SubscribeBeware: Mary Tyler Moore may emerge — roaring — from 'Lipstick Jungle' as queen of the Emmys again!
Memo to her former employees Cloris Leachman and Ed Asner: The boss is not only back on TV, but The Girl Who Once Made It On Her Own may be taking charge again.
As a result of joining the cast of "Lipstick Jungle," Mary Tyler Moore could reclaim her title as all-time Emmy Awards champ. As per the Hollywod Reporter, the 71-year-old actress "will appear in multiple episodes as a retired high-powered executive and mother of Brooke Shields' studio-head character, Wendy. Having trail-blazed for working women, Mary Tyler Moore's character will challenge Wendy's idealistic notion of 'having it all.'" Certainly sounds like a showy role for Moore.
When Mary Tyler Moore's self-titled sitcom went off the air in 1977, she reigned with the most individual Emmy wins with 6 (2 for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" in the 1960s and 4 for her own show in the 1970s) and her show held the record for most wins by a series (29). Eventually, "Frasier" supplanted that, winning 37 Emmys in its decade-long run. And Moore would see her own record challenged by two of her former costars.
First, Ed Asner, who had portrayed her lovable bear of a TV boss, won lead actor in a drama series in 1978 for the first season of his spin-off "Lou Grant" and tied her tally. Like Moore, he had been nommed for all seven seasons of their show, winning supporting actor in 1971, 1972 and 1975. He had picked up single performance prizes for "Rich Man, Poor Man" in 1976 and "Roots" in 1977. In 1980, he would win again for "Lou Grant" and pull ahead of Mary 7 to 6. While he got nods for all five seasons of this series, that 1980 victory marks his last Emmy win to date. He picked up a nod for supporting actor in a drama series in 1992 for "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" and a supporting nod last year for the movie "The Christmas Card."
After her landmark series ended in 1977, Moore made four valiant efforts at recapturing the magic but none lasted longer than half a season and produced no series nods. However, Moore did pick up three noms for best actress in a movie or miniseries for "First You Cry" (1979), "Heartsounds" (1985), and "Gore Vidal's Lincoln" (1988). And in 1993, she won best supporting actress in a TV movie or miniseries for "Stolen Babies," and even apologized to Asner for tying his record. I wrote the Emmy predix for the L.A. Times that year and made a big deal in my article that appeared on Emmy day that she was about to reclaim her crown, so, when it happened as she mounted the stage, the first words she uttered were, "Sorry, Ed!" Since then, she has endured an Emmy drought, failing to be nominated for any of her guest shots, including a showy three-episode arc as the boss from hell on "That '70s Show" in 2006.
Too bad as that was the year her one-time costar Cloris Leachman bested her and Asner by winning her eighth prime-time Emmy for her guest turn on another Fox laffer, "Malcolm in the Middle." Leachman had picked up her own seventh Emmy in 2002 for the second of her sixth consecutive nods as the cantankerous Grandma Ida on this sitcom. Moore may have 14 nods and Asner 16, but it is Leachman who has racked up a staggering 20 nominations over the decades.
While Moore has competed in the lead category for either comedy series or movie/mini (save for that supporting win in 1992), Leachman is a utility player winning her 8 Emmy Awards across seven categories -- lead actress in a movie ("A Brand New Life," 1973); supporting actress in a comedy series ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," 1974); single performance by a supporting actress in a comedy or drama series, ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," 1975); continuing or single performance by a supporting actress in a variety show ("Cher," 1975); individual performance in a variety program ("Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration," 1984); guest actress in a drama series ("Promised Land," 1998); and guest actress in a comedy series ("Malcolm in the Middle," 2002, 2006).
And if you include the Daytime Emmy Leachman won in 1983 for her performance in the children's drama "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" her tally is an even more impressive nine statues. While purists might dispute that addition to her Emmy count, equally contentious is the third of Moore's four wins for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." That came in 1974 and was for actress of the year (series), an attempt by the TV academy to come up with the equivalent of the Oscar. Moore had already won that night for comedy series actress and although she was on the record as objecting to this catchall competition she did accept this second trophy.
(Photo: MTM Enterprises)
AS I'm sure has already been pointed-out to you, Leachman played Phyllis, not Ida, on the MTMS. Nancy Walker was Ida.
Posted by: Kevin | June 20, 2008 at 07:48 AM