This aired Sunday nights at 10pm(et) in the spring of 1979- and it was a DUD. Even as the fictitious "Mary McKinnon", Mary couldn't hide the fact that she just didn't have what it took to be another "Carol Burnett"...she tried a variety/sitcom hybrid here, but it wasn't enough.
Wow, I had forgotten (thankfully) about this ill-fated attempt. To make matters even worse, they used the theme song from her old show. It seems that Lucy and Mary had a number of things in common, including not realizing when the "bloom was off the rose".
@PropellerYoshi1808 Lucy had more than one successful show. 'The Lucy Show' on CBS started in 1962 and never left the top ten during it's run. When that show ended in 1968, it ranked #2 in the nation. I would consider that a successful show.
A DVD of this show does not exist, but that was be fantastic if it eventually did get released! They released "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour" and this show was FAR better than that and had some great guests, like Gene Kelly, Johnny Mathis, Dick Van Dyke and Nancy Walker, not to mention Lucy!
@JAldridge86 --You're absolutely correct. During it's run, The Lucy Show was always in the top ten, and during its last season it was #2. Here's Lucy was in the top 15 for almost all of its run, topping out at #3 during the 1970-71 season. The last season of Here's Lucy ranked 29th. By comparison, the last season of The Dick Van Dyke Show came in at #16. The last season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show ranked #39. Lucy definitely had more commercial success than MTM, without including I Love Lucy.
"Love Is All Around" was Mary's unforgettable theme on her sitcom, and CBS apparently decided it would be her theme on this series as well ("none genuine without this signature")- that was a mistake. Since "Mary McKinnon" was a fictional character, she should have had a different theme.
All right, 'defund'- perhaps Mary DID have the talent to sustain an hour-long comedy/variety hybrid- but she didn't have the time or luxury to properly "assemble" one, as CBS was anxious to "throw" her back on the air as soon as possible, as they were faltering against ABC and NBC's Sunday movies, at 10pm. Jack Benny certainly knew what HE wanted, producing his own series with more care and attention to detail than Mary did here...and the only "fictional" character he portrayed was "himself".
i saw this episode when it first aired, dont know why they used a laugh track, maybe it was beacuse of all the music numbers. it always seemed to be a beat or two behind.
Hi there, do you have the full episode of this clip? I would love to see it! I'm particularly interested in the sketch where she's wearing a top had and tails with a cane. Looks like a dance number? Please post if you do!
