• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • ABOUT US
  • MEDIA
  • PRIVACY
  • TERMS
  • DMCA
  • CONTACT US
  • AUTHORS
do you remember

DoYouRemember?

The Home of Nostalgia

  • Celebrity News
    • Family
    • Obituaries
    • Life Behind the Fame
    • ICONS
    • Celebrity Feuds
  • Entertainment
    • Cast
    • Showbiz Rewind
    • Music
    • Beauty & fashion
  • STORIES
  • Celebrity Buzz!?
  • Sitcoms
    • Bewitched
    • Little Rascals
    • The Partridge Family
    • I Dream of Jeannie
    • All in the Family
    • MASH
    • Happy Days
    • Cheers
  • Celebrity Collections
  • SHOP DYR
    • DYR Book

Stories

New Mary Tyler Moore Documentary Features Rare Footage Of ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Pilot CBS Refused To Air

by Peace A

Published May 25, 2023

Mary Tyler Moore Documentary

Mary Tyler Moore had a memorable time on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which aired for seven seasons and was created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns. The brilliant delivery of her role as Mary Richards on the show was so iconic that it earned her critical acclaim and several awards, which included four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, while the show itself won numerous accolades, including Outstanding Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards for three consecutive years (1975-1977).

Despite the success and seeming smooth run of the sitcom, Robert Levine, Moore’s widower and executive director of the upcoming documentary, Being Mary Tyler Moore, which gives some behind the scene details of the late actress’s life, has revealed that the beloved sitcom was almost rendered dead even before its first broadcast.

Related:

  1. ‘Being Mary’ Documentary Explores The Incredible Life And Story Of Mary Tyler Moore
  2. ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Cast Celebrates The Show’s 50th Anniversary

New Documentary reveals that ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ was almost never aired

Mary Tyler Moore Documentary
ORDINARY PEOPLE, Mary Tyler Moore, 1980. (c) Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

Levine revealed in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment that the CBS top officials found the demo of the show unsatisfactory and insisted on specific adjustments to be made. “It did not test well, and the network executives came to them and said, ‘Fix it,'” Dr. Robert Levine admitted to the news outlet. “That test pilot just didn’t work in the way that the show could. Obviously, once they got all the kinks out, it definitely worked. It’s quite an extraordinary story the way we tell it in the movie.”

RELATED: ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Ended After This Happened

The executive director of the movie also revealed that the test pilot for the series, written by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, was shot under extremely unfavorable conditions and thus had a negative influence on the result. “It’s a little bit flat,” he noted. “Clearly, the writing is there, but they were growing together as a group and were also in a tough spot [with CBS].”

Mary Tyler Moore Documentary
SIX WEEKS, Mary Tyler Moore, 1982, © Universal/courtesy Everett Collection

Robert Levine reveals  the adjustment made to the demo of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’

The 68-year-old stated that the show creator James L. Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore, and Grant Tinker, who was Moore’s husband at the time and co-founder of MTM Productions, took action by revising the script and conducting a reshoot of the test pilot in response to the network’s request. “They really didn’t do too much,” Levine explained. “As Jim says in the documentary, they shifted some lines around and cut it down, which is what it needed. They also had Phyllis’s daughter, Bess, express affection for Rhoda, which automatically made her character more likable.”

Mary Tyler Moore Documentary
ORDINARY PEOPLE, Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett, 1980. (c) Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

Levine also disclosed that removing Mary Tyler Moore’s narration and allowing Sonny Curtis’s timeless theme song, “Love Is All Around,” become the overture in the final pilot was the perfect ingredient that made the show relatable to the audience. “It sets the tone for what we’re about to see,” He admitted. “We’re about to see an optimistic story about Mary’s positive future and great potential. When you set the table that way, the rest of the show feels that much better.”

Watch the trailer for the documentary below:

Next up: Jimmy Carter’s Grandson Gives Update 3 Months After Ex-President Entered Hospice
Previous article: Jimmy Carter’s Grandson Gives Update 3 Months After Ex-President Entered Hospice
Next Post: The ‘Brady Bunch’ House Is Up For Sale, HGTV To Flip It For $5.5M

Primary Sidebar

© 2025 DoYouRemember? Inc.

  • about us
  • media
  • privacy
  • terms
  • DMCA
  • CONTACT US
  • AUTHORS