From Wikipedia:

    Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is a 1976 syndicated soap opera parody produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and starring Louise Lasser. The series writers were Gail Parent and Ann Marcus.

    The show's title was the eponymous character's name stated twice, because Lear and the writers believed that everything that was said on a soap opera was said twice. Lear conceived Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as satire, but it was viewed as so controversial that many stations aired it well after their 11 P.M. newscasts. The irony was that while Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman dealt with many of the same topics found in episodes of daytime soap operas, the topics were called by their names (impotence, sexual perversion) instead of being referred to in the hushed tones and euphemisms typically favored by "straight" soaps, although the cast had a tongue-in-cheek performance style. For this reason, the series was even more controversial than it might otherwise have been.

    The storyline followed Mary Hartman, played by Louise Lasser, her husband Tom (Greg Mullavey), her mother Mrs. Martha Shumway (Dody Goodman), and Mary’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Loretta Haggers, (Mary Kay Place) and Loretta's much older husband Charlie ("Baby Boy") Haggers, played by Graham Jarvis.

    Other cast members included Debralee Scott (who played Cathy Shumway, Mary's maneater sister), Martin Mull (as both wife-beater Garth Gimble and talk show host, Barth Gimble), Sparky Marcus (who played Jimmy Joe Jeeter, child evangelist), Dabney Coleman (who played Merle Jeeter, Fernwood's slightly devious mayor), Marian Mercer (who played Wanda, a former sanitarium mate of Mary's and Jeeter's second wife) and Doris Roberts (who played Dorelda Doremus, a faith healer).

    The series took place in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. Although there is a real Fernwood, Ohio in the United States (located in Jefferson County, Ohio), the town in the series was not based on it, but was instead named for Fernwood Avenue which runs behind the KTLA/Sunset-Bronson Studios where the show taped.

    In its first episode, MH2 addressed a family that had been mass-murdered (including the goats and chickens) and the "Fernwood Flasher," who turned out to be Mary's grandfather. Characters on the show died in several bizarre ways, including bathtub electrocution, drowning in chicken soup, and impalement on an aluminum Christmas tree.

    Mary Hartman had a nationally televised nervous breakdown on The David Susskind Show at the end of the first season. Mary then found herself in a psychiatric ward, and she was delighted to be part of their selected Nielsen Ratings "family".

    When Lasser left the show in 1977, it was re-branded Forever Fernwood and followed the trials and tribulations of Mary's family and friends after she ran away with a policeman. The series finally ended in 1978, after only 26 weeks on the air, along with the talk show parody spin-off Fernwood 2-Night. A total of 130 half-hour episodes were produced.

    Mary Kay Place was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album "Tonite! At the Capri Lounge, Loretta Haggers" on which she sang as her MH2 character, Loretta Haggers. The album featured appearances by Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, and one of its songs, "Baby Boy", climbed to the Top 60 on Billboard's Pop Charts, and #3 on the country charts, in 1976. Place also won an Emmy Award for her performance on the show. The show's writers realized Loretta Haggers' newfound fame made it harder to keep her character in Fernwood, so they devised a storyline wherein the country and western star makes an anti-semitic, career-shattering remark on the Dinah Shore talk show.

    Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was syndicated on local stations briefly in 1982, and enjoyed some short-lived air time on the Lifetime Television in 1994 and TV Land in 2002. Aside from the two-volume videocassette issued in the 1980s and bootlegged videos, the show has been difficult to find on any format. With the exception of the first 25 episodes available on DVD, many fans have been unable to watch most of the episodes from this series.

    During the run of the series and its various spin-offs and sequels, KTTV, which broadcast the series in the Los Angeles market, also broadcast a tongue-in-cheek version of its nightly "Metronews" newscast, titled "Metronews, Metronews."

