Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

"Mary Hartman" redirects here. For the women's studies academic, seeMary S. Hartman.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanis an Americansatiricalsoap operathat was broadcast on weeknights from January 1976 to July 1977. Thesyndicatedseries follows the eponymous Mary Hartman, a small-townOhiohousewife attempting to cope with various bizarre and sometimes violent incidents occurring in her daily life. The series was produced byNorman Lear,directed byJoan Darling,Jim Drake,Nessa Hyams, and Giovanna Nigro, and starredLouise Lasser,Greg Mullavey,Dody Goodman,Norman Alden,Mary Kay Place,Graham Jarvis,Debralee Scott,andVictor Kilian.The series writers wereGail ParentandAnn Marcus.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Title card
Created by	Gail Parent Ann Marcus Jerry Adelman Daniel Gregory Browne
Developed by	Norman Lear
Starring	Louise Lasser Greg Mullavey Mary Kay Place Graham Jarvis Debralee Scott Dody Goodman Philip Bruns Claudia Lamb Victor Kilian
Theme music composer	Barry White
Opening theme	"Premiere Occasion"
Composer	Earle Hagen
Country of origin	United States
No.of seasons	2
No.of episodes	325
Production
Producer	Viva Knight
Running time	23 minutes
Production companies	Filmways T.A.T. Communications Company
Original release
Network	Syndicated
Release	January 5, 1976(1976-01-05)– July 1, 1977(1977-07-01)

Developed by Lear with the intention of examining the effects ofconsumerismon the American housewife, the series was filmed atKTLA StudiosinLos Angeles.The show's title, featuring the title character's name stated twice, is a reference to Lear's observation that soap opera dialogue tended to be repeated.

In 2004 and 2007,Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanwas ranked number 21 and number 26 respectively on "TV Guide's TopCult ShowsEver. "

TV Guideranked the death of Coach Leroy Fedders, who drowns in a bowl of Mary's chicken soup in the first season, 97th on its list of the 100 Greatest T.V. Moments of All Time.

Premise

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanfollows the eponymous character through increasingly complex and compounding life events and scenarios often reflective of the changing social fabric of 1970s. Some of her key traits, unusual but prescient for the times, include her initially numbed-out response to both external and emotional conflicts, her indecisiveness, and her potential to suddenly snap out of one state of mind and swing to its opposite. Moral quandaries frequently seem on the verge of vanishing into apathy, until she is reminded of her love for her family and the need to keep them together. The show's convoluted plots and tongue-in-cheek melodrama lampooned the soap opera format similar toSoapand later,Twin Peaks. In the first episode, Mary Hartman introduces the Lombardi family of five, all of whom, along with their two goats and eight chickens, have been murdered by young Davey Jessup, an event witnessed by both Mary's daughter, Heather, and the "Fernwood Flasher", who is revealed to be Mary's grandfather, Raymond Larkin. Other characters also die in bizarre ways, including electrocution in a bathtub (Jimmy Joe Jeeter), drowning in chicken soup (Coach Leroy Fedders), and being impaled on a pink bottle brush artificial Christmas tree (Garth Gimble).

Mary Hartman had a nationally televisednervous breakdownonTheDavid SusskindShowat the end of the first season. She then found herself in apsychiatric ward,where she was delighted to be part of their selectedNielsen ratings"family".One of her sanitarium mates, widowed Wanda Rittenhouse (Marian Mercer), became more prominent later, when she married Merle Jeeter, the mayor of Fernwood.

