The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Sep 19, 1970

The classic series begins its classic 7-year run in Mary's apartment. Mary Richards, a 30-year-old single woman, has left her long-time boyfriend, Bill, to be with her old friend, Phyllis Lindstrom, in Minneapolis. (Mary originally lived in Roseburg, MN.) Why did Mary leave Bill? After promising to her that he would marry her right after his internship at the hospital, he said, ""Why rush into things???"" Meanwhile, she's already having troubles with her new apartment--a bitter upstairs neightbor, Rhoda Morgenstern, insists that she owns Mary's apartment!

Sep 26, 1970

Mary is worried now that she's outside the 15-29 demographic group which the station classifies as 'young', and the mailboy has called her 'Ma'am'. Rhoda persuades her into calling an old boyfriend for a get-together.

Oct 3, 1970

When Phyllis's husband Lars takes ill, she asks Mary to babysit Bess for a few days. Bess decides she wants to stay permanently with Mary, to Phyllis's dismay.

Oct 10, 1970

Mary and Rhoda find out that divorcees at the Better Luck Next Time club can get group rates on cruises and decide to join. However, Mary proves a hit with the club's members and gets elected to its board.

Oct 17, 1970

A football player turned insurance salesman applies for a job as a sportscaster and attaches himself to Mary. Mary and Rhoda discover that he hasn't had much success at anything and encourage him to pursue his dreams.

Oct 24, 1970

Rhoda's mother, Ida, comes visiting and Rhoda refuses to see her. Ida stays with Mary but drives her crazy.

Oct 31, 1970

Mary begins seeing an author who appeared as a guest on WJM-TV's Scrutiny, and becomes extremely self-conscious after discovering he is several inches shorter than her.

Nov 7, 1970

A snowstorm leaves Mary producing her first program, broadcasting the results of the local elections. The show has to remain on until a winner is declared and no word is received at the newsroom.

Nov 14, 1970

Mary is nominated for her first Television Editors' Award (the ""Teddies""), but at home Rhoda's boyfriend Bob takes more of an interest in Mary than in Rhoda.

Nov 21, 1970

Mary's workload gets too much so Lou allows her to hire an assistant. She chooses Phyllis who hinders more than she helps.

Nov 28, 1970

Mary is audited by the IRS, and the shy auditor takes an interest in her. Unfortunately, he has great difficulty telling her how he feels.

Dec 5, 1970

Ted loses his self-confidence after speaking at Phyllis's club and Mary has to find a way to get Ted back on a high.

Dec 12, 1970

After Mary invites Lou's nephew home for dinner, she must confront false rumors in the newsroom the following day.

Dec 19, 1970

Feeling sympathetic for a co-worker who hasn't spent Christmas with his family for years, Mary is forced to stay alone at WJM-TV on Christmas Eve.

Jan 2, 1971

Mary begins seeing Paul Arnell, the brother of her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, and is shocked to discover that the brothers' parents still believe that she and Howard are an item.

Jan 9, 1971

Mary gets a tempting offer from a rival television station, but becomes reluctant to leave when her WJM-TV colleagues throw a farewell party for her.

Jan 16, 1971

Mary reluctantly finds herself romantically involved with a married man.

Jan 23, 1971

Mary's apartment is burgled, with only her clothes, stereo and television taken but then next night the whole apartment is cleaned out.

Jan 30, 1971

Murray's play, All Work and No Play, is finally produced but his happiness is short-lived when he discovers that the leading role will be played by Ted.

Feb 6, 1971

Mary is admitted into the hospital to have her tonsils removed, and shares a room with a grouchy woman who refuses to get along with anyone.

Feb 13, 1971

Lou and his wife Edie separate and Mary becomes involved when she is asked for advice.

Feb 20, 1971

An irritating childhood friend drops by Mary's apartment, making use of her connection as Mary's former camp mate to introduce herself to the newsroom's staff.

Feb 27, 1971

Rhoda falls in love with a top executive, and is shocked to find that he wants to give up the high-flying lifestyle to become a forest ranger.

Mar 6, 1971

When Lou is fired, Mary goes to confront the station owner, Wild Jack Munroe.

