MARY Hartman, Mary Hartman

Did someone ask you what your most favorite show was?

Only speak when your spoken to, okay?

Motherfucker Motherfucker

I liked it at first, but it wore think pretty quickly. I thought Louise Lasser was perfect as the very disturbed Mary Hartman. The show should have ended with the episode where she's on a talk show and has a complete mental breakdown, finally. But no, the show dragged on after that. I think Mary Hartman eventually ran off with the hot policeman Dennis, who for some reason had the hots for the very strange woman with the monotone voice and the pigtails. Anyway, MH, MH was THE talked about show for a while. But it didn't take long to sputter out.

I idolized Mary Hartman

Interesting it its own way but one of Norman Lear's lesser productions.

That was one fucked up bazaar show; you had to watch it stoned . Remember when she got into the car accident and hit a station wagon full of nuns; and killed them all. They all got thrown from the car lying dead all over the ground.

[quote]Only speak when your spoken to, okay?

Oh, dear.

[quote]That was one fucked up bazaar show

And again.

It was the ultimate watercooler show because it was on five nights a week. I remember it was always the topic of discussion the next day at work.

I was 10 when it began airing, which I think was after the 11 pm news where I grew up. I have memories of my older brother watching it during the summer when school was not in session, an I begged to stay up late to see it too. I didn’t really get it but I was drawn for it because my mother found it stupid and horrible while my brother laughed.

I found the actor who played the police Sargent sexy

First season is truly and uniquely hilarious, and fantastic binge-watching material. I agree it got uneven and sputtered out. One of its many strengths is that there is no laugh track.

MARY!

R1 has waxy yellow buildup.

R1 has waxy yellow buildup.

Who doesn't love Dody Goodman and her over the top fainting spells and hysteria? Comedy gold!

Live From The Capri Lounge!

The show featured a gay male couple. I thought that was groundbreaking.

R16 And didn't they get married? Probably why this show wasn't allowed to be on during primetime.

I was in jr. high school and this came on after Carol Burnett on Sat. night. I thought I'd stumbled upon some quirky, cheaply-produced Canadian soap. No one I knew had ever heard of it (or the show that followed it, Saturday Night Live).

I actually lived in Ohio at the time. We only had about eight TV channels.

For some reason I had a crush on Sgt Foley when I was young

Well, I never will forget

The first time that we met

Dancin' squares and a do-si-do-in' at the V.F. Hall

He was old as my pappy

But that didn't make me unhappy

He was cute as the dickens

Just a doll

Had no hair on your head

But a lot above your lip

You was all dressed up in cowboy corduroy

Felt my soul start a thrashing

And my heart-strings a lashing

I knew I had found my Baby Boy

Baby Boy

Baby Boy

Sweet Charlie

You're my big ole Baby Boy

Well, you're my life

And you're my joy

You're my precious bedtime toy

Sweet Charlie

You're my big ole Baby Boy

Later on that night

You asked me would it be all right

If you took me for a bit to the Tas-tee Freeze

Well, we shared some chunky tuna

Then we kissed under the moon-a

And I knew forever

We'd be thick as fleas

And then quicker than a wink

I said, “Now, Baby Boy, I think

It's time we tied the knot

Said nupital vows.”

My folks cried, “Cradle robber!”

I said, “Please, he's my heart-throbber

The Lord wants us together

Here and now.”

Baby Boy

Baby Boy

Sweet Charlie

You're my big ole Baby Boy

Well, you're my life

And you're my joy

You're my precious bedtime toy

Sweet Charlie

You're my big ole Baby Boy

[quote]R1 has waxy yellow buildup.

Oh, no!

Because it was a stripped, just like a soap, five episodes a week was quite a bit. Watching it today, it's amazingly slow and repetitive.

In my area they showed all 5 episodes back to back on Sunday night. I would smoke a joint and watch.

Good times.

Louise Lasser's hairstyle should be in the "Ugliest Hairstyles in Television and Movies' thread. A middle aged woman in pigtails? Hideous.

R23 I loved that show, Good Times, too!

I'm not sure I get it's appeal. Was it because it seemed to capture the awkwardness of life? Maybe people could relate.

I was too young to know about this show when it aired. I remember reading about it and I like unusual stuff, but this was total crap to me. I just didn't get it and I can't stand Louise Lasser.

It gave us the brilliant Mary Kay Place (who won an Emmy for her role) and deserves a place in TV history for that alone.

Just watched the episode in the original post...damn, Bruce Solomon was a sexy piece of goods!

And, the show, at least in the beginning, really was excellent. Lasser is brilliant...such great comic timing but also very original in her delivery.

'Did she drop the trash?' - perfect MH MH line delivery.

I can see how Woody Allen tried to 'make' Mia Farrow into Louise Lasser in their films together.