Cast

Main cast

• Louise Lasseras Mary Shumway Hartman, the show's titular character.
• Greg Mullaveyas Tom Hartman, Mary's unfaithful husband and Heather's father.
• Mary Kay Placeas Loretta Haggers, Mary's best friend and neighbor, and aspiring country singer.
• Graham Jarvisas Charlie "Baby Boy" Haggers, Loretta's much older husband and Tom Hartman's best friend.
• Dody Goodmanas Martha Shumway, Mary's often daft mother known for talking to her plants.
• Debralee Scottas Cathy Lorraine Shumway, Mary's vampish sister.
• Victor Kilianas Grandpa Raymond Larkin, Martha's father, who was revealed in the pilot episode to be the "Fernwood Flasher."
• Philip Bruns(and for a few episodes after the show was rebranded asForever Fernwood,Tab Hunter) as George Shumway, Martha's husband and Mary and Cathy's father. He worked at an automobile assembly plant along with Tom and Charlie.
• Claudia Lambas Heather Hartman, Tom and Mary's troubled daughter.

Supporting cast

• Samantha Harper as Roberta Wolashek, Grandpa Larkin's young social worker, who falls in love with him.
• Salome Jensas Mae Olinski, Tom's Amazonian co-worker at the assembly plant and the payroll officer, with whom he had an affair.
• Bruce Solomonas Sgt. Dennis Foley, a Fernwood police officer who liked Mary and with whom she eventually ran off. (SeeForever Fernwood,below.)
• Norman Aldenas Coach Leroy Fedders, Tom's former high school coach. He died drowning in Mary's chicken soup.
• Reva Roseas Blanche Fedders, Coach Fedders' constantly protesting and militant wife.
• Martin Mullas hateful wife-beater Garth Gimble, who died by being impaled by a star on an aluminum Christmas tree. Mull later played Garth's twin brother, Barth Gimble, a more overtly comic character who showed up in Fernwood to lay low after some sort of trouble in Miami. After playing Barth onMHMHfor a handful of episodes, Barth was spun off to on his own series, the talk show parodyFernwood 2 Night(which later evolved intoAmerica 2-Night).
• Susan Browningas Garth's wife, Pat, the target of his abuse.
• Sparky Marcusas Jimmy Joe Jeeter, childevangelist,who died when a TV set he was watching fell into the bathtub, electrocuting him.
• Dabney Colemanas Merle Jeeter, Fernwood's slightly devious mayor and Jimmy Joe's father.
• Marian Merceras Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter, a widow of a city commissioner and a former sanitarium mate of Mary's, who became Jeeter's second wife while also carrying on a relationship with their maid, Lila.
• Gloria DeHavenasCB radioaficionado Annie "Tippy-toes" Wylie, a bisexual who also had an affair with Tom Hartman.
• Orson Beanas Reverend Brim, one of Fernwood's clergymen, mainly inForever Fernwood.
• George Furthas Reverend Harold Standfast, who helped Mary through the Davey Jessup hostage crisis. He had to swear on a stack of Bibles to have Mary released, but only did so after being threatened with the exposure of an extramarital affair he had with Florence Baedecker, the choir mistress of his church.
• Mary Carveras Christine Standfast, Reverend Standfast's wife, who knew all about her husband's extramarital affair.
• Shelley Fabaresas Eleanor Major, a woman who Tom Hartman fell in love with after Mary had left him and Heather for Sgt. Foley.
• Judith Kahanas Penny Major, Eleanor's sister, who married Tom Hartman in the series finale.
• Will Seltzeras Davey Jessup, the murderer of the Lombardi family, their two goats and eight chickens, who held Mary and Sgt. Foley hostage. Before that, he had also held Mary's daughter Heather and her best friend, Trudy Weathersby, hostage.
• Doris Robertsas Dorelda Doremus, afaith healer.
• Michael Lembeckas Clete Meizenheimer, television news reporter for Fernwood's local television station.
• Archie Hahnas Harold Clemens, a reporter for the town's newspaper, theFernwood Courier.
• Vivian Blaineas Betty McCullough, Mary's fortune teller neighbor who was helping her son and his male partner hide their true relationship.
• Sid Haigas Texas, a production worker at the automobile plant in Fernwood.
• Ed Begley Jr.as Steve, a deaf man who dated Cathy.
• John Heffernanas Chester Markham.
• Laurence Haddon as Ed McCullough
• Beeson Carroll as Howard McCullough
• Hugh Gillin as Tiny

History and production

In December 1974, Norman Lear and his entertainment company,Tandem Productions,created a pilot for his newserial,Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,a satire of the impact of American consumerism.The pilot, consisting of two episodes and shot on a $100,000 (equal to $617,814 today) budget,was not picked up by the networks.