Sep 18, 1971

In the second-season premiere, after Mary Richards produces a ""What's Your Sexual IQ?"" documentary for the Six O'Clock News, Rhoda confesses to failing and Phyllis says that young Bess watched it. Phyllis calls on Mary to teach Bess the facts of life, but it turns out that Bess already had learned it from her friends. Meanwhile, the WJM-TV newsroom is shelled with phone calls responding to the documentary. According to Mary, more people are appalled by it than anything else.

Sep 25, 1971

Mary is intrigued by the voice of Lou Grant's friend, Mike Cooper, and asks to be set up with him. Lou breaks his policy of not matchmaking friends and colleagues.

Oct 2, 1971

Mary and Rhoda take an unplanned vacation to Mexico but have to do a strange favor for a Mexican restaurant owner for reservations.

Oct 9, 1971

Mary and Rhoda enroll in a night school course in journalism and Mary begins dating the lecturer.

Oct 16, 1971

When Ida, Rhoda's mother, visits, she sees how well Phyllis and Bess get on, and how closely Mary appears to her mother when they chat on the telephone, that she tries to be Rhoda's ""friend"".

Oct 23, 1971

Jack Cassidy guest stars as professional model Hal Baxter, who comes to visit his brother Ted at WJM-TV. Immediately, the two engage in a heated battle of sibling rivalry about EVERYTHING -- salaries, cars, & even women. In an effort to size up his brother, Ted claims that Mary is his girlfriend. Ted & Hal decide to go on a double-date with Mary & Rhoda. At the restaurant, Ted doesn't know any etiquitte, and it shows. Back at Mary's apartment, Ted & Hal arm wrestle before Hal decides to go with Rhoda up to her apartment to look thru magazines for his picture. Ted stays with Mary to make Hal think that he spends more time with his girl than he does.

Oct 30, 1971

Mary attends her high school reunion and meets up with her former boyfriend Howard Arnell, who continues to have feelings for Mary. Meanwhile, Rhoda tags along believing that people will ""remember"" her although she didn't attend Roseburg High.

Nov 6, 1971

The writing and technical unions go on strike, leaving only Lou, Mary, and Ted in the newsroom. WJM-TV makes Lou be second cameraman on ""The Chuckles the Clown Show"". Because an upset Murray is on strike, Mary has to write the news stories. They are terrible, and when Lou criticizes them, she starts crying. Things take a turn for the worse: Ted's union strikes, and Lou has to fill in as anchorman! On his first brodcast, he has ""clammy hands"", and he bombs. At a local bar, Murray, Gordy, & Mary share a laugh over this. After drinking before his 2nd brodcast, he is ""as cool as a cucumber""--that is, until he falls asleep at breaktime. Herb fills in for Lou for the rest of the brodcast. The next day, the unions come to an agreement, and everything goes back to normal. Rhoda Morgenstern & Phyllis Lindstrom do not appear in this episode.

Nov 13, 1971

Ted is forced to take a vacation and the anchorman hired to sit in for him becomes a huge success.

Nov 20, 1971

Mary gets a chain letter from Lou, and she is persuaded to send it on. To her surprise, one of the recipients comes for a visit, giving Mary a less than pleasant time dealing with him.

Nov 27, 1971

Mary, Rhoda and Lou go to a John Wayne movie, where they spot Lou's son-in-law with an unknown woman.

Dec 4, 1971

Rhoda loses her job as a window-dresser and isn't in a hurry to find something new. When there is a job opening at WJM-TV, Mary lies to Rhoda and tells her the job has been filled, to Lou's surprise.

Dec 11, 1971

When Edie is out of town, Lou hires Rhoda to redecorate his living room. However, Rhoda's tastes are too modern.

Dec 18, 1971

After Ted appears on the Chuckles the Clown Show, he falls in love with Chuckles' daughter.

Jan 1, 1972

After volunteering some of her spare time for a worthy cause, Mary begins dating the Governor's aide. Unfortunately, the aide's duties cause him to break every date.

Jan 8, 1972

An incompetent waitress is fired after Mary complains about her poor service and Mary feels obliged to hire her when she applies for an assistant's job at WJM-TV.

Jan 15, 1972

Murray takes on a night job as a cab driver in order to save up and buy his wife Marie a new car for their 10th wedding anniversary. However, Marie becomes suspicious about Murray's absences and fears that Murray is having an affair with Mary Richards.