Grandpa Larkin was certainly no Grandpa Hughes.

It was Charly and Loretta who hit the bus full of moaning nuns.

And the classic ep - Coach Fedders drowns in a bowl of Mary's chicken soup.

I've actually known a couple "Mary Hartmans" in my time.

Sweet but clueless women who are easily sidetracked and frequently hurt.

"And their chickens, too."

"NOT THE CHICKENS!"

"And their chickens, too."

"NOT THE CHICKENS!"

^ Sorry, that's my 44 year old memory of the exchange. According to IMDB, the correct version is:

Loretta Haggers: [Referring to the Lombardi family] Someone just shot 'em.

Mary Hartman: Oh my God. The whole family?

Loretta Haggers: All five of them, plus two goats and eight chickens.

Mary Hartman: I can't believe that. What kind of a madman would shoot two goats and eight chickens.

[after a pause]

Mary Hartman: And the people... the people, of course.

R34 I think the Mary Hartman brand of humor is an acquired taste. Personally, I find exchanges like this hysterically funny, but I have a warped sense of humor.

R35, some of it is indeed hilarious but the show's problem is that they had so much time that exchanges that were funny were buried in tedium. While it was a definite parody of those long closeups in soaps, it was not always easy to watch.

Amazing show.

Louise Lasser, Diane Keaton, and Mia Farrow could be sisters. Allen certainly had a type until he hooked up with Soon Yi.

R36 I agree, there was a lot of filler in there. A few years back I bought the DVD box set and tried watching. There were a lot of comedy gems, but other parts were dreary and tedious. I think I got as far as when Charlie and Loretta had a boy raised by wolves living in their neighborhood and then got bored by it all.

Can you post the gems?

My local station used to show a whole week's worth of shows, beginning at 10:30 pm (so impressionable kids like me couldn't watch....ha). I still remember Loretta Haggers at the Capri Lounge announcing her next number "a song made famous by Miss Patsy Cline before her tragic demise" (pronounced "da-MEES").

They should re-edit each week's episodes into one 45-minute episode. Keep all the best bits and move the story along much faster.

Is this funny?

I guess this was a historical show because it talked seriously about gay people in closets.

FUN FACT: Semi-hottie actor Greg Mullavey, who played Mary's husband, was at that time married to actress Meredith MacRae, who was the daughter of Gordon and Sheila MacRae. I always thought Tom had a great ass, which nicely filled out the Levi's 501s he always wore.

Don't forget Loretta's memorable experience on "Dinah's Place."

[quote]A hit on the Dinah Shore show, Loretta was chatting with Miss Shore about how nice everyone had been to her. And, she added, her eyes wide with innocence, it turned out they were all Jewish. “I mean I couldn't believe,” she said of one particularly helpful person, “that his was the people what killed our Lord.”

My mom watched when I was a kid, and I was baffled by why she found any humor in it. She’s just wave me off and say that it was so silly. I was more entertained by Love, American Style reruns.

It is truly a show meant to be watched by the very high, as I discovered later. As much as I’d like to believe my mother was toking before MHMH, I know it isn’t the case.

But shit like this goes so well with weed.

The interview with nun!

I liked the second season a lot because they introduced a lot of weird characters played by good actors, like Gloria Dehaven, Marian Mercer, Sid Haig, Martin Mull, and a whole lot more. However, in season 2 Louise Lasser was in such bad shape emotionally and physically that it was painful to watch her. She was emaciated and played most of the scenes outside of Mary's kitchen wearing a coat.

Claudia Lamb, who played Mary's surly daughter, Heather Hartman, has a blog where she shares some memories of the show, and some terrible memories of how her parents squandered all of the money she made as a child actress.

Greg Mullavey was so hot! He was so handsome and he had a beautiful smile. I was a teenager when I watched the show. I was transfixed, waiting for Greg to strip down to his underwear.

Also, the gay couple, played by Laurence Haddon and Beeson Carroll, were very handsome. I couldn’t find much information about Beeson Carroll. Both actors have passed away.

I would agree that Marian Mercer was really, really good on MH2. I saw Haddon and Carroll on another Norman Lear show, maybe AITF and they were paired as, I believe, a couple of policy officers.

Louise Lasser was a nutjob. Well, I guess so! She was married to Woody Allen, wasn't she? At any rate, I remember the big scandal that happened during her Mary Hartman heyday. It had something to do with a dollhouse. According to Wikipedia:

"In the spring of 1976 in Los Angeles, Lasser was arrested at a charity boutique, and police found $6 worth (or 88 milligrams) of cocaine in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser's American Express card was denied and Lasser refused to leave without possession of a $150 dollhouse. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one for jaywalking), but the officers then found the drug in her handbag. Lasser claimed the coke had been given to her several months earlier by a fan. Ultimately, Lasser was ordered to do six months in counseling, which was easily satisfied as she was already seeing an analyst. A fictionalized version of the "Dollhouse Incident" was also incorporated into Mary Hartman's first season.'