Lear then pursued a syndication strategy by hiring a sales agent to sell the show at the 1976National Association of Television Program Executives(NATPE) market in San Francisco. The mostly independent stations that picked up the show began calling themselves the Mary Hartman Network.KING-TVofSeattlebecame the first station to procure syndication rights toMary Hartman, Mary Hartman.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanwas filmed at KTLA Studios in Los Angeles.

Music

The theme song, "Premiere Occasion", was selected from the stock music library Southern Library of Recorded Music. It was written by British composer Robert Charles Kingston under the pseudonym Barry White and copyrighted in 1965, 10 years beforeMary Hartman, Mary Hartmanfirst aired, lending the illusion of a soap opera that already had a long history.Incidental music for the series was mostly written byEarle Hagen.

As country and western singer-songwriter Loretta Haggers,Mary Kay Placesang a number of songs over the course of the series. Place wrote some of those songs herself, including "Baby Boy" and "Vitamin L", both of which were issued as singles byColumbia Recordsin 1976."Baby Boy" was a minor hit for Loretta Haggers in the series, which she played to a nationwide audience live on the set ofDinah!in one episode,as well as a minor hit for Place, spending 13 weeks on theBillboardHot 100chart and peaking at No. 60.Place also released a full album of Loretta Haggers's music,Tonite! At the Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers.

Several songs have been written about Mary Hartman, many of them incorporating elements of the theme song. All-woman rock groupThe Deadly Nightshade's disco-flavored "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Theme)" reached No. 79 on the Hot 100,and at least four other Mary Hartman-related disco songs were released byVincent Montana Jr.,Sammy Davis Jr.,Floyd Cramer,andThe Markettsduring the show's run.

Legal issues

In 1976, Lasser was arrested at a Los Angeles charity boutique. Police found $6 worth (or 88 milligrams) of cocaine in her purse. Authorities were called after Lasser'sAmerican Expresscard was denied and she refused to leave without possession of a $150 dollhouse. Lasser was initially apprehended for two unpaid traffic tickets (one for jaywalking), but the officers then found the cocaine in her handbag. She claimed a fan had given her the drug several months earlier. Lasser was ordered to six months in counseling, which was easily satisfied as she was already seeing an analyst.A fictionalized version of Lasser's refusal to leave a store without a dollhouse was incorporated intoMary Hartman's first season.

Legacy

In 1976, Ted Morgan wrote inThe New York Times:"The dreams and nightmares of the American people are reflected darkly through the glass ofMary Hartman, Mary Hartman.""No longer merely a television program,Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanhas become a cultural event, in the same league as those other sociological signposts that culture watchers [...] are always on the lookout for to help us explain ourselves. "

Of the series' influence on pop culture, Claire Barliant wrote: "For some, the 1970s [...] was a descent into chaos, a dissolution of self, but also a kind of awakening [...] The seventies nervous breakdown coincides with women's lib and a strengthening gay rights movement [...]MH2is relevant today because it entertains but still shocks, because the social commentary and satire and bravery of the show are as fresh as ever. "

In 2000, Lasser appeared on a panel with her formerMH2cast and crew members at thePaley Center for Mediain Beverly Hills for a seminar, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman: Reunion, Reunion". The panel was moderated by Steven A. Bell and recorded for the museum archives.

