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Mary (1978 TV Series)
''Mary'' is an American comedy variety show hosted by and starring Mary Tyler Moore that aired Sundays at 8:00 pm (EST) on CBS from September 24 to October 8, 1978, with a total of three episodes aired over one season. Synopsis ''Mary'' was the attempt by Mary Tyler Moore to return to network television after the triumph of her sitcom (''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'') from 1970 to 1977. Her supporting cast included a repertory company of young actors and actresses, most notably Swoosie Kurtz, Dick Shawn, Michael Keaton, Judith Kahan, David Letterman and James Hampton, an orchestra led by Alf Clausen, and the Tony Stevens dancers. Reception Ratings were low and CBS cancelled ''Mary'' after only three episodes. It ranked 64th out of 114 shows that season with an average 16.1/25 rating/share. Despite the failure of ''Mary'', Moore would make a second attempt at a TV show on CBS six months later, ''The Mary Tyler Moore Hour'', described as a "sit-var" (part situation comedy/part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compère (master of ceremonies) or host. The variety format made its way from the Victorian era stage in Britain and America to radio and then television. Variety shows were a staple of English language television from the late 1940s into the 1980s. While the format is still widespread in some parts of the world, such as in the United Kingdom with the '' Royal Variety Performance'', the Philippines with ''Eat Bulaga!'' and '' It's Showtime'', and South Korea with '' Running Man'', the proliferation of multichannel television and evolving viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose late-night talk shows and NBC's vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Situation Comedy
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home, workplace, or community. Unlike sketch comedy, which features different characters and settings in each Sketch comedy, skit, sitcoms typically maintain plot continuity across episodes. This continuity allows for the development of storylines and characters over time, fostering audience engagement and investment in the characters' lives and relationships. History The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners. These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but the term ''sitcom'' emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CBS Original Programming
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global and is one of the company's three flagship subsidiaries, along with namesake Paramount Pictures and MTV. Founded in 1927, headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City and being part of the " Big Three" television networks, CBS has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and the headquarters of owner Paramount at One Astor Plaza (both also in that city) and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, after the company's trademark symbol of an eye (which has been in use since October 20, 1951), and also the Tiffany Network, which alludes to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1970s American Sketch Comedy Television Series
Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * February 19 – Battle of Lugdunum: Emperor Septimius Severus defeats the self-proclaimed emperor Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum (modern Lyon). Albinus commits suicide; legionaries sack the town. * Septimius Severus returns to Rome and has about 30 of Albinus's supporters in the Senate executed. After his victory he declares himself the adopted son of the late Marcus Aurelius. * Septimius Severus forms new naval units, manning all the triremes in Italy with heavily armed troops for war in the East. His soldiers embark on an artificial canal between the Tigris a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 American Television Series Endings
Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II. * January 10 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, a critic of the Nicaraguan government, is assassinated; riots erupt against Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Somoza's government. * January 13 – Former American Vice President Hubert Humphrey, a Democrat, dies of cancer in Waverly, Minnesota, at the age of 66. * January 18 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. * January 22 – Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany ''persona non grata''. * January 24 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network And Cable TV Shows 1946–Present
''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present'' is a trade paperback reference work by the American television historians Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, first published by Ballantine Books in 1979. History The 1979 book publication was by Tim Brooks at NBC, who was then head of that network's research, and Earle Marsh of CBS, who was a manager there of special research projects, and it was the book's first edition. According to Aaron Barnhart (as told to him by author Tim Brooks), the original volume (covering 3,000 shows). Between the sixth and ninth editions, Brooks and Marsh expanded an already "hefty" paperback from 5,000 to 6,500 shows covered ("adding about half an inch to the spine"). According to Barnhart, . The title of later editions include the words "and cable". The ninth edition came out in 2007; in it, co-author Tim Brooks said that the ninth edition may be the last one released. Awards and recognition The 1979 publicatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
''The Mary Tyler Moore Hour'' is an American sitcom-variety show starring Mary Tyler Moore, Dody Goodman, Michael Keaton, and Joyce Van Patten that aired on CBS from March 4, 1979, to June 10, 1979, with a total of 11 episodes spanning over one season. Overview In the spring of 1979, nearly five months following the negative reception of her first venture in a variety show entitled '' Mary'' which CBS pulled from its schedule after only three broadcasts, Mary Tyler Moore returned to CBS with this new short-lived series; it was part situation comedy and part variety show, using a show-within-a-show format that centered on the problems encountered in putting a variety series together. Moore stars as Mary McKinnon, the host of a fictional weekly variety series called ''The Mary McKinnon Show''. McKinnon is a well-established star of comedy who could also sing and dance. Also seen were her long time personal secretary-companion Iris Chapman ( Joyce Van Patten), her writer-dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ratings, an audience measurement system of television viewership that for years has been the deciding factor in canceling or renewing television shows by television networks. As of August 2024, it is the primary part of Nielsen Holdings. NMR began as a division of ACNielsen, a marketing research firm founded in 1923. In 1996, NMR was split off into an independent company, and in 1999, was purchased by the Dutch conglomerate VNU. In 2001, VNU also purchased ACNielsen, thereby bringing both companies under the same corporate umbrella for years. NMR is also a sister company to Nielsen//NetRatings, which measures Internet and digital media audiences. VNU was reorganized and renamed the Nielsen Company in 2007. NMR was separated again from Ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alf Clausen
Alf Faye Heiberg Clausen (March 28, 1941 – May 29, 2025) was an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of ''The Simpsons'', for which he was the sole composer between 1990 and 2017. Clausen scored or orchestrated music for more than 30 films and television shows, including '' Moonlighting'', '' The Naked Gun'', '' ALF'' and ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''. Clausen received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in 1996. Early life, family and education Clausen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 28, 1941. He was raised in Jamestown, North Dakota. Clausen was interested in music from a young age. He counted composer Henry Mancini as one of his heroes; his book ''Sounds and Scores'' inspired him. He began playing the French horn in the seventh grade and also learned piano; and he sang in his high school choir. He continued playing and learned to play the bass guitar, stopping singing because the cho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