So she was a cokehead. She was also one of the all time worst hosts of Saturday Night Live. The show featuring her was bizarre and unfunny.

Beeson Carroll played Hotlips's husband, Donald Penobscott, on MASH.

Has Dabney Coleman been mentioned yet as father of the child televangelist that died when a tv fell into the bathtub?

Jimmy Joe Jeter!

Watching an episode on YouTube (thanks, OP) reminded me how great Mary Kay Place is and was. I recently saw her in "Diane," which was incredible. I see from her biography that she's never married. Is she family?

R55 I've wondered if she was a sister too. Didn't she play one on HBO's Getting On?

She was also great on Big Love as Chloe Sevigny's crazy fundamentalist Mormon mother.

Who was the character that died from drowning in a bowl of chicken soup?

R51 That explains why she looks like she's on drugs in some scenes. She was!

r57, see r30.

Vicki Lawrence really cracks me up in this "Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Mary Mary Quite Contrary" skit when she starts singing an off of the top of her head song (like Loretta often does) about instant coffee crystals that have won her heart.

Today is Louise Lasser's 81st birthday.

Louise in 2018.

Fun rumors that LL and Penny Marshall were lovers. They were good friends in NY.

Remember Louise's ill-fated season on "It's a Living?" Her hair belongs in that "worst hairstyles on TV" thread.

Louise was great on It's a Living (renamed Making a Living for her season, for no good reason) and really added to the show.

It was too bad she didn't continue when it was revived a few years later, but it was weird she agreed to do it at all.

She must have had some serious dealer/rehab bills circa '81.

Bitch ruined my life!

The actor who played the sexy cop, Bruce Solomon, managed to elicit strong appeal in many female fans, but wasn't able to turn it into much of a career afterward.

Susan Sullivan was great on It's A Living, showed true comedic timing and The Village Voice raved about her. Firing her for Louise was stupid.

Mary Hartman debuted in January of 1976. That summer, all the hot guys on Fire Island were wearing baseball caps and team jackets, which hadn't been a look before. The ladies may have loved Sgt. Foley but we gay boys were in love with Tom Hartman.

Joan Darling was the original director on MH2. Bruce Solomon was in her acting class. She brought him onto the show as Sgt. Foley, who was originally written as middle-aged.

I thought he was cute but a terrible actor.

Joan was hugely responsible for the show's success, setting the cast, tone and POV. But Foley was a weak spot. She must have been dickmatized.

Phil Bruns, who played Mary's father George Shumway, made a successful career in the 60s and 70s playing blue-collar guys, but he actually had a cultured side. He earned a Masters from Yale School of Drama, then won a scholarship to study at the Old Vic Theater in Great Britain, where he became best friends with Peter O'Toole.

Phil Bruns was the first Morty Seinfeld (before Barney Martin) on "Seinfeld."

R67 - you're right; he's been in very few things.

And I don't think he ever married.

Joan Darling directed "First Love", an R-rated feature starring William Katt at his cutest and DL non-fave Susan Dey. The script isn't great, but it's actually fairly well done.

Victor Kilian, who played Mary's grandfather, the Fernwood Flasher, was murdered in his apartment. The killer(s) snuck up while he was watching TV and bashed his head in.

Here's a quick, just about untoppable Loisue Lasser story.

I'm flying LAX to JFK around 1997. There she is at the gate at LAX. Her voice is unmistakeable. She's in first class, I'm in coach. Happiness was out and I'd seen it a week a before. I was a high school junior when Mary Hartman was a huge hit, and I watched it nightly at 11pm from my little TV in my bedroom, Anaheim, CA. My super-cool mom liked it too and we would watch it together. So I had legit history with Louise

Cut to baggage at JFK. It had slipped my mind, but there she is again. It's imperative that I politely chat her up. 'I just saw Happiness. You were fantastic!" etc. We chat some more and she is very gracious and spacey and sweet. Then I went for it: "Hey, we're both going to the city. Would you like to share a cab?" And she says "No, I've got a town car. You can go with me."

I live in NYC now but back then Iived in LA. What a way to make an entrance! I was beside myself but kept my cool. And I clearly recall not mentioning anything about Mary Hartman until we were approaching the midtown tunnel. "And Mary Hartman . . . I mean, you know, you WERE the show, I mean, c'mon." To which she coyly nodded in the affirmative.

Her driver dropped her off first, it was somewhere off First Ave in the 60s or 70s, then took me to where I was staying on Bank Street near St. Vincent's. Never saw her again, but she was a sweetheart through and through.

R76 I had a similar encounter like that with her and you're right, she is just adorable. Very, very approachable. Loved her in Happiness.