Jan 22, 1972

Mary agrees to babysit Bess for the weekend, but then a former boyfriend, in town for a few days, asks her out. When she can't find a babysitter for Bess on such short notice, she ends up asking Lou.

Jan 29, 1972

After being persuaded by Phyllis, Ted moves into a vacant apartment below Mary's but Mary and Rhoda are not thrilled by the prospect.

Feb 5, 1972

Bess gets top marks for a report she wrote for school, and Phyllis pressures her to write a book based on it, calling on Mary for help.

Feb 12, 1972

When Rhoda's apartment is destroyed by fire, she moves in with Mary. The two find that while they are best friends, they make awful roommates.

Feb 19, 1972

Mary begins dating an architect and is astonished to learn that his son is only six years younger than she is.

Feb 26, 1972

Through a minor car accident, Mary befriends a young woman, Joanne. Rhoda becomes jealous when Mary spends more time with Joanne but Mary quickly ends the new friendship when she discovers Joanne is anti-Semitic and disapproves of Rhoda.

Mar 4, 1972

Mary gets city councilman Pete Peterson to appear on Face the People and discovers that he is completely incompetent. She and his aides try to bring him up to speed on current events so he can make a good impression on the show.

Sep 16, 1972

Mary is given the task of making The Six O'clock News more upbeat, and her plans are on target to succeed until they're frustrated by Ted.

Sep 23, 1972

Mary is interviewed by a newspaper columnist and ends up telling a little too much.

Sep 30, 1972

Lou is promoted to the position of program director but has to decide to whom his old job should go. Meanwhile, The Six O'clock News begins falling apart without him.

Oct 7, 1972

Ida Morgenstern, Rhoda's mother, mistakenly believes that her husband is seeing other women, so Rhoda and Mary try to clear things up between them.

Oct 14, 1972

When Lou's trip to Las Vegas is cancelled, Mary organizes a poker game at the office where Murray loses a substantial amount to Ted.

Oct 21, 1972

After losing 20 pounds, Rhoda enters a beauty contest at work, but continues to put herself down.

Oct 28, 1972

Mary is worried that her parents, who have moved to the Twin Cities to be close to her, may pry into her life too much.

Nov 4, 1972

Mary begins dating the writer of the Chuckles the Clown show, whose real ambition is to become a stand-up comedian.

Nov 11, 1972

Ted refuses to sign his contract renewal until Lou agrees to let him pursue other ventures, a decision he soon regrets when Ted begins appearing in commercials.

Nov 18, 1972

Two of Mary's friends separate and Mary accepts a date from the husband.

Nov 25, 1972

Mary becomes concerned when her father, newly retired, appears to have no friends or hobbies in Minneapolis, and tries to take on the role herself.

Dec 2, 1972

Bess's 15-year-old boyfriend falls in love with Mary and begins to surprise her with visits to her apartment and her work.

Dec 9, 1972

Lou goes to hospital to have a piece of World War II shrapnel removed and, surprisingly, he and Ted become best friends.

Dec 16, 1972

Rhoda decides to move back to New York but Mary is taking the whole thing with a grain of salt.

Dec 23, 1972

Mary runs into her former boyfriend Dan Whitfield in an elevator by chance. Subsequently, Dan realizes he still has feelings for Mary, breaks off his engagement, and begins dating her again.

Jan 6, 1973

Lou spots an opportunity to buy a bar after realizing a lifelong dream. However, he is short of several thousand dollars and Ted is the only one who can come to his aid.

Jan 13, 1973

Phyllis wants to set up her visiting brother with Mary, but instead he hits it off with Rhoda and begins spending time with her to Phyllis's disapproval.

Jan 20, 1973

Mary and Rhoda try to encourage Georgette to take a stand for herself after seeing how Ted takes advantage of her.

Jan 27, 1973

Rhoda introduces Mary to a very irritating Warren Sturges, who tries everything including a giant billboard across the road from the WJM-TV offices to get her to accept his marriage proposal.

Feb 3, 1973

The new station manager, an attractive woman, falls for Lou.

Feb 10, 1973

Murray becomes depressed when he realizes that the years are passing him by, after he learns that a contemporary has won a Pulitzer Prize.

