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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 403890" data-attributes="member: 5079">Since I dusted <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Lou-Rhoda-Ted-Brilliant/dp/B00CFQF9NK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1GZD73I0AYH1M&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.K8skDQ2SdeNNPmYqTq-RQLTO2Kn1KEciUnJfonLfT7WJxJ6m1-EpDX235LxCn3HLLIoyiHg6iGxtyvgCbFMap0mYZPoM2L4WHB20MtXyuH1uMoATgDMUtjgEyhQsMRDa2i20I5P2n6UalTprsj4ncfnG84kUFdRxRtQq-SF_qCz2eQDgTUSLcWFL7XHRN4ZcYYVUuyIRQOLo-CT-LNY1HJcU3rGR2EG5cE7IBqC-ybg.uQ0LhywgOLvJIpEV6yw7hFpkTxXuwWHItU5UJQWwT4Q&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=mary+tyler+moore+book&amp;qid=1719485934&amp;sprefix=mary+tyler+moore+book%2Caps%2C91&amp;sr=8-4" target="_blank">the book </a>off its shelf, I&#039;ve been reading through about the early production of MTM.&nbsp; It may seem like the show hit the ground running from the first episode, but those behind the scenes had much less confidence they were making a good show.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some tidbits:Rhoda was considered very unlikeable early on, leading to uncertainty about the character.&nbsp; It was suggested to make Bess fond of Rhoda so that the audience would see the character through the little girl&#039;s eyes.An early indication of low confidence in the show came when veteran director John Rich left the production.&nbsp; He had worked with Mary for years on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but told the producers of MTM that they seemed to be making something that was &quot;just OK&quot; ; he had expected more from Mary.&nbsp; Instead he joined Norman Lear&#039;s developing ALL IN THE FAMILY, which he suspected would be a flop but was at least &quot;outrageous&quot;.Jay Sandrich, who had directed the short lived HE &amp; SHE (a partial inspiration for MTM) was brought in to direct.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sandrich looked at other contemporaneous 3-camera sitcoms and disliked how the actors seemed to be yelling at each other, because they were playing to the audience.&nbsp; Although MTM also used the 3-camera method, Sandrich directed the actors to pretend they were making a movie.&nbsp; Thus, MTM avoided having the deafening tone of other sitcoms of the era.Angus Duncan, who played Mary&#039;s ex-boyfriend in the first episode, disliked re-writes so much that he threw his script on the ground.&nbsp; At the end of filming, he asked if his character could be recurring, to which the producers said &quot;thanks but no thanks&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 403890, member: 5079"] Since I dusted [URL='https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Lou-Rhoda-Ted-Brilliant/dp/B00CFQF9NK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1GZD73I0AYH1M&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.K8skDQ2SdeNNPmYqTq-RQLTO2Kn1KEciUnJfonLfT7WJxJ6m1-EpDX235LxCn3HLLIoyiHg6iGxtyvgCbFMap0mYZPoM2L4WHB20MtXyuH1uMoATgDMUtjgEyhQsMRDa2i20I5P2n6UalTprsj4ncfnG84kUFdRxRtQq-SF_qCz2eQDgTUSLcWFL7XHRN4ZcYYVUuyIRQOLo-CT-LNY1HJcU3rGR2EG5cE7IBqC-ybg.uQ0LhywgOLvJIpEV6yw7hFpkTxXuwWHItU5UJQWwT4Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=mary+tyler+moore+book&qid=1719485934&sprefix=mary+tyler+moore+book%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-4']the book [/URL]off its shelf, I've been reading through about the early production of MTM. It may seem like the show hit the ground running from the first episode, but those behind the scenes had much less confidence they were making a good show. Some tidbits: Rhoda was considered very unlikeable early on, leading to uncertainty about the character. It was suggested to make Bess fond of Rhoda so that the audience would see the character through the little girl's eyes. An early indication of low confidence in the show came when veteran director John Rich left the production. He had worked with Mary for years on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but told the producers of MTM that they seemed to be making something that was "just OK" ; he had expected more from Mary. Instead he joined Norman Lear's developing ALL IN THE FAMILY, which he suspected would be a flop but was at least "outrageous". Jay Sandrich, who had directed the short lived HE & SHE (a partial inspiration for MTM) was brought in to direct. Sandrich looked at other contemporaneous 3-camera sitcoms and disliked how the actors seemed to be yelling at each other, because they were playing to the audience. Although MTM also used the 3-camera method, Sandrich directed the actors to pretend they were making a movie. Thus, MTM avoided having the deafening tone of other sitcoms of the era. Angus Duncan, who played Mary's ex-boyfriend in the first episode, disliked re-writes so much that he threw his script on the ground. At the end of filming, he asked if his character could be recurring, to which the producers said "thanks but no thanks". [/QUOTE]

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