# Mary Richards - did she really make it after all? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 9, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319 "2023-08-09T15:24:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/21 "2023-08-09T16:31:34Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Joe Rossi went to work at NASA after that I saw that. There were times on Lou Grant I wanted him disappeared, too. 🙂 Talk about incompetent management. The conspirators should have just killed him in a tragic car accident. Making him “never exist” was not only stupid, but overly complicated. The person “living” in his apartment was a weak link. I doubt she was someone tha could stand up under pressure. And was she just supposed to live there (have always lived there) for “ever”? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/22 "2023-08-09T16:34:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Rhoda was big initially but faded quickly. Rhoda has the future Marge Simpson as her sister. I don’t know how much being on _Rhoda_ helped her career, but we’re better off if it did. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/23 "2023-08-09T16:35:23Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The conspirators should have just killed him in a tragic car accident. They could only afford the one clip from **The Fall Guy** when they tried to off Elliott Gould. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/24 "2023-08-09T16:37:56Z")
And Daaaaaaavid Llllllletterman. She made him drop those extra letters. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/25 "2023-08-09T16:45:43Z")
Completely agree. Julie Kavner had few credits before Rhoda. She also appeared on an episode of Lou Grant while she was on Rhoda. I’d have to look up the year but I think she was in Radio Days before the Simpsons. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/26 "2023-08-09T17:11:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Why did she last only three episodes? Not “cute” enough? Rebecca Balding was fired, supposedly for not giving a mature enough performance. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/27 "2023-08-09T17:43:32Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I would have given my eye teeth to see Carl Kolchak wander through the office just once. No explanation. Non-recurring. Woulda been a hoot. No, in an empty corner of the press room typing away in his hat. I loved that show. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/28 "2023-08-09T18:13:31Z")
> [@solost](#): > > but I always thought that was odd, to have a comedy spinoff turn into a drama with a whole different tone. MASH slowly evolved from a comedy into a drama over the years. The Trapper John, MD spinoff was also a drama. They did an adult version of the Brady Bunch that was just called The Bradys, and it was a drama (and was also very short-lived). Shows have gone in the other direction as well. Hill Street Blues was a drama, but the short-lived spinoff Beverly Hills Buntz was more of a comedy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Personally I think Trapper John, MD was just a generic medical drama that the slapped the Trapper John name onto just for name recognition. The main character seemed to have nothing at all in common with the character from MASH. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/29 "2023-08-09T18:20:17Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Rhoda has the future Marge Simpson as her sister. I don’t know how much being on _Rhoda_ helped her career, but we’re better off if it did. Well, the experience couldn’t have hurt her ability to get on the cast of _The Tracey Ullman Show_, which is how she ended up with the Marge Simpson job (either that, or it was incredibly coincidental that two of the main characters on _The Simpsons_ just happen to be voiced by two TTUS cast members). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/30 "2023-08-09T18:20:49Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Personally I think Trapper John, MD was just a generic medical drama that the slapped the Trapper John name onto just for name recognition. The main character seemed to have nothing at all in common with the character from MASH. Yes, I remember I stopped watching for just that reason. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/31 "2023-08-09T18:22:44Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Personally I think Trapper John, MD was just a generic medical drama that the slapped the Trapper John name onto just for name recognition. The main character seemed to have nothing at all in common with the character from MASH. I always called the show **Adam Cartwright** , **MD**. Had as much in common with Bonanza as it did M_A_S\*H. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/32 "2023-08-09T18:22:50Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > but I always thought that was odd, to have a comedy spinoff turn into a drama with a whole different tone. > > MASH slowly evolved from a comedy into a drama over the years. The Trapper John, MD spinoff was also a drama. They did an adult version of the Brady Bunch that was just called The Bradys, and it was a drama (and was also very short-lived). > > Shows have gone in the other direction as well. Hill Street Blues was a drama, but the short-lived spinoff Beverly Hills Buntz was more of a comedy. > > Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Personally I think Trapper John, MD was just a generic medical drama that the slapped the Trapper John name onto just for name recognition. The main character seemed to have nothing at all in common with the character from MASH. “The version I heard was,” there was some lawsuit over that show, in which it was finally determined that the TV show is a spinoff of the movie _M\*A\*S\*H_ and not the TV series. I don’t think any _M\*A\*S\*H_ characters were mentioned on the series other than Hawkeye and Radar, both of whom were also in the film. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/33 "2023-08-09T18:25:07Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > (either that, or it was incredibly coincidental that two of the main characters on _The Simpsons_ just happen to be voiced by two TTUS cast members) _The Simpsons_ started out as a series of animated shorts on _The Tracey Ullman Show_, so it was almost undoubtedly not a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/34 "2023-08-10T05:21:24Z")
> [@digs](#): > > > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > > Personally I think Trapper John, MD was just a generic medical drama that the slapped the Trapper John name onto just for name recognition. The main character seemed to have nothing at all in common with the character from MASH. > > I always called the show **Adam Cartwright** , **MD**. Watching the promos for the show, I immediately came up with my own series: _It’s a hundred years after Dodge City, and your favorite GP is back in_ _ **Doc Adams, MD!** _ _He’s a Civil War veteran, teamed with young Alonzo Gates, a Spanish-American War veteran!_ _Together, they’ll try **anything** to save a life!_ ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/35 "2023-08-10T11:40:48Z")
If they can, MID-DRIVE, disable a cars brakes and ability to go into park…while causing the accelerator to go nuts…they can send a man to Mars without killing him. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/36 "2023-08-10T14:27:36Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I always called the show **Adam Cartwright** , **MD**. > > Had as much in common with Bonanza as it did M_A_S\*H. And Wayne Rogers was on the same network at the same time playing a different doctor in a sitcom. Man, that was confusing! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/37 "2023-08-10T15:07:06Z")
Yesterday I watched an episode of Hot In Cleveland. The episode had a “reunion” with characters played by Betty White (part of the main cast), Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel, Cloris Leachman and Valerie Harper. They were at a table in a restaurant (sans MTM) and they were taking about whether Mary Tyler Moore would show up. Then when she walked in the door, Betty White said, “Looks like she made it after all”. So, according to Betty White, she did make it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/38 "2023-08-10T15:17:10Z")
Well, Chuckles the Clown died, so he took the only sure fire way to make it out. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/39 "2023-08-10T15:19:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And he ended up in a drama, rather than a comedy. I wonder if he noticed? “Where are all the wacky people? The comedic situations? Billie Newman never does anything as funny as Sue Ann. Ted was amusingly annoying, Joe Rossi is just annoying.” > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > And Wayne Rogers was on the same network at the same time playing a different doctor in a sitcom. Man, that was confusing! Yeah, and then that Other Trapper John guy also had no more time for wacky gags and hijinks. Must have had his brain replaced by aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319/40 "2023-08-10T19:13:06Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > It’s in the theme song, that she’s gonna make it after all. Did you ever notice the [theme song in the first season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfZBZBVlFcY)? Gloomy. “How will you make it on your own? This world is awfully big, and girl, this time you’re all alone. (and ends with) You might just make it after all.” It followed the story line (which, IIRC, was that her boyfriend that she had put through medical school had dumped her) but not the actual flavor of the show. I’m glad they changed it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-richards-did-she-really-make-it-after-all/988319.md?page=3)