Louise Lasser delivers a masterful performance in the title role of Norman Lear's sublimely twisted soap opera, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman -- at once a parody of the format and a twisted satire of American media/consumer culture. In the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio, suburban housewife Mary Hartman seeks the kind of domestic perfection promised by Reader's Digest and TV commercials. Instead she finds herself suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune -- mass murders, low-flying airplanes, and waxy yellow buildup on her kitchen floor.
Mary tells Tom that it'll be 23 years before their sexual desires are synchronized again. Tom is angered by Mary's need for "something else" that she can't explain. Mary seeks answers to happiness from Grandpa Larkin who surmises she doesn't quite fit in anywhere. Mary hides under the kitchen sink. Cathy worries that she's losing Steve. Loretta has inspiration for a new song, Ballad of a Legless Woman. Mary cries and shares a lunch meat sandwich with Grandpa.
Tom gets a boost from his thermos. Mary tries helping herself by helping others. Martha finds out she didn't help her parents' marriage.
Watch Now:AmazonCathy brings Steve over to meet her parents. Fanny is too much for Raymond. The mass murderer is revealed and Heather, Trudy, and Mary's lives are in danger.
Mary is interviewed by a reporter; Young Heather Hartman displays suspicious behavior when asked about the recent murders; Grampa Larkin is arrested again.
Grampa Larkin visits a psychiatric social worker; Mary gets some sex books; a strange man follows Heather home from school.
Tom and Mary owe Heather an explanation. Loretta is still looking up. The Friendly Loan Company drops in on the Haggers. Mae drops in on the Hartmans.
Mary is too busy preparing food products without food to care about Cathy's relationship with Dennis. Loretta receives a phone call from another Mrs. Haggers. Mona arrives at the Hartman house to carry out Mary's plan. Loretta confronts Charlie about his past.
Watch Now:AmazonMary and Tom have a surrogate. Loretta gets a non-obscene phone call. Mary leaves Tom alone with Mona.
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