Mary Richards - Who Didn’t Love Her?

Filed Under (Uncategorized) by admin on 20-05-2008

I loved Mary Richards and wanted to be Mary Richards when I grew up-just like millions of other gals. And you know what. I did follow in her shoes pretty much. I wasn’t like Oprah and go as far as dress like her, but my career path and singlehood are similar. For those reading this post who are not aware of who Mary Richards is or was…she was the character the award-winning actress Mary Tyler Moore played in the seven year TV series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” If you would like to know more about the series, DVR or TIVO the show and you’ll see one of the best comedies of all time. Few other shows were as well-written; well-acted; or well-produced-the show had it all.

For those of you with jobs in offices, you maybe wondering why I’m bringing up Ms. Richards. Well, Oprah featured the series today and the entire main cast came along. Not only did we learn that Oprah wanted to emulate Mary too, but that it made her Saturday night. It was wonderful seeing the show clips again and seeing the smart writing and acting, but the reunion was disappointing to fans of the show. We wanted more of the cast and less of Oprah! Silly me for assuming that could have happened. My bad. Well enough about Oprah and back to Mary.

Now that I’m thinking about it…Mary taught me about work. From an early age, I knew that I wanted to work in television. And now that I think about it as an older and wiser person, I probably felt the most comfortable following Mary’s lead for my career. I saw firsthand how much “fun” there was to be had in news. No one in my family was in the entertainment field…so my desire came out of left field. In college, I knew that I wanted to learn everything I could about news and television and as such, my first job was in a local newsroom. Mary was my inspiration and showed me the way to be a successful single businesswoman. And my first job was “fun.”

If a TV character influenced my career and life decisions, who are the young teens emulating today? I get so sick everytime I pass by one of those new niche young girl make-up party stores. These poor girls are believing that make-up and lip gloss are important for popularity. Who do they want to be like? Paris Hilton? Miley Cyrus? Jamie Lynn Spears? They need a MARY RICHARDS!

My advice to 6th,7th, 8th grade girls is make THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW part of your daily TV viewing. Look at her poise, politeness and diplomacy. Pattern yourself after her and not LC or another reality TV star. She’s the real deal. I know I owe a lot to that show. This shy, quiet girl grew up to be a diplomatic, polite woman who works hard at work and play. For these very reasons, this series still is definitely a show worth watching.

Here’s the girl who made it after all -she made it to Oprah! My hero Mary Richards.