No doubt about Ted Knight, but the same could be said for all the rest too: MTM, Ed Asner, Betty White (still kicking at 99!), Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Gavin Macleod...even Ted's girlfriend could not have been better cast.
Every actor on this show was a key part of it, there was no weak link among them. Mary, Ed, Ted, Valerie, Cloris, Gavin, Georgia and Betty, all of them made the show.
I love how Ted is the hero in this scene. He makes his depressed friends feel better. This might be the only time. They should have wrote him this way at least a little more.
@@jodeanesullens6588 Fewer and fewer people know the words nowadays. Knowing the words was part of the fun of this scene and necessary to getting the joke.
My go to when I need a little cheering up. Works every time. Enjoyed meeting MTM at a hotel bar in NYC years ago. The martinis and the laughs were amazing. Bellied up to the bar out of nowhere. Awesome experience.
The writing on this show was off the charts. I guess when 1/3 of your writing staff is women in a time when that didn't happen you get a style that is reflective of both sides and makes for very funny scenarios. You will live on in Mary Richards, forever. RIP Mary I'll be getting in a taxi, honey You better be ready about half past eight Now dearie, don't be late I want to be there when the band starts playing Remember when we get there, honey The two-steps I'm goin' to have 'em all Goin' to dance out both my shoes When they play the "Jelly Roll Blues" Tomorrow night, at the Darktown Strutter's Ball
Man, this was in the early '70s, I was a little kid, I didn't understand the joke, and it wasn't even funny... I still laugh at it now. Thanks for the childhood memory.
It was a popular song written in the early 1900s. Look up "Darktown Strutters' Ball" "I'll be down to get you in a taxi honey You'd better be ready around half past eight" Actually, his knock-knock joke makes no sense, but it's still really funny.
Jack Cassidy was all set to play Ted but he was signed to do a long running play. Ted Knight was a fluke. Cassidy could NEVER have done all those Ted lines.
Not only do most people not know who anna maria alberghetti was,the don't know what a knock knock joke is, they never heard the song dark town strutters ball. But this scene is still funny.
Agreed and chances are if Mary or anyone else had come up with it, they would have been laughing their heads off. Their stares at Mary’s laughing was only because it was Ted.
And I thought they used that name because she was in a commercial all the time back then. I didn’t realize she had a whole career before that commercial. 😮
1:25 Anna Maria Alberghetti in a taxi, honey. "I'll be down to get you in a taxi, honey". Lyrics from the song, "Darktown Strutters Ball" 1917, they all knew it.
OK, I'm the lame one - what is the name of the original song they are referencing here? Or what were the original words before Anna Maria Alberghetti, so I can understand the joke?
Check my post below. Anna Maria Alberghetti was an Italian singer and actress. Alberghetti sounds like "I'll be getting" The name of the song is Darktown Strutter's Ball
Just realized that the main cast from this classic sitcom have all passed. Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper, Ted Knight Cloris Leachman, Gavin MacLeod, Betty White and Georgia Engel. Time does not stand still for anybody!
Yeah too bad variety shows were a dying genre by that time. Even she would admit years later she thought she could replicate the success of TMTMS but it was lightning in a bottle. There would never be another group of producers, writers, cast that could live up to the standards of this show.
I understand how Ted's knock-knock joke morphed into "The Darktown Strutters' Ball," although it's a stretch that all the cast members knew it. By the 1970s, who would know the lyrics but musicians and singers? Now, that said, please, somebody explain to me how "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" wound up as the cast's farewell to each other, and, without acknowledging it, the audience? I believe the MTM show was, and still is, the best sitcom ever made. Bear with me; I just don't get it.
I don't know why the writers chose it but it was a World War 1 marching song and in a way they are marching together out of the WJM office for the last time. There were always alot of war references especially by the Lou character. Of course on the show the idea came from the head of Ted so maybe we aren't really supposed to totally understand it.
Hi Friend. As a woman who has just turned 68 I can answer this question. My Grandmother who was British was still alive in the early '70s. I grew up hearing this on her old records, and sometimes sung by Mother and other contemporaries of my Grandmother. In those days it was more common to have 3 generations living closer, in same home or nearby and WW1 was remembered by the generations and the songs sung as a remembrance and mark of respect for the sacrifices of those who died during that awful war. The generations of that time are gone now but there are still some descendants, myself being one, who still remember those songs which were sung to bring courage and hope to those left behind. In this way, we have a great blessing in the video remembrances to remind us of our humanity when things seem dire in many places. I hope that you can feel some comfort in what I am sharing here. It is something that I hold close to my heart and try to share as much as possible, before it is my time whenever that is. Thank you for asking this question. Peace and health and blessings to you and everyone
@@LizbethPlenty Thank you, but I'm the same age as you and still have not the slightest clue how this particular song wound up sung on an American sitcom in the mid-1970s, with the assumption that all the characters would know the lyrics, and that many in the home audience would grasp their meaning.
of course today if you sang Darktown Strutters Ball on TV, you would be cancelled. Not the show.....the people. Time to move beyond the new McCarthyism.
TV was so much better before post structuralism. Sigh. Miss the times one could come home after a hard work day and enjoy being in front of the television laughing, crying with the family. Those days are gone forever.
The "Chuckles d' Clown" episode of the MTM show, still remains hands down the funniest thing I have ever seen in a sitcom. Just about every line had you rolling with laughter. The unexpected laughter from Mary at Ted's dumb joke, is what sells this, and they had been setting up the audience from the beginning of that episode for that reaction. Back when writers had patience, and didn't insult our intelligence or assume we had the attention span of a gnat.
@@HH-mw4sq That's a very good question. I have no idea what episodes could possibly be better. Edit: Just looked it up. "The Contest" from Seinfeld and "College" from The Sopranos is apparently rated #1 and #2. Which is BS in my opinion. Chuckles Bites The Dust is still #1 for me.
@@daboys1215 - Thanks for your effort. Nothing from Seinfeld even comes close to anything from the MTM show in my opinion. "Chuckles Bites The Dust is still #1 for me." - hear, hear.
The song is "Darktown Strutters' Ball" written by Shelton Brooks, and recorded by such artists as Hoagy Carmichael, Ella Fitzgerald, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino and Dean Martin. The original song goes "I'll be there to get you in a taxi honey..." Anna Maria Alberghetti is a famous Italian soprano.
Ted Knight is the best there is. He can turn a mild joke into comic gold. As an American actor/ screenwriter, I bow to him and his remarkable talent. Hollywood could take a lesson from him..
And today we mourn all of them. RIP Mary, Lou, Murray and Ted. You're with Phyllis, Rhoda, Georgette up there and having laughs. Down here we're laughing and honoring your memories.
What a phenomenal show it was, clever , witty, if you saw this episode, it was sad because you empathized with them when they felt sad. A comedy show with dramatic actors allowed them to navigate you thru all the emotions. This ending is what the show is all about, making you feel good.
I wish I could've told MTM how much her show meant to me as a 13 yr old kid. Was a staple for me after school most every day. Did not realize Gavin died only 5 months ago. He was quietly a significant performer. "Operaton Petticoat" is a favorite.
I look at them at the bar and can't help thinking, Now they're all gone. How can that be? It was just yesterday that they were together....Time never stops.
"The Mary Tyler Moore show," begat, "The Bob Newhart Show," "The Bob Newhart Show," begat, "Taxi," "Taxi" begat "Cheers", "Cheers," begat "Seinfeld"."Seinfeld, " begat, "Community, " The 30+ year run of the brainy sitcom.
