Mary on Phyllis?

[Benno123]

Did Mary Tyler Moore ever guest star on Phyllis like she did on Rhoda? Just curious!

[scotsguy]

Yes she did two guest apparances,in the first season,episode five,"The First Day",Mary gets a letter from Phyllis who recalls her first shaky days at Julie's studio,and in the second season,episode 2,"You're Not Getting Any Better,Just Older",Phyllis rings Mary saying she needs her urgently(to prove a point to co-worker Harriett)Mary comes out all the way to San Francisco and is furious when she learns it was all for nothing!(except to help Phyllis celebrate her birthday)

[catlover79]

Those eps sound great (especially the latter one). :lol:

[scotsguy]

I'd send you a copy of it but the sound quality of the episode of Mary's second guest star appearance,is terrible on the episode I have.
The only thing is when Mary does arrive at Phyllis' no-one in the audience applauded,not like Mary's guest appearances on Rhoda,season1.
Mother Dexter says to Mary:"I've heard a lot about you Rhoda!".
Is is a good episode for showing Phyllis at her selfish best.

[Benno123]

Thanks for the reply. When American Life starts airing this, I'll look out for these shows!

[McGillicuddy]

I'd send you a copy of it but the sound quality of the episode of Mary's second guest star appearance,is terrible on the episode I have.
The only thing is when Mary does arrive at Phyllis' no-one in the audience applauded,not like Mary's guest appearances on Rhoda,season1.
Mother Dexter says to Mary:"I've heard a lot about you Rhoda!".
Is is a good episode for showing Phyllis at her selfish best.


I remember Mary and Mother Dexter seem to form a bond. Its absolutely priceless.

[catlover79]

I remember Mary and Mother Dexter seem to form a bond. Its absolutely priceless.
Too bad Mother Dexter and the REAL Rhoda never met - it would've been priceless to see them bond over their mutual hatred of Phyllis. :rofl:

[Kristen]

Too bad Mother Dexter and the REAL Rhoda never met - it would've been priceless to see them bond over their mutual hatred of Phyllis. :rofl:
Yes, but WHY would Rhoda visit Phyllis?! LOL Esp. after what happened at Rhoda's wedding!

[catlover79]

Yes, but WHY would Rhoda visit Phyllis?! LOL Esp. after what happened at Rhoda's wedding!
Revenge?? :lol:

[Marvo301]

Revenge?? :lol:
Exactly! And it would have made for an hilarious episode!! :lol:

[catlover79]

Exactly! And it would have made for an hilarious episode!! :lol:
Yeah, too bad they never made an episode like that. :(

[scotsguy]

I think a great episode would be Phyllis being stuck in a lift with someone who turns out to be Rhoda,as pointed out though why would Rhoda be in SF?

[ThomasE]

I just discovered this show on American Life. I gonna start taping this one and Rhoda.

[OOliver]

Thanks for the reply. When American Life starts airing this, I'll look out for these shows!

Yesterday, on ALN they showed the first ep which MTM guest starred in. She basically just walks into her apartment, and reads Phyllis' letter (Leachman's voice outloud in 'Mary's head' - then Leacman in the scene). She calls Phyllis at the end, after reading her letter, but Phyllis has no time for her.

IMO, it was a wasted opportunity to include Moore this way. It would have been better to send MTM out there for a reason.

One nice thing - there was a shot of MTM's apartment building which I never saw before. It looked rather nice from the angle.

[scotsguy]

Its funny I remember the episode of Mary guesting on Phyllis,from its first transmission in the 70s lol!

Yes its a shame Mary didn't actually meet up with Phyllis in that episode,still is a very funny episode,like the tramp Phyllis becomes friends with.

I do think the Liz Torres version of Julie is particularly grumpy in this epiosde,you always got the impression the Barbara Colby Julie,was fond of Phyllis.

[OOliver]

I think a major problem with the first season was that there was no chemistry between Leachman and Torres. As I've been watching this show on ALN, you can feel a disdain between the two characters.

In the 'Mary' episode we're talking about, Phyllis spends a day (her second day at the new job) contemplating her job, since she really doesn't like it. I think the writers should have ran with that idea and given 'Phyllis' a new job/career at that point (since this was the second ep with Torres in it, and it was obvious it wasn't working) - as we've mentioned, as a realtor, caterer, etc. This photo-studio atmosphere was just awful...and very limiting.

[McGillicuddy]

I think a major problem with the first season was that there was no chemistry between Leachman and Torres. As I've been watching this show on ALN, you can feel a disdain between the two characters.

In the 'Mary' episode we're talking about, Phyllis spends a day (her second day at the new job) contemplating her job, since she really doesn't like it. I think the writers should have ran with that idea and given 'Phyllis' a new job/career at that point (since this was the second ep with Torres in it, and it was obvious it wasn't working) - as we've mentioned, as a realtor, caterer, etc. This photo-studio atmosphere was just awful...and very limiting.
Nothing against Liz Torres, but the role of Julie, I think was created for Barbara Colby in mind. Colby's tragic death was so sudden, and at the time, they probably just couldn't abandon the photo-studio setting on a moments notice. They had scripts written. I always get back to thinking how different things would have been if Colby survived.

[scotsguy]

Its funny I liked the photo studio in season one but didn't like the office setting in season too,the government office was too "busy" for me.
Liz Torres did a good job,considering the tragic events causing the recast.
I do find it odd in "The First Day",that Julie would be so short tempered with Phyllis,considering Phyllis' recent bereavement.
Although we never saw Lars,it funny to think Julie mark2 was meant to have dated Lars at the same time as Phyllis,very strange Julie(mark1 and 2)never mentioned Lars again after the pilot episode.
I think from what I've leant on this site lately,Richard Schall deciding not to return as Leo in season2(although he did return to direct Phyllis) put the lid on the photo studio.
The only thing I would say about season2 was that Phyllis got back to being more of her old selfish self again and not as dumb as she was written in early season1 episodes.