Who can take a nothing concept, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?

by Sandy McLendon

WELL, it�s done. The reunion of The Mary Tyler Moore Show cast aired last night on CBS, and it was a charmer. The current spate of reunion shows has been very uneven in quality, but Mary Tyler Moore�s determination to focus on people rather than glitz paid off handsomely for her effort.
   Mary�s interviews with each surviving cast member gave each a chance to reminisce about the moments they themselves treasured, and deftly intercut clips illustrated each point as it was being made. The interviews could have been longer, but they gave some rare insights into how each person felt about his or her character. On numerous occasions, the actors became charmingly confused about whether they were speaking of themselves or their character; there could have been no more perfect illustration of how strongly Mary, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou, Murray, Sue Ann and Georgette affected the people who played them.
   Aside from a fashion faux pas I�ll go into later, everyone looked terrific. Valerie Harper was so unchanged from her appearance on the series, it would appear the Fountain of Youth is actually out there somewhere. Other actors have allowed the years to settle on them a bit more, but all these folks still have much more left over than most of us start out with.
   Touchingly, time was taken to pay long-deserved tribute to the late Ted Knight, whose indelible performance as Ted Baxter gave the series so many unforgettable moments. The seldom-aired scene where Baxter meets Walter Cronkite was shown; the juxtaposition of CBS�s top real-life news anchor of the day and the bumbling, incompetent Baxter was the perfect way to show viewers what a genius Knight was as an actor.
   The interviews went beyond mere information; there was a very strong sense of the ongoing kinship the cast enjoys to this day. Clearly, these people feel themselves to be a family; their chemistry was just as evident in the new material as in the clips.
   One promise made by some writers of previews wasn�t kept: there were not really the bloopers some articles said there would be. At show�s end, there were a very few, very brief unscripted moments from old outtakes, and the famous film of Ted Knight, Ed Asner, and Gavin McLeod singing parody lyrics to �More� during an audience warm-up was shown.
   As much fun as it was to see the WJM gang again, there was one small letdown. I won�t name names, but two of the ladies evidently got their hair-styling done by someone who did not understand that these people are not members of Generation X. Since the current ages of the cast range from 54 to 80, it was a bit sad to see two of the actresses groomed�if that is the word�in a fashion decades too young for them. Wispy, ragged hair that looks fine on Calista Flockhart is not necessarily just the thing for someone older; a bit more tonsorial dignity and a lot less misplaced trendiness would have served these beloved women better.
   The family atmosphere that prevailed on the TMTMS set gave us 168 episodes of wonderful television thirty years ago. That same spirit of loving, mutually respectful, genuine friendship is what made the reunion special work so well last night. CBS did such a terrific job on this, in fact, that there is only one thing they could do to top it: a firm 13-episode order kicking off a new TMTMS series. Get a move on, guys.