The Mary Tyler Moore Show/YMMV


 * Crowning Moment of Funny: "Chuckles Bites the Dust"
 * Fair for Its Day: The season 3 episode "My Brother's Keeper" has Phyllis discovering that her visiting brother (who she'd first tried to fix up with Mary and then suspected of being romantically interested in Rhoda) is gay. Her reaction? Relief that he won't be having a relationship with Rhoda. It's likely the first TV episode in which a character is unambiguously happy to find out a relative is gay.
 * Five Man Band: The main crew of the WJM-TV's Six O'Clock News.
 * The Hero:Mary
 * The Lancer:Murray
 * The Smart Guy: Ted Baxter but only in his little world.
 * The Big Guy:Lou Grant.
 * The Heart: Sue Ann but only her tv persona.
 * Growing the Beard: The first two seasons had a lot of episodes focusing on Mary's dating life. Starting in the third season, the writers shifted more of the focus to the Work Com aspects and engaged in more Character Development, including allowing Rhoda to get some self-esteem and making Ted a more rounded character.
 * Hollywood Homely: Rhoda
 * Seinfeld Is Unfunny: The show was so influential and widely imitated that younger viewers might wonder just what the big deal is.
 * The early episodes got a lot of comic mileage out of the then-novel idea that a newscaster, such a respected figure on TV, is actually an idiot who just reads what the producers give him. This has become such a common joke since then, including in James L Brooks's own The Simpsons and Broadcast News, that the novelty has worn off.
 * Tear Jerker / Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Just try watching the series finale and remain dry eyed.
 * Values Dissonance: Several examples, as the show is a few decades old.
 * During the episode where Murray wants to have another child and his wife doesn't, he asks everybody's advice on how to handle it. Ted suggests putting something in her drink as a last resort. Back in The Seventies, the reaction to this suggestion may have been "Oh my God, what an idiot," but in the present day when we've come to learn just how serious Date Rape is, the reaction is more likely to be "OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
 * Nowadays, Lou Grant's frequent commenting on women's backsides--including Mary, his employee--and open sexism would've gotten him fired.