Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman on dvd

[heatherwebber]

As someone asked on the Dark Shadows thread why other soaps aren't getting released on dvd, and this is a soap, even though a spoof, season 1 is out on dvd.

Ann Marcus was the head writer. In a lot of ways it's closer to the way soaps used to be done. Very traditional, slower moving, all the trademarks including the organ music theme.

It was also shocking and over the top in ways the shows now trying to do that never could hope to be.

Overall it has interesting characters, excellent writing, and it's funny.

[Andrew]

Is The Name of the show, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman?, thats one show i have never heard off, can someone tell me a little of it, wich years did it air on television?!!!!!!!!!!!..............

[heatherwebber]

Yes it was called "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." It was a huge (but hugely controversial) syndicated hit in the early 70s.

It was produced by Norman Lear (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times, Sanford & Son, etc.)

Many stations ran it late-night because of the controversial content.

After the actress who played Mary Hartman quit the show mutated into Forever Fernwood. It also launched a spinoff which was a spoof on talk shows called Fernwood 2-Night with Martin Mull.

I had a paperback book about the creation and production of the show but it's in storage.

If I recall, the actress who played Mary, Louise Lasser, was linked romantically to Woody Allen at one point.

The head writer Ann Marcus worked on a bunch of other legit soaps at various times.

[Andrew]

thanks.

[All My Shadows]

MHMH was a great show! I don't have the DVDs (I want to buy them, but I haven't been to the store in a while), but I did watch it religiously when TVLand aired the reruns in 2002. They only went up to the first 35 episodes, though, which sucks, considering the show had 325 episodes.

It ran from January 1976 to April 1977. "Forever Fernwood" last until, I think, June 1978. The show didn't have an organ theme song, BTW, it was just a really soapy orchestral-type piece that was pretty common for soaps of the time.

I think the show worked so well because, while it was mainly a soap parody/spoof, at its core, it really was a soap. It was hilarious, but you also cared deeply for the characters and the storylines.