Mary Tyler Moore Show, The (TV Series) (DVD)

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"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" is TV royalty. It was named the 11th best TV show of all time by TV Guide, who also rated "Chuckles Bites the Dust" the top TV episode of all time. That episode anchors Season Six, along with several other classics from a series that earned a whopping 29 Emmys over the course of its seven-season run.

This season the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for the second time, along with Emmys for Outstanding Writing (David Lloyd, for "Chuckles Bites the Dust"), Lead Actress (Mary Tyler Moore), Supporting Actress (Betty White), and Supporting Actor (Ted Knight). And this season Ed Asner won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

But this year the show also dropped out of the Nielsen Top 15 for the first time since its debut season, while spin-offs "Phyllis" and "Rhoda" came in at Numbers 6 and 7, respectively. The public is fickle, and MTM finished at Number 19. For the final season, the show would drop completely out of the Nielsen Top 30. Why?

Well, if I had to hazard a guess, after re-watching these episodes I'd have to say it might be because James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Ed Weinberger, and Stan Daniels felt comfortable enough with the show to push the characters a bit. And maybe fans used to rapid-fire jokes didn't care for what's now being called "dramedy."

The characters were always more than simple mouthpieces for jokes, but the scenes in previous seasons were always structured to produce jokes. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" had one of the best comedy ensembles in TV history, with Moore playing single career woman Mary Richards, who gets hired as an associate producer in the newsroom at WJM-TV, Minneapolis. Her boss was the gruff, hard-drinking newsman Lou Grant (Edward Asner), whose opening assessment of Mary set the tone for the show. "You've got spunk," he says, as Mary starts to blush from what she things is a compliment. "I HATE spunk," he says. Writing the news was Mary's confidante and sidekick, Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), and butchering the news was the undeservedly arrogant anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight). But by Season Six, we really get some character development, and many of the scenes are structured to produce a sense of poignancy, rather than comedy. Sometimes the laughs can be farther apart, but the show is richer for the increased depth.

One of the strengths of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was its judicious use of the laugh track, and that continues this season. In Season Six, Mary moves into a new apartment, Lou's ex-wife gets married, Ted gets married, Ted and Georgette (Georgia Engel) adopt a son, Lou bonds but is then intimidated by Mary's superjournalist Aunt Flo (Eileen Heckart), Murray falls in love with Mary, and Sue Ann Nivens (White) and Lou hook up. Ted almost leaves to become a game show host, and Murray does leave to become Sue Ann's producer . . . for a time. Penny Marshall is among the guest stars, and classic episodes from this season include "Chuckles Bites the Dust," "The Seminar," "The Happy Homemaker Takes Lou Home," "Once I Had a Secret Love," "Edie Gets Married," and the episodes featuring Heckart.

Here's the rundown on the 24 episodes, which are presented on three single-sided discs and housed in a standard-size keep case with a plastic "page" holding two non-overlapping discs and a third housed on the inside back cover. There are no inserts, and only the episode titles are listed on the inside cover.

1) "Edie Gets Married." The tear-jerking starts with Lou stunned to find out his ex-wife Edie (Priscilla Morrill) is getting married. Can the tough guy take it?

2) "Mary Moves Out." Feeling in a rut, Mary moves to a different apartment to try to shake up her life . . . and then has second thoughts.

3) "Mary's Father." When Mary works closely with a priest in the process of making a documentary, he tells her he's thinking of leaving the priesthood . . . and she's convinced it's because he's fallen for her.

4) "Murray in Love." The Love Boat continues as Murray comes to realize he's always had a thing for Mary, and he's determined to tell her how he feels. Even if it takes bringing her a goldfish.

5) "Ted's Moment of Glory." Ted auditions to host a New York City game show involving participants who sit on tiny racehorses and answer questions obvious to everyone but Ted. Will he get the job? Will he leave WJM?

6) "Mary's Aunt." When Mary's famous, international journalist comes to visit, it sets up a competition between her aunt and Lou. And opposites attract.