The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Prod. #7001

The problem with coming of age as an archive TV nerd through Red Dwarf DVDs is that you get thoroughly spoilt. You expect every single sitcom release to feature a copious selection of deleted scenes. Sometimes you hit lucky; the Seinfeld releases are absolutely incredible. But for older shows, you’re pretty much always going to be disappointed.

Luckily, we know how to make our own fun around here. Last time, we saw how the script for the first episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show pointed towards a reshoot of a key scene. And in that script, there’s a fair amount of material from other scenes which was removed before the show was broadcast.

Let’s investigate. I haven’t noted every single minor change in dialogue phrasing, as that would be immensely tedious, but all significant differences are noted. Times given are from the Region 1 DVD release of the show.¹

---

(1:38) A cut moment between Mary and Bess from the opening scene in Mary’s apartment:

MARY: Bess, I can’t get over how you’ve grown. You’re so big for your age. How old are you now, eight?
BESS: (SULLEN) Eleven.

Ouch. This was clearly shot, as there is an obvious edit at this point.

---

(2:16) When Mary lets Rhoda in through the window, the stage direction reads as follows:

RHODA CONTINUES BEATING AN ANGRY TATTOO AT THE WINDOW. WHEN THE KNOCKING ALMOST REACHES THE GLASS-BREAKING STAGE, MARY APPREHENSIVELY CROSSES BACK TO THE WINDOW AND OPEN (sic) THE DRAPES. RHODA IS CAUGHT MID-RAP.

In the final episode, there is no crescendo of knocking, Mary just lets Rhoda straight in.

There is a similar moment near the end of the script, when there is supposed to be an awkward silence when Mary says “a lousy goodbye” to Bill. Both moments make sense, but both also take up precious screen time. Sometimes with a 25-minute episode, you just have to get on with it.

---

(3:26) Some cut dialogue from the gang arguing about who has the right to the apartment:

MARY: But I have a lease.
RHODA: Did you sign it yet?
MARY: No, but Phyllis…
PHYLLIS: Actually, I didn’t sign it yet.
RHODA: Aha!

A good cut; this information superficially feels important, but actually adds very little to proceedings.

---

(4:23) Once Rhoda has heard Mary’s sob story about Bill, as scripted she was supposed to say:

RHODA: Compared to my life that sounds like “Laugh-In”.

This was amended in the final episode to:

RHODA: Compared to my life, that’s a Walt Disney movie.

Which is a much sharper line; it adds a note of sentimentality and happy-ever-after to Rhoda’s interpretation of Mary’s life.

---

(4:46) And finally for this scene, one more cut moment between Mary and Rhoda. As scripted:

MARY: You think I’m a pushover, don’t you?
RHODA: That all depends. Compared to who?
MARY: Anyone.
RHODA: (THINKS IT OVER) Yeah.

In the final episode, this was edited down to just:

MARY: You think I’m some kind of a pushover, don’t you?
RHODA: Yeah.

Which is nowhere near as much fun.

---

(5:13) The whole front was lopped off the first newsroom scene. Before Mary comes in for her interview, we were supposed to see the following:

IT IS 6:00 P.M. HEAVY ACTIVITY PREPARATORY TO THE SIX O’CLOCK NEWS. LOU, CROSSING TO TELETYPE ROOM BARKS AN ORDER TO MURRAY, WHO IS TYPING FURIOUSLY.

LOU: Murray, we’re on the air. Turn on the monitor.

MURRAY TURNS UP THE VOLUME ON THE TV MONITOR.

TED’S VOICE: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening… Ted Baxter with the Six O’Clock Report… and tonight’s headlines: MID-EAST CRISIS WORSENS AS BORDER ATTACKS CONTINUE… EXPERTS PREDICT THAT IN FIVE YEARS AIR POLLUTION WILL REACH LEGAL PROPORTIONS…

MURRAY: That’s lethal!

MURRAY SNAPS OFF THE SET IN DISGUST.

This whole section may well have been cut before it reached the cameras; when we join the scene as broadcast, Lou is still supposed to be sitting at the television next to Murray as per this opening, but instead he enters from the back room as though he’s never been there.

