The Last Show (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

24th episode of the 7th season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

"The Last Show"

The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode

The station crew's poignant farewell

Episode no.| Season 7
Episode 24
Directed by| Jay Sandrich
Written by| James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Ed Weinberger, Stan Daniels, David Lloyd and Bob Ellison
Original air dates| March 18, 1977 (1977-03-18) (Canada)
March 19, 1977 (1977-03-19) (US)
Guest appearances

* Valerie Harper (Rhoda)
* Cloris Leachman (Phyllis)
* Robbie Rist (David Baxter)
* Vincent Gardenia (Frank Coleman)

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"The Last Show" is the 168th episode and series finale of the television sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and it was written by Allan Burns, James L. Brooks, Ed Weinberger, Stan Daniels, David Lloyd, and Bob Ellison. Internationally, it was first aired in Canada on CBC Television, March 18, 1977 at 8 p.m.[1] In the U.S., it was one day later on Saturday, March 19, on CBS.

The episode won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. In executive producer Allan Burns' Outstanding Comedy Series acceptance speech at the 29th Primetime Emmy Awards, he stated, "We kept putting off writing that last show; we frankly didn't want to do it. I think it said what we wanted it to say. It was poignant, and I believe The Mary Tyler Moore Show was, in the long run, important for many women."

## Plot summary

[edit]

The new station manager of WJM-TV, Mr. Coleman (guest star Vincent Gardenia), is firing people left and right, and wants to do something about the Six O'Clock News' low ratings. Surprisingly, Lou, Mary, Murray, and Sue Ann are fired, but the person widely perceived as the cause of the Six O'Clock News' low ratings, Ted is retained.

Mary, Rhoda, and Phyllis reunited at last

Everyone takes the news pretty hard, except for Ted, who saunters back into the newsroom, but it is Mary who takes the news hardest. To cheer her up, Lou arranges for her old friends Rhoda Morgenstern and Phyllis Lindstrom to fly to Minneapolis for a surprise visit at Mary's apartment. Time had failed to tame their rivalry, however. Both agitate for Mary to move with them to New York and San Francisco, respectively, but they compromise that she stays in the Twin Cities. Rhoda gets to the heart of the matter and comforts Mary, then reluctantly allows Phyllis to do the same.

At one point, Ted threatens to resign if they fire the rest of the staff. However, he caves in quickly when pushed. This causes Murray to quip, "When a donkey flies, you don't blame him for not staying up that long."

On their final broadcast together, Ted gives his colleagues a sincere on-air sendoff by obliviously quoting "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". Afterward, the Six O'Clock News' staff, along with Georgette, gather in the newsroom to say goodbye to each other. The memorable and oft-parodied scene culminates in an emotional huddle, during which nobody wants to let go, and needing some tissues, the group shuffles en masse toward a box of tissues on Mary's desk. After final goodbyes, everyone exits the newsroom singing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". Finally, a very emotional Mary looks back, then bucks up and smiles before turning off the lights and closing the door, officially concluding The Mary Tyler Moore Show in doing so.

The original broadcast included a curtain call behind the closing credits, during which Mary Tyler Moore introduced her co-stars to the live audience as "the best cast ever." This was omitted from the final CBS repeat (on September 3, 1977) and syndicated airings, but is available on the season 7 DVD release. This is the only episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in which all eight of the regular series characters (Mary, Lou, Ted, Murray, Rhoda, Phyllis, Georgette, and Sue Ann) appear, and the curtain call is the only time the eight actors are all seen together at the same time.

## Reception

[edit]

When the architects of the sitcom Friends were about to write their series finale, they watched several other sitcom finales.[2] Co-creator Marta Kauffman said that '"The Last Show" was the "gold standard" and that it influenced the finale of Friends.[3]

In 2011, the finale was ranked #3 on the TV Guide Network special TV's Most Unforgettable Finales.[4]

On the original broadcast, the episode scored a 25.5 rating, ranking #6 for the week.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Miller, Jack, "It's Mary's agony or The African Queen", The Toronto Star, March 18, 1977, P E3
2. ^ Hartlaub, Peter (January 15, 2004). "'Friends' challenge – finding right words to say goodbye". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
3. ^ Zurawik, David (May 14, 2004). "It's just hard to say goodbye". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
4. ^ TV's Most Unforgettable Finales - Aired May 22, 2011 on TV Guide Network
5. ^ "Ratings march 1977". The Courier-News. March 26, 1977. p. 26.

