Mary Tyler Moore Show and Its Spin-Offs

[Snarky Oracle!]

Just enough that every variety show was like a drug induced fever dream.

Yes, this MARY one is almost impressive in its mesmerization factor: unwatchable and yet un-unwatchable simultaneously.,, You don't want to see it, but you can't flip it off.

Mary's subsequent two attempts at a late-'70s variety show were almost as strange. If not quite. But the genre had died and Moore wasn't going to revive it.

 

[Daniel Avery]

the genre had died and Moore wasn't going to revive it.

Yes, and the desperation to "save it" motivated various producers to try nutty stuff like this. They likely thought they could "drag variety shows into the 1970s" but all they did was hasten their demise.

 

[Crimson]

But the genre had died and Moore wasn't going to revive it.

Mary appeared to be misguided about her own talents. She was often quite self-effacing about her skills as a comic actress, but had aspirations as a musical star. Despite her background as a dancer, all of her attempts at musicals on stage, screen and TV were kind of flops.