In 2004 and 2007,Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanwas ranked number 21 and number 26 on "TV Guide's TopCult ShowsEver. "

Forever Fernwood

When Lasser left the show in 1977, it was rebrandedForever Fernwoodand followed the trials and tribulations of Mary's family and friends after she had run away with police sergeant Dennis Foley, with whom she had had a lot of contact during the first season. Aside from Lasser, the rest of the cast remained intact even as new actors joined the cast:Shelley Fabaresas Eleanor Major, who began dating Tom after Mary had left him;Judith Kahanas Eleanor's stuttering sister, Penny Major; andRandall Carveras Cathy Shumway's gangster husband, Jeffrey DeVito.On the last episode of the series, Penny married Tom Hartman.Forever Fernwoodended in 1978, after 26 weeks on the air (130 half-hour episodes).

Spin-offs

During the summer of 1977,Fernwood 2 Night,a local talk show satire and parody starringMartin Mullas Barth Gimble, was broadcast as a spin-off/summer replacement forMary Hartman, Mary Hartman.For the following season, the show was slightly revamped and broadcast "nationwide" via the fictional UBS network asAmerica 2-Nightin the spring of 1978.

Planned reboot

In February 2021, it was reported that a reboot of the series was in development bySony Pictures TelevisionwithEmily Hampshireas writer and starring role,Jacob Tierneyas co-writer, and Lear andBrent Milleras executive producers.In July 2021, it was announced thatTBShad given a series order.In April 2022, it was announced the series was scrapped alongside all scripted programming on TBS.Lear later sought to revive the project, and was working on developing the reboot until shortly before his death in 2023.

In popular culture

The show was parodied several times during its run:

• On theBob Hope'sBicentennialStar Spangled Spectaculartelevision special on July 4, 1976, Hope performed a skit, "Mary Hartford, Mary Hartford" (in reference toHartford, Connecticut), set during theAmerican RevolutionwithDebbie Reynoldsas Mary Hartford.

• OnDonny & Marie,a series of skits titled "Marie Heartburn, Marie Heartburn"were performed withMarie Osmondplaying the titular role along withDonny Osmondand special guests.

• The Carol Burnett ShowhadHarvey Kormanportraying "Norman Blear" introducing the series for children titled "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary,Mary, Mary Quite Contrary "by usingnursery rhymecharacters, with Burnett in the lead role, andTim Conwayas her eccentric grandfather,Wee Willie Winkie,running around "flashing" people in his panda nightgown (in reference to the Fernwood Flasher).

Home video

VHS

• The Best of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume I.Videocassette. Embassy Home Entertainment.
• The Best of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume II.Videocassette. Embassy Home Entertainment.

DVD

On March 27, 2007,Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentreleasedMary Hartman, Mary Hartman Volume Oneon DVD inRegion 1.The three-disc boxset features the first 25 episodes of Season 1, dealing with the Fernwood Flasher and Lombardi massacre storylines. Many of the episodes were the syndication versions, heavily edited to fit more commercials in the broadcasts, due to cost issues when about to remaster and transfer the original broadcast versions.

On August 28, 2013, it was announced thatShout! Factoryhad acquired the rights to the series and releasedMary Hartman, Mary Hartman: The Complete Serieson DVD in Region 1 on December 3, 2013.The 38-disc set features all 325 episodes. The Season 1 episodes were restored to their full-length broadcast versions and other bonus features, such as interviews with Lear, Lasser, and Place, are included.

Syndication

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartmanwas syndicated on local stations briefly in 1982 and later broadcast onLifetime Televisionin 1994 andTV Landin 2002.

See also

• America 2-Night(1978)
• Fernwood 2 Night(1977)
• All That Glitters(1977)
• The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts(1980)
• Soap(1977)
• 1976 in American television

References

Notes

Further reading

• Miller Taylor Cole.Syndicated Queerness: Television Talk Shows, Rerun Syndication, and the Serials of Norman Lear.dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2017.

External links

• Mary Hartman, Mary HartmanatIMDb