by Lindsay Totty

From The Mary Tyler Moore Show, created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns
Nominated by Kathryn Macek

A few years ago I clipped out an ad from the TV section of The Los Angeles Times. It was a picture of "our Mary" sitting at her desk at WJM, with that look on her face. The caption read: "You may seem like a goody-two-shoes now, but you were on birth control before Ally McBeal was born."

 

Mary Richards set the stage for the strong, single female characters that populate the small screen today. She knew herself, knew she had to follow her instincts and not take the easy road and just marry the guy and settle down and have kids.

So she did it: moved away from home to the big city, lived on her own. She was her own person, strong, independent. And she remained a "nice girl." How could you not love Mary? If you are of my generation, how could you not envy her?