Feb 17, 1973

A former boyfriend visiting Minneapolis calls Mary who, deep down, wants to see him again but she has been hurt by him too many times before.

Feb 24, 1973

Everything goes right for Rhoda and everything goes wrong for Mary on a disastrous day when she is due to go to the Teddies.

Mar 3, 1973

Mary lends Rhoda almost $1,200 to start a new venture and worries she may never see her money again, after Rhoda postpones repayment, hires Georgette full-time and begins expanding her business.

Sep 15, 1973

Phyllis finds out that Lars has been having an affair with Sue Ann Nivens, the star of WJM-TV's The Happy Homemaker show.

Sep 22, 1973

Mary's boyfriend is younger than she is and she and Rhoda discover there is a generation gap when they go and visit his friends at a party.

Sep 29, 1973

Rhoda and Mary fly to New York for Rhoda's younger sister's wedding. Rhoda's mother downplays the whole thing fearing that Rhoda is envious.

Oct 6, 1973

On the advice of their marriage counselor, Lou's wife, Edie, decides to move out. Lou is heartbroken by the prospect.

Oct 13, 1973

In this episode Dick Gautier guest stars briefly as Ed Cavenaugh, a sleazy sportscaster. Have a look at his website at Dick Gautier.com. Gordon Jump, later of MTM Enterprises' ""WKRP"" is seen for a few minutes playing one of the sportscaster applicants. When Ted asks Mary to order tweezers and other assorted supplies for his personal use, she gets more than a little flustered and asks Lou to give her something challenging to do. At the drop of a hat, he assigns her the task of hiring a new sportscaster...and firing the old one. In order to let Ed Cavenaugh down easy, she invites him to lunch and he tries to mesmerize her with his suavity with the opposite sex. Then Mary learns a lesson: don't fire the current sportscaster until you've hired another one. After days of screening applicants, listening to demo tapes and perusing their eight-by-ten glossies, she decides on Andy Rivers.

Oct 20, 1973

Ted meets his father, who deserted him as a baby.

Oct 27, 1973

Mary's former boyfriend, Wes Callison, gets a job in the newsroom but his affection for Mary gets in the way of his work.

Nov 3, 1973

Lou gives Mary the task of finding him a date for an awards' ceremony. A name mix-up means that Lou winds up taking out an 80-year-old woman.

Nov 10, 1973

Rhoda begins dating the boss of Hemple's and falls deeply in love with him. She wants to tell him how she feels, but Mary warns her to take things slowly.

Nov 17, 1973

Mary invites Congresswoman Geddes to a fancy dinner at her home, trying hard to ensure that everything is perfect.

Nov 24, 1973

Lou is still heartbroken over Edie's departure and asks Mary to help them get back together.

Dec 1, 1973

Phyllis persuades Ted to stand for local government. Ted agrees and goes so far as to quit his job at WJM-TV.

Dec 8, 1973

Murray's daughter, Bonnie, is looking for a job and Mary is persuaded into giving her one but Bonnie is not as efficient as everyone had hoped.

Dec 15, 1973

Georgette finds Ted making out with a woman in his dressing room. She then decides to enter a nunnery, but the head nun talks her out of it.

Dec 22, 1973

Lou is closing in on fifty and today is his birthday. Mary can't stand the thought of the now-separated Lou celebrating his birthday all alone, so she arranges a surprise party for him. That evening, she invites Lou over for a drink and the doorbell rings just as he tells her how much he appreciated her not throwing an office party for him that afternoon. Gordy is at the door with an envelope...full of hats. Others are out in the hallway, too. Lou is furious and tries to get out using the back door...but there is no back door. Mary asks Lou's permission to invite Murray in. He enters, miffed at Lou's actions. Next Rhoda, and finally Ted, get to come in. Lou admits that he hates displays of affection...then reluctantly agrees to let the remainder of the guests in. While they all file in, he files out and down to MacKluskey's bar where....they throw a surprise party for him. Later he returns to Mary's place to apologize...evidently the guests opened his gifts (at Ted's urging) and they a

Jan 5, 1974

Mary begins dating the anchorman from Minneapolis's top news show and becomes ashamed of WJM-TV's smaller news operation.

