The series was such a critical and commercial smash that, just as M*A*S*H's team were starting to realize, the writers were in a position to take more chances. It was also case of wanting to shift some of the show's focus away from TV news (associate) producer Mary Richards' friends: window dresser Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper, who was getting her own spin-off show, Rhoda, the following season), and landlady Phyllis (Cloris Leachman, then quite busy making both theatrical and made-for-TV features). This turned out to be good for the series, because it accelerated the growth of Mary's other family, her co-workers at WJM-TV, from the mostly one-dimensional if funny stereotypes that had been when the show began, to the flesh-and-blood human beings that fully blossomed in season four.

This is most apparent in Mary's boss, news producer Lou Grant (Ed Asner), whose wife leaves him early in the season, and he struggles with shame, loneliness, and the daunting task of trying to put his personal life back in order. Moore's previous sitcom, the seminal Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66), hinted at marital acrimony (e.g., Buddy and Pickles) and sometimes episodes revolved around big fights between Rob and Laura Petrie, but it was never like this. Lou's pain is real, and unlike the often maudlin mixing of comedy and drama on All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore's writers, directors, and actors succeeded in striking that delicate balance of situations that were often very funny and terribly sad at the same time. In "The Lou and Edie Story," Lou's heartache (and Asner's heartbreaking performance) is offset by Ted Baxter's (Ted Knight) boundlessly insensitivity, who thoughtlessly asks Lou what to do if Edie calls the self-obsessed anchorman to ask him out.

Although there had been a gradual shift in Lou's character, it still played like a dramatic transformation, from the hard-drinking, intimidating and old-fashioned newsman of earlier seasons to the hard-drinking, old-fashioned newsman with very real everyday problems and emotions. The move sent the series off on an entire new course, not the least of which was the mostly unspoken, mutual affection of Mary and Lou toward one another which was now brought front-and-center. It also gave the writers the chance to have the now single Lou test the waters with Rhoda and other characters. Moreover, there was a new face at WJM willing and eager to eat poor Lou alive.

This was WJM's Happy Homemaker, Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), a proto-Martha Stewart who's all smiles and sweetness on-camera, but a sexually insatiable man-eater when the camera's turned off. The brilliant casting of White, then the personification of Eisenhowerian domesticity, as the irrepressibly dirty Sue Ann was truly inspired.

Highlights include season-opener "The Lars Affair," in which Phyllis' never-seen husband Lars has an extra-marital affair with Sue Ann; "Happy Birthday, Lou," in which Mr. Grant confronts spending his first birthday alone; and the hilarious season-ending "I Was a Single for WJM," with Mary, Lou, and news writer Murray (Gavin MacLeod) forced to ad-lib when a remote segment about a singles bar goes horribly wrong.

Unlike sitcoms like The Lucy Show and The Jack Benny Show, Mary Tyler Moore generally eschewed shows built around celebrities playing themselves, but "Ted Baxter meets Walter Cronkite" was an inspired idea, though the show's best celebrity gag appearance was still three seasons away, in an episode called "Mary's Big Party."

Other guest stars this season include Nancy Walker and Harold Gould (returning as Rhoda's parents; Walker also directed several episodes), Liam Dunn, Dick Gautier, Jerry Van Dyke, Pricilla Morrill (as Edie), Anthony Eisley, Arlene Golonka, Penny Marshall, and Richard Schaal.

Video & Audio

The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Complete Fourth Season is presented in its original full-frame format, with 8 shows on each of the three discs. The transfers are less impressive than those used for Season Three and may be older masters. The image is soft, the color a bit on the blotchy side, though they're not as awful as those used on the Fox/MTM Bob Newhart Show DVDs. The English Dolby Digital 2.1 mono soundtrack is also okay; optional audio and subtitles are available in English and Spanish but not French. There are no Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

Despite the lack of extras and less than perfect masters, this season's round of Mary Tyler Moores is peerless, a must-have for lovers of classic television comedy. Highly recommended.

Stuart Galbraith IV is a Kyoto-based film historian whose work includes The Emperor and the Wolf - The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune and Taschen's forthcoming Cinema Nippon. Visit Stuart's Cine Blogarama here.