26 weeks on the air (130 half-hour episodes).
Spin-offs
During the summer of 1977, ''
Fernwood 2 Night
''Fernwood 2 Night'' (or ''Fernwood Tonight'') is a comedic television program that was broadcast weeknights from July 1977 to September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement for ''Mar ...
'', a local talk show satire and parody starring
Martin Mull
Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...
as Barth Gimble, was broadcast as a spin-off/summer replacement for ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''. It went "nationwide" as ''
America 2-Night
''America 2-Night'' is the continuation of the talk-show parody series ''Fernwood 2 Night'', broadcast weeknights from April to July 1978. As on ''Fernwood'', Martin Mull portrayed host Barth Gimble and Fred Willard appeared as sidekick/announcer ...
'' in the spring of 1978.
Cancelled reboot
In February 2021, it was reported that a reboot of the series was in development by
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...
with
Emily Hampshire
Emily Hampshire (born 1979) is a Canadian actress. Her best known roles include Angelina in the 1998 romantic comedy '' Boy Meets Girl'', Vivienne in the 2006 film ''Snow Cake'', Jennifer Goines in the Syfy drama series ''12 Monkeys'' (2015–2 ...
as writer and starring role,
Jacob Tierney
Jacob Daniel Tierney (born September 26, 1979) is a Canadian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' (1990–1992) and as the co-writer, director, and executive producer of ...
as co-writer, and Lear and
Brent Miller as executive producers. In July 2021, it was announced that
TBS had given a series order. In April 2022, it was announced the series was scrapped alongside all scripted programming on TBS.
In popular culture
The show got parodied several times during its run from a ''
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
's
Bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
Star Spangled Spectacular'' television special on July 4, 1976, with Hope performing a skit "Mary Hartford, Mary Hartford" (in reference to
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
) set during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
with
Debbie Reynolds
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...
as Mary Hartford; on the ''
Donny & Marie'', a series of skits entitled "Marie Heartburn, Marie Heartburn" were performed with
Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television host, and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and pop ...
playing the titular role along with
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...
and special guests and on ''
The Carol Burnett Show
''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harvey ...
'' with
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927May 29, 2008) was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. His big break was being a featured performer on CBS' ''The Danny Kaye Show'', but he is best remembered f ...
, portraying Lear as Norman Blear, introducing the series for children entitled "
Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" by using
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From t ...
characters with Burnett in the lead role and
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 100 TV shows, TV series and films. Among his more notable roles, he portrayed the ...
as her eccentric grandfather,
Wee Willie Winkie
"Wee Willie Winkie" is a Scottish nursery rhyme whose titular figure has become popular as a personification of sleep. The poem was written by William Miller and titled "Willie Winkie", first published in '' Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fire ...
, running around "flashing" people in his panda nightgown, in reference to the Fernwood Flasher.
Home video
VHS
*''The Best of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume I''. Videocassette. Embassy Home Entertainment.
*''The Best of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume II''. Videocassette. Embassy Home Entertainment.
DVD
On March 27, 2007,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
released ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume One'' on DVD in
Region 1. The three-disc boxset features the first 25 episodes of Season 1, dealing with the Fernwood Flasher and Lombardi massacre storylines. Many of the episodes were the heavily edited syndication versions, edited to fit more commercials in the broadcasts, due to expensive costing issues when about to remaster and transferring the original broadcast versions.
On August 28, 2013, it was announced that
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
had acquired the rights to the series and released ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1 on December 3, 2013. The 38-disc set features all 325 episodes of the series. The Season 1 episodes were restored to their full-length broadcast versions and other bonus features, such as interviews with Norman Lear, Louise Lasser, and Mary Kay Place were included.
Syndication
''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' was syndicated on local stations briefly in 1982 and later broadcast on
Lifetime Television
Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...
in 1994 and
TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cla ...
in 2002.
See also
* ''
America 2-Night
''America 2-Night'' is the continuation of the talk-show parody series ''Fernwood 2 Night'', broadcast weeknights from April to July 1978. As on ''Fernwood'', Martin Mull portrayed host Barth Gimble and Fred Willard appeared as sidekick/announcer ...
'' (1978)
* ''
Fernwood 2 Night
''Fernwood 2 Night'' (or ''Fernwood Tonight'') is a comedic television program that was broadcast weeknights from July 1977 to September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement for ''Mar ...
'' (1977)
* ''
All That Glitters
All That Glitters or All That Glisters may refer to:
* '' All that glitters is not gold'', a well-known saying
Literature
* ''All That Glitters'' (novel), by V. C. Andrews
* ''All That Glitters'', a novel by Michael Anthony
* ''All That Glitte ...
'' (1977)
* ''
The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts
''The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts'' (a.k.a. ''L.A.T.E.R.'') is an American syndicated television sitcom about a college professor and his family. It was intended to be a spoof of soap operas in the same style as ''Soap'' and ''Mary Hartman, M ...
'' (1980)
* ''
Soap
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...
'' (1977)
*
1976 in American television
This is a list of American television-related events in 1976.
Events
Programs
signifies that this show has a related event in the Events section above.
*ABC
**''American Bandstand'' (1952–1989)
**''The Edge of Night'' (1956–1984)
**''Ge ...
Further reading
* Miller Taylor Cole.
Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear.' dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2017.
References
External links
*
{{Norman Lear
1976 American television series debuts
1977 American television series endings
1970s American satirical television series
1970s American sitcoms
American television soap operas
1970s American LGBT-related television series
English-language television shows
First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
Television shows set in Ohio
Television soap opera parodies
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Television series by Filmways
Television shows filmed in Los Angeles