All of which means that the very first mispronunciation from Ted Baxter, a running gag for the first few seasons of the show, ended up being deleted. But hang on: doesn’t it sound a little familiar? It should do. From the twelfth episode of Season 1, “Anchorman Overboard”:

TED: Ladies and gentlemen, a serious warming… er, warning from the University of Minnesota’s asphosmerics… excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, atmospherics department. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I… Dale Wick, head of the department of atmo… of that department, announced that in five years, smog could reach legal proportions. [looks off-camera] What? Oh. Lethal proportions.

Many times it’s difficult to reuse gags you cut from other episodes; I’ve seen many writers discuss how parachuting in material from elsewhere often doesn’t really work. But this is such a good joke, and stands alone as a Ted “bit”, that there’s no problem with it. Indeed, as “Anchorman Overboard” is a Ted-centric episode, it probably works better there than it would have here.

---

(9:09) One of my very favourite moments in the entire episode is missing from the script. As Mary leaves Lou’s office, the stage direction reads:

SHE RAISES HER HAND IN A WAVE, THEN EXITS.

In the broadcast episode, we instead get this piece of brilliance from Mary Tyler Moore:

Fantastic.

---

(11:02) Back to the apartment, and another little moment cut between Mary and Bess. As Mary was supposed to take in the news that her ex-boyfriend Bill is arriving in town:

MARY: (TO BESS) Is Bill coming?

SHE REALIZES SHE’S ASKING THIS ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD HOSTILE MUTE FOR INFORMATION CONCERNING HER LIFE, TURNS BACK TO PHYLLIS IN EXASPERATION.

This is very funny on the page, but there’s not really any way of getting the meaning of this stage direction across on-screen.

---

(11:34) All the changes made to this key scene between Mary and Rhoda were detailed in my previous article.

---

(13:59) Back to the newsroom. After Murray suggests that the reason Lou hired Mary is because he was “bombed”², the idea originally continued:

MARY: Come on, I was sitting right across from him. He wasn’t… bombed at all. All right, maybe he poured a couple of drops into his coffee.

MURRAY: His coffee isn’t even coffee!

Probably a good cut; it takes a beat or so for you to figure out Murray’s point, and by the time you get there, the show has moved on.

The following moment isn’t deleted, but I just have to quote the brilliant stage direction from Ted’s entrance here. A whole character, summed up in one line:

TED BAXTER ENTERS, AND AS ALWAYS, THERE IS A FEELING THAT HE EXPECTS APPLAUSE.

And when he meets Mary, shortly afterwards:

BAXTER LAUGHS HOLLOWLY, THEN STOPS IN HIS TRACKS SEEING MARY FOR THE FIRST TIME. HE FLASHES HIS CAPS AT HER, AND STRIPS OFF HIS GLASSES, AND STARES AT HER IN A MANNER WHICH HE BELIEVES CONNOTES DISARMING SINCERITY.

Amazing. Someone, please, do an audio description track using these lines.

---

(14:20) A moment which is not deleted as such, but slightly muted in the final show. Mary starts the scene sharpening all her pencils, in lieu of actually being given anything to do. When introducing herself to Baxter, the stage direction reads:

AS HER EYES FALL ON ALL THOSE RECENTLY SHARPENED PENCILS, SHE FINDS HERSELF UNABLE TO SAY “ASSOCIATE PRODUCER”. SHE GESTURES FUTILELY.

This very funny joke doesn’t quite land in the final episode; it’s cut a little too quickly, and you can’t quite interpret the gesture from Mary.

---

(15:45) Originally, the second newsroom scene went on past Mary’s phone call to Bill:

LOU ENTERS, CROSSES TO MURRAY’S DESK, PICKS UP SOMETHING AND STARTS OUT AGAIN.

MARY: (STOPPING HIM) Mr. Grant?
LOU: Yeah, I know. You want more to do – we’ll get it straightened out tomorrow.
MARY: No, that wasn’t it. I was wondering if I could get off a little early tonight.
LOU: (SLIGHT SMILE) Early? Well, I don’t know. I’m not sure I can spare you.

