First published 2013
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong examines the creation of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, one of television's most beloved sitcoms. The book reveals how writer-producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns conceived an edgy series about a divorced woman with a career, only to face CBS executives who declared that American audiences wouldn't accept divorce in a lead character any more than they would tolerate Jews, people with mustaches, or New Yorkers. Armstrong chronicles the stories of the female writers who drew from their own experiences for scripts, the men who developed the memorable characters, and the single woman network executive who assembled the cast and championed this daring project. The author profiles the complete ensemble that brought the show to life: James L. Brooks, Grant Tinker, Allan Burns, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White, Gavin MacLeod, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, and Georgia Engel. Armstrong demonstrates how this team collaborated to produce a series that transformed how women appeared on television and inspired a generation during an era when new possibilities seemed within reach.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, american, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, inspirational
Period: 20th-Century
324 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster