tlack
I remember watching this at about 1AM in the morning, and thinking; "what a strange television show"...and being hooked! I had to see what craziness was going to be uttered next! Because we've all ran into these kinds of people before!It was almost as though it was being improvised compared to most other more highly polished television shows of the day. It's one of those shows where the director tells the actors; "if you make a mistake, just keep going". But the actors had to know what everyone else was going to say, or else they would have been perpetually laughing. The out-takes must be truly hilarious! No disrespect to the writers, Gail Parent and Ann Marcus, who I think provided some of the most creatively quirky writing on television ever. Probably one of the first television shows to profusely use non sequiturs (Latin : it does not follow) as the main comedic ingredient. What a team they made! Great work!And if you look at the all the characters on the show; it's made up of many seasoned and many upcoming actors who all seemingly wound-up having fruitful careers in television.cbestca from san diego sums it up the essence of the show quite nicely when they wrote: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is a great American tragicomedy, 28 March 2000 "Mary Hartman is one of the great emblems of the distress of the mid-20th century American woman. Her hair in childish pigtails while wearing those little girl dresses, Mary was an example of the overly-consumered, growth-stunted American housewife trying to function while in a semi-daze..."--- A semi-daze is precisely correct. But it's the whole town (and perhaps the whole world) that's in the same perpetual semi-daze. An example of this is when the Reverend Standfast succumbs to Tom Hartmans harassment and turns to the crowd outside the Chinese laundry hostage standoff and asks; "does anyone have a Valium"? And everyone in the crowd offers him one!--- cbestca continues... "Her confrontations with adultery, contemporary feminism, and countless other social issues (often found within her own family) while trying to be the perfect little housewife and mother makes her eventual nervous breakdown more than just another crazy plot twist. In actuality, it was an inevitable progression."--- Precisely. Over-stimulated and over-whelmed by over-information, not knowing what is real or true. Just as the album art of Mary Hartman depicts saying; "Do my floors have a waxy yellow buildup"? ...we may never know the answer to that, but it's surely to be interrupted and superseded ASAP by someones gossip concerning something of more or less importance... or is it?
hfan77
In the mid 70s, Norman Lear was riding high with hit shows like All in the Family, Maude and Sanford and Son. Then came an idea for a satirical soap opera titled Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and it was turned down by the networks. But Lear did not give up and he sold the show in syndication, where it became popular in many markets opposite the news. I remember watching MH2 when I was in my teens and to me it was one of the weirdest TV shows of the 70s. Like many of Lear's shows, it focused on controversial themes such as mass murder, VD and exhibitionism. I remember Grandpa Larkin, who was referred to in the earlier episodes as "The Fernwood Flasher" but in the later episodes he was used less and his most common line was "Where's the peanut butter?" The weirdest thing that took place on the show was the way several characters died. Coach Fedders died by drowning in a bowl of chicken soup. The Rev. Jimmy Joe Jeeter was electrocuted when a TV fell in the bathtub and Garth Gimble was impaled by a Christmas tree. Despite the controversial themes, the show had an outstanding cast, anchored by Louise Lasser, who played the titled character so well, yet in a catatonic state. There was also Greg Mullavey as her husband Tom, Dody Goodman as her mother, and Debralee Scott as her sister Cathy. Also, the Hartman's daughter Heather was played by Claudia Lamb, who later went into radio. But the one regular who had success during the show's run was Mary Kay Place, whose portrayal of country singer Loretta Haggers also let to a record album and a country hit in real-life with "Baby Boy." She wrote all of the songs she sang on the show. Also appearing were Dabney Coleman, Martin Mull, Gloria DeHaven and as an evangelist, Doris Roberts. Unfortunately due to personal problems, Lasser left the show in 1977 and the rest of the cast continued under the titled "Forever Fernwood." But it wasn't successful and it ended after 26 weeks. Hopefull someday, a cable channel will rerun all 325 episodes of MH2 instead of a scant few. It's worth seeing again.
R D
Who would have guessed that 30 years later Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman would still be an absolutely hilarious and entertaining program? Controversial for its time, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman still seems to walk the line of racy subject matters.....not subtle and not over-the-top. Watching takes you back in time. It is entertaining to see the fashion statements and listen to the dialog from so long ago. The series is really like a time capsule! Also enjoyable is the product placement, a real blast-to-the-past! Thanks to everyone who brought this program to DVD. I certainly hope that the entire series makes it to video.
Frank Hankey
I was totally hooked on this show back in the 70s. Way out there, really dry. There are times when they'd set up a joke for several episodes running then spring the punchline on you. They tried to clone this into that show SOAP, but they added a laugh track that had the effect of killing the humor (at least for me). They really went out on a limb. That episode where Dabney Coleman stares silently into the camera for five minutes may be the most I've ever laughed at a TV show ("Look me in the eye and decide if Merle Jeter should be the next mayor of Fernwood"). I'm amazed that someone let them get away with this show.For a while the Lifetime channel brought this back. I wasn't sure if it would be as hilarious a second time around but it was. After a few weeks Lifetime pulled it for Unsolved Mysteries. TVLand made a better attempt a few years ago. It went on longer and they got Martin Mull and Fred Willard to emcee. Great stuff !! Once again it didn't go on too long. I don't know what useless stuff is in its place.
If anyone hears of this one getting replayed or made available on DVD, send me an email !