Jan 12, 1974

Phyllis, who has gotten her real estate license, persuades Lou to sell his house. However, Lou hasn't really made up his mind whether he wants to move.

Jan 19, 1974

Mary and Rhoda are given permission to develop a new show for WJM but their dreams begin to fade when they find out that the hosts will be Ted and Sue Ann, who both begin to interfere with their plans.

Jan 26, 1974

Rhoda tells the secret of Mary's that she never graduated from college, as she claimed on her job application, and their friendship is suddenly put at risk.

Feb 2, 1974

To relieve her boredom, Mary jokingly writes a humorous obituary of one of the people in the WJM-TV file. Coincidentally, the same person dies the following day and the obituary is read on the air. Lou has no choice but to suspend Mary, but she threatens to quit in response.

Feb 9, 1974

After a heavy self-promotion campaign, Ted wins his first Teddy Award. When Walter Cronkite comes to the newsroom, Ted assumes that he will be hired by the networks.

Feb 16, 1974

Lou and Rhoda find they have a lot in common and begin seeing each other on a casual basis but everyone assumes that the romance is serious.

Feb 23, 1974

Ted joins Mary at a night-school class in creative writing, and winds up plagiarizing her assignment.

Mar 2, 1974

Mary goes to a singles bar to research a documentary, but on the night the crew arrives for filming, the same people who were willing to tell Mary everything don't want to be seen on camera.

Sep 14, 1974

Mary refuses to reveal a news source for a story she produced and has to spend a night in jail.

Sep 21, 1974

Mary dates a man with whom she has nothing in common and becomes concerned that their relationship is superficial.

Sep 28, 1974

Lou finally loses his temper with Ted when he endorses a political candidate on The Six O'clock News and throws him through the office doors. Lou feels guilty, and Ted takes advantage of him.

Oct 5, 1974

Lou begins seeing a cocktail lounge singer but becomes uncomfortable about her past.

Oct 12, 1974

WJM-TV hires a young business consultant, who demands certain changes for The Six O'clock News, offending every member of the news team.

Oct 19, 1974

Murray meets an attractive woman at one of Mary's parties and considers having an affair. On the pretext of buying her old piano, he goes to see her.

Oct 26, 1974

A young fan, Gloria, persuades Sue Ann to hire her for The Happy Homemaker. Sue Ann is less than pleased when Gloria plays up to the station manager and gets a larger role on the show at the expense of her own.

Nov 2, 1974

Phyllis dates a man on a platonic basis, but he is attracted more to Mary and begins seeing her.

Nov 9, 1974

The entire newsroom staff is arguing with each other, and when they are trapped at the office due to bad weather, Sue Ann decides to serve her Christmas dinner early.

Nov 16, 1974

Mary and Sue Ann go to a convention in Chicago and Mary finds out that Sue Ann leads a lonely life.

Nov 23, 1974

Ted is shocked when he finds out his mother does not intend to marry her boyfriend, but will live with him.

Nov 30, 1974

Murray, who has three daughters, wants a son, but his wife Marie doesn't want to have another child. The couple decide to adopt instead.

Dec 7, 1974

Lou wants a smaller place and moves in to Rhoda's old apartment but can't help interfering in Mary's private life.

Dec 14, 1974

Lou wants to hire a female newscaster 'like Mary', so Mary decides to audition for the job herself.

Dec 21, 1974

Now that Mary is producer, Ted thinks that he can make his move on her. He convinces the rest of the newsroom that they are having an affair.

Jan 4, 1975

Mary doesn't feel she deserves the title of producer and asks Lou that she be given the chance to produce The Six O'clock News alone.

Jan 11, 1975

When Ted's formula for betting on football games works, Lou goes into partnership with him. He winds up betting all of the season's winnings on the Super Bowl without telling Ted.

Jan 18, 1975

Phyllis and Lars have a dispute and she finds her credit cards cut off. She looks for a job but finds that she has no relevant skills.

Jan 25, 1975

Lou wants to research his own news story now that Mary's producer and decides to launch a major investigation on a city councilor only to discover that he is completely honest.

Feb 1, 1975

Ted pops the question to Georgette at Murray's 20th wedding anniversary party and then gets cold feet.

Feb 8, 1975

Mary agrees to help a troubled crime prone girl go straight and find a job.

