On the back burner for years (so it was reported) this television reunion of two of the most beloved characters in sitcom history started off badly - and went straight downhill from there. TV movies which re-visit once-popular shows just can't seem to recapture the magic which made the original so popular. And,yet, they keep on trying. Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and her best friend Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper) meet in New York after a long estrangement and catch up on each other's lives. But, sad to relate, nothing worth talking about (let alone making a movie about) has happened to either of them in the intervening years. Instead,the script contents itself with throwing out one hoary old plot device after another (most having to do with older women in the workplace), while completely missing the quirky charm and sophistication that produced a comedy classic. The supporting cast is instantly forgettable, the humor is nonexistent, and the chemistry which Moore and Harper once had together is gone. Moore allegedly stalled this project for years, waiting for "just the right script" before committing herself. (If this was the one she considered "right", what on earth were the ones she turned down like?) It's not the age of the characters that does this in (for time inevitably marches on), but the almost complete lack of imagination coupled with a blatant disregard for the elements that made the series work. At one time this was intended as a pilot but, all to obviously, it failed to generate any interest among potential sponsors. Or for that matter, among potential audiences. And since it wasn't much as a movie, it was even less as a pilot. Quickly and mercifully forgotten, the film is a travesty and an insult to a classic.
Review of Mary and Rhoda
