# Mary Tyler Moore and Lou's birthday party. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285 "2019-06-30T04:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/1 "2019-06-30T04:25:50Z")
Over the past week, I’ve been getting bits and pieces of an old TV show popping up in my memory, starting with the punchline. Drove me crazy at first, trying to identify it, but the more I think about it, the more I think it was a Mary Tyke Moore episode. Am I remembering this MTM episode correctly? Mary discovers it’s Lou’s birthday, plans a surprise party for him at her apartment. Invites Lou over on the pretext of some work that needs to be done. (Nowadays, of course, no way Lou would turn up in the evening to a single woman employee’s apartment to do some work, but _autre temps, autre moeurs_. ) But Lou rumbles what’s going on and is about to leave because he hates birthdays. But then the gang arrives and is waiting outside. Mary talks him into staying and he says he can only stay for a little while. Mary opens the door and a huge crowd of well-wishers comes in. Lou dives into the crowd, shaking hands. Then they suddenly realise Lou just walked through the crowd and left. They turn to Mary, who is nonplussed, but stammers out “He did say he could only stay for a little while.” It was that punch line that I remembered, and the rest I’ve gradually reconstructed. Do I have it right? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/2 "2019-06-30T04:49:07Z")
Maybe this: ["The Mary Tyler Moore Show" Happy Birthday, Lou! (TV Episode 1973) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642819/) ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/3 "2019-06-30T05:00:31Z")
If that’s not the exact scene, I like yours better! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/4 "2019-06-30T05:11:29Z")
I found the episode on line but I won’t post a link here because it’s a copyright violation. It’s very easy to google. Your memory is spot on though. The actual line is “well he did say that he could only stay for a few minutes.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/5 "2019-06-30T05:26:07Z")
Every party she ever threw was pretty much doomed. Didn’t Lou and his wife break up at one of her parties? ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/6 "2019-06-30T05:39:50Z")
Season 4, episode 15, and it’s on Hulu. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/7 "2019-06-30T13:46:24Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Every party she ever threw was pretty much doomed. Didn’t Lou and his wife break up at one of her parties? Yes, but Ted and Georgette met at one too. 🙂 Her parties didn’t start out dismal; they got that way later because it was funnier. Just like Jake Harper wasn’t dumb at first but grew dumber the older he got. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/8 "2019-06-30T13:49:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yes, but Ted and Georgette met at one too. 🙂 Also got married and had a baby at different lunch and dinner parties at Mary’s. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/9 "2019-06-30T14:20:25Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > Also got married and had a baby at different lunch and dinner parties at Mary’s. Bonus points if you can name the priest (i.e., the actor) who married them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/10 "2019-06-30T14:37:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Bonus points if you can name the priest (i.e., the actor) who married them. 😉 John Ritter, called straight from his tennis game. “Bride on my forehand, groom on my backhand.” ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/11 "2019-06-30T14:41:59Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > John Ritter, called straight from his tennis game. > > “Bride on my forehand, groom on my backhand.” Oh, you’re good! 🆒 ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-tyler-moore-and-lous-birthday-party/836285/12 "2019-06-30T19:12:08Z")
Thanks for the comments and links, everyone! Glad to hear my memory is working, although sporadically. And I’d forgotten about Fr John Ritter until this thread!