Feb 15, 1975

Lou wins the Albert Mason Award, which he had once said was for broadcasting veterans who couldn't chew their own food.

Feb 22, 1975

A con-man tricks Ted into setting up a broadcasters' academy. When he finds out he's been had, he asks Lou, Mary and Murray to be the faculty and give the semester's opening lectures.

Mar 8, 1975

Mary likes her new boyfriend but finds his son absolutely intolerable.

Sep 13, 1975

Lou puts on a brave face when he learns that his ex-wife Edie is remarrying.

Sep 20, 1975

Mary, wanting some change in her life, makes the decision to move to a new apartment.

Sep 27, 1975

Mary researches a documentary with the help of a priest. He eventually decides to leave the Church, and Mary thinks that he has fallen in love with her.

Oct 4, 1975

Murray realizes that he's always been in love with Mary and wants desperately to tell her.

Oct 11, 1975

Ted's jocular nature is ideal for hosting a game show in New York, and he successfully auditions for the job. But Mary and Lou wonder if they really want to see him go.

Oct 18, 1975

Mary's high-flying journalist aunt comes for a visit, and Lou finds that he has a rival in her.

Oct 25, 1975

Chuckles the Clown is crushed to death by a rogue elephant in a parade, which leaves all the newsroom staff in hysterics except Mary.

Nov 1, 1975

Mary joins a Big Sisters scheme and tries to bring a teenage shoplifter to the side of good. Sue Ann, pursuing an award, decides to "adopt" a little sister as well but finds herself getting influenced.

Nov 8, 1975

Out of pity for Ted, Mary invites him & Georgette over for brunch. While he as an onion ring in his mouth, he proposes to Georgette...again. When, for the first time, Georgette says no, she & Ted have a talk and decide they want to get married now. They invite all their friends: Lou, Murray (with mud on his sweatshirt from his son's football game), and Sue Ann (who, in a spectacularily comedic enterance, brings a veil, flowers, and rice, among several other things). Ted's mom can't make it (she's washing her hair), but the incompetent minister comes straight from his tennis match. Best man Lou helps Ted calm his wedding day jitters. When the minister asks Ted if he takes Georgette to be his lawfully wedded wife, he pauses for a moment. Finally, with a smile on his face, he says, ""I do."" When they are pronounced husband & wife, Sue Ann sings the wedding march...very poorly, of course. Once the wedding ends and Lou, Murray, & Sue Ann leave, Ted asks, as if nothing had happened,

Nov 15, 1975

Lou meets up with a woman who had sent him a 'Dear John' letter during World War II but is disappointed to learn her motives for doing so.

Nov 22, 1975

Mary is convinced she has really fallen in love, but her boyfriend seems reluctant in saying those three magic words, 'I love you'.

Nov 29, 1975

Ted is overjoyed when he gets a tax refund and splurges out on everyone at the newsroom, but is later shocked when the IRS informs him that he will be audited.

Dec 6, 1975

Sue Ann gets Mary to ask Lou out on a date on her behalf. Lou accepts, not realizing who Mary's 'friend' is.

Dec 13, 1975

Mary's old flame Dan Whitfield, who once proposed to her, returns to Minneapolis and she's forced to choose between him and her current boyfriend.

Dec 20, 1975

Initially delighted at the chance of producing the Happy Homemaker show, Murray quickly becomes miserable when he realizes the menial tasks he has to do for Sue Ann.

Jan 3, 1976

Ted and Georgette face marital problems, but Ted refuses to see a counselor unless Lou goes with him.

Jan 10, 1976

Lou and Mary go on a press junket to Washington, DC. Lou was once a correspondent there, but Mary has difficulty believing him about his contacts.

Jan 17, 1976

Lou has spent the night with Sue Ann, and confides in Mary. Their friendship is almost ruined when Mary is unable to keep the secret.

Jan 24, 1976

Lou almost ruins one of Mary's parties when his old girlfriend, Charlene Maguire, arrives with a date. He tries to make her jealous by taking out one of Mary's neighbors.

Jan 31, 1976

Murray is unhappy with the new station owner's policies and tells him off over the phone one evening. However, the station owner fires him the following day.

Feb 7, 1976

Mary's Aunt Flo and Lou both prepare competing ideas for a TV documentary.