I don't blame Louise Lasser for having a nervous breakdown while doing the show...she was the main character in a daily soap opera that centered on HER for nearly two years...that's an inhumane schedule for an actor.

There's a reason soap operas have large casts...so you don't burn out your stars. Even front burner leads on soaps are usually only on 3 to 4 episodes a week but also sharing each episode with 2 or 3 other plot lines. Since the show focused on one family (and her next door neighbor) it meant Lasser was in pretty much every episode and frequently in most scenes.

Soap was weekly not daily but they were smarter and had a much larger cast of regulars and did the traditional soap thing of having one blue collar family and one rich family (even though the families were related). If Norman Lear had wanted to keep Lasser sane, and the show on a lot longer, he should have brought in more characters and plots.

But, maybe it was for the best. MH, MH was "of the moment". Once it did what it had to do, it became redundant.

Loretta Haggers's constant punchline, "I could write a song about that."

[quote]Victor Kilian, who played Mary's grandfather, the Fernwood Flasher, was murdered in his apartment. The killer(s) snuck up while he was watching TV and bashed his head in.

Victor Killian was a victim of the Hollywood blacklists of the 1950s. He managed to survive and keep his career going by returning to the stage.

Although married to the same woman for over 40 years, he was a closeted gay. He was living alone when he died and there were no signs of forced entry. He was probably murdered by a trick he brought home who was actually intent on burglary.

I bought the box set 10 years ago and always thought....blah....I'll lose interest. I've been watching non stop now. Twinkle Toes (Gloria DeHaven) has just shown up, trying to steal Tom. Some cute blonde race car driver is tempting Loretta and Jimmy Joe Jeter was killed in the bathtub when the tv fell in.

I just ordered the entire box set of this series on eBay—it was really cheap ($55), whereas on most other sites/retailers it ranges from $100–$250. I have a friend who is a major fan of it, and it's always piqued my curiosity, but I've never watched it. I am a child of the '90s, but I grew up watching a lot of '70s TV because of my mother (this series was one she never watched, though). I can tell from the clips I've seen that it I will be completely absorbed by it—even watching just brief scenes, it has such a weird, funny but also borderline-creepy energy. I think a lot of it has to do with Louise Lasser herself, who seems to bring that vibe to anything she does.

Anyone here seen the slasher flick "Blood Rage"? In it, Lasser plays the mom of two twins (one homicidal, one normal), and her Thanksgiving is ruined when the evil one breaks out of the asylum and starts a murder rampage. It's terribly gory and hokey, but the most outrageous thing about it is her insane performance. She spends most of the film drunk in a bathrobe, screaming at people on the phone, and eating cold Thanksgiving leftovers on her kitchen floor. I'd say her performance is at least 75% of what makes that movie so strange.

I thought Sgt. Foley was dreamy and Tom Hartman was hot. I was always hoping Tom would be shirtless on the show, especially, but don't recall if that ever happened. Bruce Solomon (Foley) did some tv movies about "Sunday the Rabbi [did something" character from books of the same type, but don't recall seeing him in too many things. I saw Greg Mullavey, who has done tons of theater, off-Broadway a few years ago where he and Marlo Thomas were both hilariously funny in some comedy.

Loved Mary Hartman. Groundbreaking, funny show.

I loved LL's deadpan delivery.

Loretta: Mary, if you ask me, I think there might be a mite of adultery a-lumpin' around in your marriage.

Mary: Tom? With whom is he lumping?

Mary, responding to the town whore who has beseeched Mary to forgive her for fucking Tom and giving him the clap: Oh, that's all right. All you did was spread disease.

Some other welcome folks on that show I recall were Vivian Blaine and Salome Jens.

Salome Jens was the one Tom did his lumping with, and was also at one time married to movie tough guy Ralph Meeker, who was himself at one time quite lumpable.

Was Mary's character meant to be a stoner, or benzo popper? She seems very medicated.

Mary Kay Place as Loretta Haggers was brilliant.

Damn, Mary Kay Place is 73 years old. She's had quite the prolific career, working steadily as an actress, singer, writer and director. She was in The Big Chill and more recently Looking, Blackish and Grace and Frankie. Going way back, she wrote for MASH and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

First gay couple?

My mom couldn’t stand the show, but it was because of the redhead who played Mary Hartman’s sister(her name escapes me). The end of her life was sad.

Who from DL asked for this?

Another classic Norman Lear TV series is getting a remake. Sony TV is in development on a new version of Lear’s “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” that would star “Schitt’s Creek” alum Emily Hampshire.

In addition to starring, Hampshire would co-write and executive produce the remake, along with Jacob Tierney, who would serve as showrunner. Lear would be a producer as well.

Sony is preparing to shop the project to buyers in the coming week.