just like mary tyler moore

She seems to be everywhere lately.

First she showed up on Sarah’s blog in a post about living alone (wherein we all reminisced about our carefree single-girl days or bemoaned the fact that we’d never had any). Then my friend Camille came to town, and after she’d quizzed Abi and me about our Boston lives over dinner at Panera, she exclaimed, “I’m so proud of you girls – living in the big city, and making it! Just like Mary Tyler Moore!” And then, Sarah proposed a challenge to make August feel a little more charming, and in the comments we started talking about how we feel like Mary – organized, on top of things (and impeccably dressed) – when we take care of the grown-up stuff.

Well, I can take a hint. Besides, it had been 15 or 20 years since I last caught episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show in reruns on Nick at Nite. So I checked the first season out from our library. And I’m in love.

I’d never watched enough of the show to have any sense of the real storyline – so I’ve loved watching Mary’s career take off at WJM-TV and her new life in Minneapolis unfold. I do not now, nor have I ever, had any desire to live in the Twin Cities (too cold! Even colder than Boston!), but I admit I love her spacious apartment, with that big bay window and those comfy couches and that cool pull-down stained-glass shade thingy over the kitchen counter. I love her colorful, tailored, chic wardrobe (most of which would be in style today) – I think my husband is getting sick of me exclaiming, “I love her suit/jacket/dress/outfit!” every time we watch an episode together.

Most of all I love Mary’s repartee with her friends – her friendships with Rhoda and Phyllis strike me as direct ancestors of the relationships on my beloved Friends. I love the way she holds her own as (basically) the only woman in the WJM-TV newsroom, and how sarcastic Murray, narcissistic Ted and even gruff Lou Grant all come to adore her. And – of course – I admire Mary’s spunky, can-do spirit, whether it’s solving a work crisis or navigating an awkward first date or simply dealing with whatever crisis her friends have dreamed up.

You can never have too many heroines – and sweet, spirited Mary is becoming one of mine. On the days when life feels like a slog through the mundane, she reminds me that with a little spunk and ingenuity, I just might make it after all.