HE WAVES FOR HER TO GO AND EXITS.

Another good cut; it’s much better to end on Mary’s call from Bill, giving it the gravity it deserves, which sets up the final scene beautifully.

---

(16:52) Onto that final scene – aside from the tag – which has very few real changes. The following stage direction regarding Mary’s buttons is worth noting, though:

NOW, SOMEWHAT NERVOUSLY, SHE MOVES TO HER CLOSET, OPENS THE DOOR AND LOOKS AT HERSELF IN FRONT OF THE FULL LENGTH MIRROR. SHE CONSIDERS JUST HOW SEXY SHE DARE LOOK FOR BILL. THAT DECISION CENTERS ON A ROW OF BUTTONS RUNNING DOWN THE FRONT OF HER BLOUSE. THE THIRD BUTTON FROM THE TOP IS THE BIG QUESTION. SHE UNBUTTONS IT – LOOKS AT HERSELF FOR A BEAT – TENTATIVELY UNBUTTONS THE FOURTH ONE DOWN… SHOCKS HERSELF, AND QUICKLY REBUTTONS IT.

MARY: Coward.

This is simplified to her simply undoing one extra button, rather than two. Which was probably a wise move; the simplification helps land the “Coward” line better than anything over-complicated.

---

(23:04) Mary’s big line of the episode, as she says goodbye to Bill once and for all. As scripted:

BILL: Take care of yourself.
MARY: I… I think that’s what I just did.

In the final episode?

BILL: Take… take care of yourself.
MARY: I think I just did.

Superficially, this is just minute change in phrasing. But what a difference it makes to give the repeated word to Bill rather than Mary, indicating his sudden lack of certainty. And the removal of the superfluous two words from Mary’s line makes it so much simpler, and so much more effective.

So many people are eager to erase what writers do, in favour of the idea that actors just “say whatever they want to say”. The above is generally closer to the truth in terms of what actors add to a scene… and far more interesting.

---

(24:59) And finally… oh look, a whole section right at the end of the show, present in the script, but cut for broadcast. Right after Rhoda admits the existence of the heating duct she listened to Mary and Bill through, we were supposed to get:

RHODA: You want to be alone?
MARY: Yes.
RHODA: Well, that’s dumb. You shouldn’t be alone. You should be talking to a friend. Let’s see, where can we get a friend?
MARY: Rhoda…
RHODA: No, this is pretty short notice. Tell you what – I’ll fill in as your friend until you can find the real thing.
MARY: (Grins) You’re on.
RHODA: Hey, why don’t you come upstairs? See my apartment.
MARY: That’s very nice of you, but—
RHODA: Come on, we’ll have a terrific time listening to my heating duct.
MARY: But if I’m up there, there won’t be anything to hear.
RHODA: (AS THEY EXIT) Nah, I’ve got two channels – I can pick up Phyllis, too.

MARY LAUGHS AS THEY EXIT AND WE FADE OUT.

In fact, you can see the beginning of this material in the final episode; they play a sting, the producer credits come up… and yet Mary and Rhoda are clearly still talking in the background.

It’s completely understandable why they cut this material, and not just for time; the first revelation of the heating duct is a big laugh, and it makes sense to end the episode there. But it’s such a shame to lose what feels like a key moment in Mary and Rhoda growing closer:

“Tell you what – I’ll fill in as your friend until you can find the real thing.”

One of the most lovely, Rhoda-esque lines ever written. Much like I said last time when I found Valerie Harper’s Ed Sullivan impression, it’s finding things like this which make all the research worth doing.

With thanks to Tanya Jones.

---

1. The DVDs of The Mary Tyler Moore Show contain the original broadcast versions of the programme – albeit with the odd edit – not the cut syndicated versions. So this article is definitely about material which was never broadcast. ↩

2. There are a number of moments in this script which point towards the original conception of Murray as an antagonist to Mary, rather than friend. See also his mildly irritating “It’s been fiii-lled!” when Mary first goes in for the interview. ↩

Read more about...

best of, mary tyler moore