On September 3, 1977, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” had its last airing on CBS. The wildly popular sitcom is considered the first female-dominated sitcom, inspiring future showrunners to depart from the stereotypical portrayal of women on television.
Reflecting the growing assertion of women’s equality in pop culture, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” centered around the feminist main character, Mary Richards. With the upbeat and empowering lyrics in the opening theme song (“Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all worthwhile?”), she arrived in Minneapolis confidently single at age 30 after leaving her fiancé of two years. Although she applied for a secretarial job at a television station, Richards instead landed an associate producer position for the station’s “Six O’Clock News.” This was symbolic since women had been historically employed only as secretaries. Departing from the longstanding woman-as-domestic-diva homemaker narrative, her coworkers instead became her family. Richards stayed single without a steady boyfriend, or any regrets about her single status, for the seven-year duration of the show. The sitcom also featured the single but empowered Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper), and the married yet vocal, women’s libber, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). Episodes dealt with timely, yet controversial issues related to gender equality: equal pay for women, pre-marital sex and homosexuality.
The last episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” set the gold standard for future series finales. The heartfelt ending allowed the characters to say goodbye to eachother as the TV viewers bid farewell to the much beloved series. Moore introduced her fellow cast members to the live studio audience before the final curtain call and the credits rolled.
The legacy of the series lives on to this day. The writers of “Friends” modeled their series finale after it and Tina Fey shared that she modeled “30 Rock” after the workplace camaraderie of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” When Mary Tyler Moore died this January, the world mourned the loss of the first feminist TV icon.