Best Opening Titles Ever

Been super busy with work, travel, PRETTY and various other things in my life. So please enjoy this repost from exactly one year ago today. Yeah, I know I've talked about how much the MARY TYLER MOORE show has influenced my life before, but watching season 5 of the series on DVD has made me once again appreciate the wonderful opening titles. I've decided to take an in depth look at the sequence, which is unparalleled in its greatness. More happens in this brief montage that in most episodes of other TV shows.It all starts off simply enough with a brilliant blue background, with MARY TYLER MOORE in Peignot Bold popping off in a delicious mustard.
Suddenly the field turns jet black and MARY TYLER MOORE turns to an avocado green with multicolored MTM clones popping out above and below.
The roll continues, soon the screen is filling with multi-colored MARY TYLER MOOREs.
Eleven stacked MARY TYLER MOOREs in a rainbow of colors!
Suddenly the color in the center MARY TYLER MOORE gives way to an image of Mary Tyler Moore!!!
Yup, it's Mary Richards alright. I think she sees me.
She does! Hi Mary!Fix your hair, Mare.
Hey Mary, don't jaywalk! Nice yellow pantsuit, though.
Oh Minneapolis, where it cold, almost all the time.
Oh wait, it's not cold anymore. In fact, the weather is delightful today! So delightful that series creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns decide go go for a jog that day.
Back to work, Mary. Hey who's that boozy blond broad who works at WJM? I'd love to see her featured in an episode or two. I bet her name is Rosalie.
Time to wash the car in a football jersey!
Damn - meat is so expensive!
Wonder why nobody else is out shoe shopping at Mary Jane's today?
Awww, Mary bought a plant and now she's riding an escalator.
Now it's time to feed the ducks!
Nobody does a graceful turnaround like Mary.
Hey, who is that old dude you're eating with Mary??? Popular belief is that he's Mary's then-husband and MTM co-founder Grant Tinker. I recall Grant being taller and more handsome, this guy looks more like Merv Griffin to me.
Mary then joins a group of school children for a walk.
Wow - Mary is out on field covering a news story!
Now she's jaywalking again.
Ah, the office building that houses WJM, channel 12.
Mary then gives her boss Lou Grant a bear hug.
Next, co-worker Murray Slaughter gives Mary a slightly inappropriate hug.And finally news anchor Ted Baxter gets a polite hug.
Oops, but Mary crushed his fedora!
On the subject of hats, that's a pretty groovy one you've got there, Mary.
Hey, what are you doing in the middle of the street? 7th Street and Nicollet Mall is no place to stand during rush hour.
Hazel Frederick is watching you and she is not pleased.It all ends with the only credit listed. You're gonna make it after all! In May 2002, TV Land erected a statue of Mary Richards in that very spot. Hazel Frederick passed away ten years ago this month at the age of 91.

More Old TV GUIDE ads that make you say "Huh?"

Here's a repost from 2008: Okay, Channel 9 in Los Angeles had a design template for their advertising back in 1976. The style emulated the marquee of a Broadway theater in which they would call out a certain name or word which would be highlighted in a very funky typeface. Here is an example that worked: Sassy songstress Pearl Bailey hosted a syndicated variety special and the ad made sense.Then, the following day, KHJ-TV aired an episode of THE PHIL DONAHUE SHOW on a sobering topic. For some unexplained reason, the marketing department decided to use to the same exact template as for the Pearl Bailey special. And this is what it looked like...At first glance, you'd think they were airing RAPE!: THE MUSICAL. To make it even worse, the photo is one of Phil smirkily smiling(!) and copywriter added "Guests include a victim and a police commander" making the subject matter seem like it was somewhat entertaining. Like perhaps they'd duet on hit tunes like "Hello Dolly" and many more! What were they thinking? Ah, the politically incorrect graphic design of the 1970s.

peignot: the best font ever?

What is it about the font Peignot? When used in color on a black background - it just brings me back to the 1970s - possibly the best era ever for pop culture. So much of what we enjoy today can be traced back to the 70s. To me, Peignot will always be the MARY TYLER MOORE font, but also it was used in the incredible opening titles for THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK. Two great pop touchstones that cannot be matched anywhere. This is why I've chosen to base the new look of this blog on the amalgamated look of both these iconic openings.

DOUGSPLOITATION will now look at ALL my pop culture obsessions, not just MOVIES THAT MAKE YOU SAY "HUH". I'll still do movie reviews from time to time, but there's plenty more stuff out there that I feel the sudden need to comment on. This includes websites, dvds, other blogs, live theatre, music, comic books and of course TV!

Well - since we're talking about Peignot and TV let's just say that (THE) MARY TYLER MOORE (SHOW) is the all-time best sitcom ever. No argument there. Despite the recent awkward OPRAH reunion (which, I must admit, skillfully recreated sets from the show) and the horrendous MARY & RHODA TV-movie (which skillfully created a constant feeling of nausea), nothing can ever erase the warm memories of Mary's office life at WJM, and her cozy apartment in the snow-covered Lindstrom house at 119 N. Weatherly in Minneapolis.


Luckily we have the first four seasons on DVD to remind us how great television can be. Hopefully the suits at Fox will one day realize that the rest of the series needs to be made available.
What could possibly be stopping them from releasing more season sets? When crap like PUNKY BREWSTER sells - don't tell me MARY doesn't!

For a great guide to the MTM show , seek out LOVE IS ALL AROUND: THE MAKING OF THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1989) by Robert S. Alley & Irby B. Brown. This book has been in my collection since it was published, and I cherish it almost as much as the show itself.

Also, another great resource for Mary info is MTM: QUALITY TELEVISION published in 1984 by the British Film Institute, which looks at the entire MTM Studio production history, including other great classic shows like THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, RHODA, PHYLLIS, LOU GRANT, WKRP IN CINNCINNATI, NEWHART, THE WHITE SHADOW, HILL STREET BLUES, ST. ELSEWHERE and REMINGTON STEELE. Plus forgotten gems like THE BETTY WHITE SHOW (remember UNDERCOVER WOMAN? the show-within-a-show starring Betty as a 'Pepper Anderson' knock-off), THE TONY RANDALL SHOW and THE DUCK FACTORY. The book also covers pilots and TV-movies made by the company as well, as flops like Mary's two variety shows. A fun, book about the MTM spin-off RHODA is the aptly titled ALL ABOUT RHODA by Peggy Herz, which Scholastic published in 1975. This was written for kids! Imagine a kid's book about THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE being published today? I don't think so.

THE ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK COMPANION by Michael Karol is a fun, loving tribute to the 90-minute TV-movie series that ran from 1968-1975 and introduced us to such classics as Steven Spielberg's DUEL, GO ASK ALICE, BRIAN'S SONG, THE POINT (featuring Harry Nilsson's "Me and My Arrow"), THAT CERTAIN SUMMER and of course THE TRILOGY OF TERROR!!!
Plus the pilots for THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, WONDER WOMAN (the Cathy Lee Crosby version), THE NIGHT STALKER, KUNG FU and STARSKY & HUTCH all aired originally as ABC MOWs. Cloris Leachman is the common element that ties these two topics together, with her starring in almost as many MOWs as episodes of MTM! The book is cheap ($11.95) and a hoot to read, plus it has Peignot and a Zuni fetish doll on the cover! You can also visit the author online at www.sitcomboy.com