Search - Mary and Rhoda on DVD

If You Love Mary, Don't Even Think of Watching This

Chad Williams | Daly City, CA | 02/12/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Let me start by saying that Mary Tyler Moore was my first crush. Oh, why can't all moms look and act like Laura Petrie from the Dick Van Dyke Show?, I thought. Younger than most moms, curvy, with big brown eyes, a rarity on TV. Keep starchy
Mrs. Cleaver, her pleated dress and her earrings, I adored Mary Tyler Moore. And when Mary got her own show, I was in TV heaven every Saturday night. Mary was just as perky and cute on her own as she was with Dick Van Dyke, but now funnier, more hip, and her own comedic flair brought out the best in her supporting cast. But that was then, this is now.

I'll digress a moment. Henry Fonda, a national institution for the Grapes of Wrath, The Oxbow Incident and Advise and Consent, among many other great films, once explained why he made the 1960s stinker "Sex and the Single Girl." He said an actor needs to do SOMETHING periodically to keep in the public eye so people don't forget. Very true, the public does have a tiny little memory. Come to think of it, why did we invade Iraq again?

This rationale must be the explanation why Mary Tyler Moore made the Godawful "Mary and Rhoda" - she was afraid if she didn't do something the public would desert her faster than you can say Pinky Toscadero.

The thin plot of the show is not even worth mentioning, but I'll report that the most shocking thing about "Mary and Rhoda" is not what you'll find out about Mary Richards. It is what you'll find out about Mary Tyler Moore. She has no sense of humor. The first time around, under the the supervision of her then-husband and former NBC exec Grant Tinker, plus James (Terms of
Endearment) Brooks at the helm, she was in the right place at the right time. Lacking these compuses of intelligence and taste, poor Mary has no internal sense of quality to call her own to save her. The result is absolute disaster in every area, starting with the writing. Barnet Kellman, Candice Bergen's "Murphy Brown" director cannot salvage the tainted material. There is no joy to be had from viewing, but only unintentional pathos. Ms. Moore, aside from obvious facial plastic surgery, shows off in a tight outfit a pair of cantaloupe-sized boobs she never possessed before, or, more accurately, never purchased before. Sad, sad, SAD. So you are warned: if you are a Mary-file like myself, just be happy to remember her as she was.

"

Valerie Harper Could Spit in a Jar and Get Four Stars

Joseph Johnson | allentown, pa | 11/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Personally, I think that "Rhoda" is an even better than "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," so this reunion special was my chance to see Rhoda, from the "Rhoda" show, back after her series ended in 1978.

Now, I was disappointed in how Rhoda married some French jerk despite Mary's advice not to. Anybody who loves the "Rhoda" show knows that Rhoda got to a place in 1978 where she did not need to marry just any man, certainly not a player that she should be able to see a mile away. The character had grown to enjoy her own company, and now she needed a man, and I mean any man, all over again. It just was not honest, and it was a slap in the face to "Rhoda" show fans. Now, I love Mary Tyler Moore, but the more interesting reunion would have been between Valerie Harper and Julie Kavner. Obviously, they were even more magical together. Still, all in all, both Harper and Moore were very entertaining and I do love these women together. Harper was her wonderful offbeat self with her crazy cheese dinner and wild religion search, and that Mare sure has spunk."

A little disappoining

D. Jackson | United Kingdom | 03/16/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This didn't really do much for me. But what I really wrote to say was, when are they going to put out the wonderful RHODA on DVD. If anything, RHODA was even better than MTM. The relationship between Rhoda and her sister Elaine (whatever happened to her) was classic television comedy. If anyone out there is listening, please bring out RHODA on DVD, pretty please, I'm sure a lot of fans of the show feel the same as me, and I cant beleive its not out already."

Moore Mary and Rhoda is Needed in the World!

Robert Johnson | Minneapolis, MN USA | 03/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've loved the freindship between Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern since the 70's. I am a huge fan of both "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda." And I was looking forward to the ABC TV series that was going to bring these gals back together again in a 1/2 hr. situation comedy, since that never happend, a reunion took place in a 2 hr. TV Movie instead. I loved it! It was great to catch up with both of their lives and I was surprised to discover they had a falling out and hadn't spoken to each other in years. Due to the recent events in their lifes, both Mary and Rhoda were in need of each others company and by chance run into each other in New York City. I thought the writing and storyline was done very well. The scenes filmed around NYC were very appropriate and the humor was right on. I was not disappointed but rather overjoyed to see these two beautiful characters back in action--and looking very well I might add. An added bonus was seeing that Mary and Rhoda each have college aged daughters and the four of them meet for the first time. I'd love to see more of them together and I think the TV series would have worked. If you haven't seen this movie it is worth the purchase price. I just hope more seasons of the MTM show will be released on DVD to satisfy my Mary & Rhoda hungar. Keep them coming!"