## External links

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Episodes|

* Season 1
* "Chuckles Bites the Dust"
* "The Last Show"

Characters|

* Mary Richards
* Lou Grant
* Murray Slaughter
* Ted Baxter
* Rhoda Morgenstern
* Phyllis Lindstrom
* Sue Ann Nivens

Spin-offs|

* Rhoda (1974–1978)
* episodes
* Phyllis (1975–1977)
* episodes
* Lou Grant (1977–1982)
* episodes

TV specials|

* Mary Tyler Moore: The 20th Anniversary Show (1991)
* Mary and Rhoda (2000)
* The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion (2002)

See also|

* Opening sequence
* Awards and nominations

* v
* t
* e

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

1950s|

* James Allardice & Jack Douglas & Hal Kanter & Harry Winkler for The George Gobel Show (1955)
* Arnold M. Auerbach & Barry Blitzer & Vincent Bogert & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Harvey Orkin & Arnold Rosen & Terry Ryan & Tony Webster for The Phil Silvers Show (1956)
* No Award (1957)
* Billy Friedberg & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Arnold Rosen & A.J. Russell & Terry Ryan & Phil Sharp & Tony Webster & Sydney Zelinka for The Phil Silvers Show (1958)
* George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1959)

1960s|

* George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1960)
* Dave O'Brien & Martin Ragaway & Sherwood Schwartz & Al Schwartz & Red Skelton for The Red Skelton Show (1961)
* Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)
* Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963)
* No Award (1964)
* No Award (1965)
* Sam Denoff & Bill Persky for "Coast to Coast Big Mouth" (1966)
* Buck Henry & Leonard B. Stern for "Ship of Spies: Parts 1 and 2" (1967)
* Allan Burns & Chris Hayward for "The Coming Out Party" (1968)
* No Award (1969)

1970s|

* No Award (1970)
* James L. Brooks & Allan Burns for "Support Your Local Mother" (1971)
* Burt Styler for "Edith's Problem" (1972)
* Lee Kalcheim & Michael Ross & Bernie West for "The Bunkers and the Swingers" (1973)
* Treva Silverman for "The Lou and Edie Story" (1974)
* Stan Daniels & Ed. Weinberger for "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" (1975)
* David Lloyd for "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (1976)
* James L. Brooks & Allan Burns & Stan Daniels & Bob Ellison & David Lloyd & Ed. Weinberger for "The Last Show" (1977)
* Harve Brosten & Barry Harman & Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf for "Cousin Liz" (1978)
* No Award (1979)

1980s|

* R.J. Colleary for "The Photographer" (1980)
* Michael J. Leeson for "Tony's Sister and Jim" (1981)
* Ken Estin for "Elegant Iggy" (1982)
* Glen Charles and Les Charles for "Give Me a Ring Sometime" (1983)
* David Angell for "Old Flames" (1984)
* Ed. Weinberger & Michael J. Leeson for "Pilot" (The Cosby Show) (1985)
* Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan for "A Little Romance" (1986)
* Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger for "A, My Name is Alex" (1987)
* Hugh Wilson for "The Bridge" (1988)
* Diane English for "Pilot" (Murphy Brown) (1989)

1990s|

* Bob Brush for "Good-bye" (1990)
* Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman for "Jingle Hell, Jingle Hell, Jingle All the Way" (1991)
* Elaine Pope & Larry Charles for "The Fix-Up" (1992)
* Larry David for "The Contest" (1993)
* David Angell & Peter Casey & David Lee for "The Good Son" (1994)
* Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano for "An Affair to Forget" (1995)
* Joe Keenan & Christopher Lloyd & Rob Greenberg & Jack Burditt & Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano & Linda Morris & Vic Rauseo for "Moon Dance" (1996)
* Ellen DeGeneres & Mark Driscoll & Dava Savel & Tracy Newman & Jonathan Stark for "The Puppy Episode" (1997)
* Peter Tolan & Garry Shandling for "Flip" (1998)
* Jay Kogen for "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" (1999)

2000s|

* Linwood Boomer for "Pilot" (Malcolm in the Middle) (2000)
* Alex Reid for "Bowling" (2001)
* Larry Wilmore for "Pilot" (The Bernie Mac Show) (2002)
* Tucker Cawley for "Baggage" (2003)
* Mitchell Hurwitz for "Pilot" (Arrested Development) (2004)
* Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely for "Righteous Brothers" (2005)
* Greg Garcia for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2006)
* Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt" (2007)
* Tina Fey for "Cooter" (2008)
* Matt Hubbard for "Reunion" (2009)

2010s|

* Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd for "Pilot" (Modern Family) (2010)
* Steven Levitan & Jeffrey Richman for "Caught in the Act" (2011)
* Louis C.K. for "Pregnant" (2012)
* Tina Fey & Tracey Wigfield for "Last Lunch" (2013)
* Louis C.K. for "So Did the Fat Lady" (2014)
* Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche for "Election Night" (2015)
* Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang for "Parents" (2016)
* Aziz Ansari & Lena Waithe for "Thanksgiving" (2017)
* Amy Sherman-Palladino for "Pilot" (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) (2018)
* Phoebe Waller-Bridge for "Episode 1" (2019)

2020s|

* Dan Levy for "Happy Ending" (2020)
* Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky for "There Is No Line" (2021)
* Quinta Brunson for "Pilot" (Abbott Elementary) (2022)
* Christopher Storer for "System" (2023)
* Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky for "Bulletproof" (2024)

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