    Created by

    Jerry Adelman

    Daniel Gregory Browne

    Ann Marcus

    Starring

    Louise Lasser

    Greg Mullavey

    Mary Kay Place

    Graham Jarvis

    Debralee Scott

    Dody Goodman

    Philip Bruns

    Claudia Lamb

    Victor Kilian

    Country of origin United States

    No. of seasons 2

    No. of episodes 25

    Production

    Running time 23 minutes

    Broadcast

    Original channel Syndicated

    Original run 6 January 1976 – 10 May 1977

    Thumbnail of Ann Marcus

    Ann Marcus on the premise of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:37
    Thumbnail of Gail Parent

    Gail Parent on co-creating Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    02:35
    Thumbnail of Norman Lear

    Norman Lear on the profitability but not great popularity of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:38
    Thumbnail of Doris Roberts

    Doris Roberts on playing "Dorelda Doremus" on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:02
    Thumbnail of Earle Hagen

    Earle Hagen on creating the music library for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman sight-unseen

    01:15
    Thumbnail of Louise Lasser

    Louise Lasser on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman being free from dealing with Standards and Practices, and on the show being of its time

    01:52

    Tommy Cole

    Make-up artist Tommy Cole on working on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    03:29

    Earle Hagen

    Earle Hagen on creating the music library for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman sight-unseen

    01:15

    Louise Lasser

    Louise Lasser on how Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman came about for her

    04:41

    Louise Lasser on shooting the second pilot for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:59

    Louise Lasser on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman being free from dealing with Standards and Practices, and on the show being of its time

    01:52

    Louise Lasser on her character, "Mary Hartman," on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    05:26

    Louise Lasser on "Mary Hartman's" mannerisms, and on her look on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, including the costumes

    02:41

    Louise Lasser on "Mary Hartman's" breakdown on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and the actors having input into the scripts

    05:03

    Louise Lasser on working with producer Norman Lear, and director Joan Darling on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on the show's production schedule

    08:50

    Louise Lasser on working with the cast of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:45

    Louise Lasser on what director Joan Darling brought to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    02:54

    Louise Lasser on "Mary Hartman's" breakdown on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on working with Norman Lear on the episode

    07:25

    Louise Lasser on the dollhouse scene on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    03:41

    Louise Lasser on the second season of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and on the show's critique of television

    02:06

    Louise Lasser on Gore Vidal guest-starring on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on her favorite episodes of the show

    05:34

    Louise Lasser on not using cue cards on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on working with the cast, including Mary Kay Place, Graham Jarvis and Debralee Scott

    08:00

    Louise Lasser on the end of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on the legacy of the show

    04:13

    Louise Lasser on being typecast (or not) after Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and on her relationship with the character

    03:07

    Louise Lasser on the real-life incident that inspired the dollhouse episode of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    07:20

    Norman Lear

    Norman Lear on creating Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and selling it

    05:41

    Norman Lear on casting Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, including Louise Lasser, Mary Kay Place, and Dabney Coleman

    03:07

    Norman Lear on the profitability but not great popularity of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:38

    Ann Marcus

    Ann Marcus on how she came to write for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    08:51

    Ann Marcus on writing the pilot for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    04:33

    Ann Marcus on Louise Lasser as "Mary Hartman" on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:52

    Ann Marcus on the premise of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:37

    Ann Marcus on working with Norman Lear on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:28

    Ann Marcus on Norman Lear's contributions to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    04:14

    Ann Marcus on the cast of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    06:56

    Ann Marcus on the catchphrases of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    02:47

    Ann Marcus on the chicken soup episode of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:55

    Ann Marcus on critical and popular reaction to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:34

    Ann Marcus on her favorite scenes in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:23

    Gail Parent

    Gail Parent on co-creating Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    02:35

    Gail Parent on writing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    04:21

    Charlotte Rae

    Charlotte Rae on becoming a regular on Norman Lear's Hot L Baltimore, and declining a role on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman because of Louise Lasser

    06:21

    Rita Riggs

    Rita Riggs on costuming Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, starring Louise Lasser

    02:45

    Rita Riggs on costuming the cast of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    02:43

    Doris Roberts

    Doris Roberts on playing "Dorelda Doremus" on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

    01:02

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