Feb 21, 1976

Mary learns that an old friend seeking re-election to Congress had financial help from the mob. Lou threatens to use the story on the air.

Feb 28, 1976

Sue Ann has fallen in love, but her new boyfriend is less scrupulous than he first seems.

Mar 6, 1976

Ted and Georgette decide to adopt a son after Ted is informed he cannot have children.

Sep 25, 1976

Georgette gives birth at Mary's dinner party. With the hospital and doctor too far away, Lou and Mary help deliver the baby.

Oct 2, 1976

Mary decides to take a creative writing course, and is less than delighted with the criticism Lou levels at her efforts.

Oct 9, 1976

Sue Ann becomes deeply depressed when her sister arrives and gets an offer to do a competing homemaker show in Minneapolis.

Oct 16, 1976

Mary hires a new sportscaster who refuses to cover any sports but swimming and is faced with the prospect of firing her.

Oct 23, 1976

Ted suffers a heart attack on the air and for the next few days becomes conscious of how precious life is.

Oct 30, 1976

Lou promotes Murray to co-producer against Mary's wishes to prevent him from accepting a producer's job at a rival television station.

Nov 6, 1976

Ted and Georgette are initially disturbed to find that their son, David, is not doing well at school, but a psychiatrist's test shows that he is a genius. Unfortunately, David lets this go to his head and takes advantage of Ted.

Nov 13, 1976

Mary faces a contempt charge for not revealing her news source. Lou recommends a lawyer friend who takes a romantic interest in Mary.

Nov 20, 1976

Lou realizes that he has feelings for Mary's Aunt Flo, a journalist with a similar pride and passion in the news profession.

Nov 27, 1976

Lou learns from a source on the Teddy Award's panel that Murray will finally win an award for his news writing.

Dec 4, 1976

Mary is having trouble sleeping and resorts to pills, which has Lou concerned that she's become addicted to them.

Dec 11, 1976

Mary and Murray find it hard to believe that an attractive young journalist has tried to seduce Ted while they are at a convention in Hollywood.

Dec 25, 1976

Mary and Lou threaten to quit after the new station manager refuses to give them a raise.

Jan 8, 1977

A pompous but renowned critic is hired to provoke controversy on The Six O'Clock News, but the newsroom thinks he has gone too far when he begins attacking Minneapolis and its residents.

Jan 15, 1977

Lou wants to return a favor to an old Army buddy, but balks when he asks for a date with Mary.

Jan 22, 1977

Ted and Georgette successfully audition for their own variety show, which becomes a big hit, but Georgette eventually finds that she would prefer being a wife and mother.

Jan 29, 1977

Sue Ann's Happy Homemaker show is canceled but she is determined to stay at WJM and asks Mary to give her a job in the newsroom.

Feb 5, 1977

WJM's former weatherman, Gordy Howard, returns to visit Minneapolis after becoming a highly successful network presenter in New York. Ted is desperate for a chance to join Gordy.

Feb 12, 1977

Mary happily accepts a date from a charming older man without realizing that he's Murray's father, but everyone else has difficulty coming to terms with the difference in their ages.

Feb 19, 1977

Ted offers Murray $200 to write an article on his behalf. The article becomes a success, but Ted refuses to share the credit with Murray.

Feb 26, 1977

Murray, Ted and Lou fantasize about being married to Mary.

Mar 5, 1977

Mary has planned a fancy party at her apartment, with a mystery guest of honor, but the power in the building goes before he arrives.

Mar 12, 1977

Mary has another disastrous date and worries she'll never meet the right man, until Georgette points out that every quality she seeks can be found in Lou Grant.

Mar 19, 1977

WJM-TV has some personnel changes in the executive department (again), and everyone except Ted Baxter is fired. The new station manager wants to see the WJM News the highest-ranked in Minneapolis, and for some reason feels that Ted can help him make it happen. (Seems a little odd, eh?) The gang says goodbye to each other in the form of a long, hard cry. Mary thanks them all for being her surrogate family, and Lou finally sentimentally says, ""I cherish you people."" They bravely march out the office doors singing, ""It's a long, long way to Tipperary."" At the last moment, Mary leans back through through the WJM-TV doors and turns out the light. So long, WJM-TV.