The BEST episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 3
Every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 3!
The Mary Tyler Moore Show was one of the most literate, realistic, and enduring situation comedies of the 1970s. Mary Richards was the idealized single career woman. She had come to Minneapolis after breaking up with a man she had been dating for four years. Ambitious, and looking for new friends, she moved into an older apartment building and went to work as an assistant producer of the local news show on television station WJM-TV. In her early 30s, Mary symbolized the independent woman of the 1970s.
#1 - Operation: Lou
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/9/1972
Lou goes to hospital to have a piece of World War II shrapnel removed and, surprisingly, he and Ted become best friends.
#2 - My Brother's Keeper
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/13/1973
Phyllis wants to set up her visiting brother with Mary, but instead he hits it off with Rhoda and begins spending time with her to Phyllis's disapproval.
#3 - What is Mary Richards Really Like?
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/1972
Mary is interviewed by a newspaper columnist and ends up telling a little too much.
#4 - Enter Rhoda's Parents
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/7/1972
Ida Morgenstern, Rhoda's mother, mistakenly believes that her husband is seeing other women, so Rhoda and Mary try to clear things up between them.
#5 - Put On a Happy Face
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/24/1973
Everything goes right for Rhoda and everything goes wrong for Mary on a disastrous day when she is due to go to the Teddies.
#6 - It's Whether You Win or Lose
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/14/1972
When Lou's trip to Las Vegas is cancelled, Mary organizes a poker game at the office where Murray loses a substantial amount to Ted.
#7 - The Georgette Story
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/20/1973
Mary and Rhoda try to encourage Georgette to take a stand for herself after seeing how Ted takes advantage of her.
#8 - What Do You Do When the Boss Says, “I Love You”?
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/3/1973
The new station manager, an attractive woman, falls for Lou.
#9 - Lou's Place
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/6/1973
Lou spots an opportunity to buy a bar after realizing a lifelong dream. However, he is short of several thousand dollars and Ted is the only one who can come to his aid.
#10 - You've Got a Friend
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/25/1972
Mary becomes concerned when her father, newly retired, appears to have no friends or hobbies in Minneapolis, and tries to take on the role herself.
#11 - Remembrance of Things Past
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/17/1973
A former boyfriend visiting Minneapolis calls Mary who, deep down, wants to see him again but she has been hurt by him too many times before.
#12 - Rhoda Morgenstern: Minneapolis to New York
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/16/1972
Rhoda decides to move back to New York but Mary is taking the whole thing with a grain of salt.
#13 - The Good-Time News
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1972
Mary is given the task of making The Six O'clock News more upbeat, and her plans are on target to succeed until they're frustrated by Ted.
#14 - Mary Richards and the Incredible Plant Lady
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/3/1973
Mary lends Rhoda almost $1,200 to start a new venture and worries she may never see her money again, after Rhoda postpones repayment, hires Georgette full-time and begins expanding her business.
#15 - Just Around the Corner
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/28/1972
Mary is worried that her parents, who have moved to the Twin Cities to be close to her, may pry into her life too much.
#16 - Farmer Ted and the News
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/11/1972
Ted refuses to sign his contract renewal until Lou agrees to let him pursue other ventures, a decision he soon regrets when Ted begins appearing in commercials.
#17 - It Was Fascination, I Know
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/2/1972
Bess's 15-year-old boyfriend falls in love with Mary and begins to surprise her with visits to her apartment and her work.
#18 - But Seriously, Folks
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/4/1972
Mary begins dating the writer of the Chuckles the Clown show, whose real ambition is to become a stand-up comedian.
#19 - Murray Faces Life
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/10/1973
Murray becomes depressed when he realizes that the years are passing him by, after he learns that a contemporary has won a Pulitzer Prize.
#20 - Rhoda the Beautiful
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/21/1972
After losing 20 pounds, Rhoda enters a beauty contest at work, but continues to put herself down.
#21 - Have I Found a Guy for You
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/18/1972
Two of Mary's friends separate and Mary accepts a date from the husband.
#22 - Who's in Charge Here?
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/30/1972
Lou is promoted to the position of program director but has to decide to whom his old job should go. Meanwhile, The Six O'clock News begins falling apart without him.
#23 - The Courtship of Mary's Father's Daughter
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/23/1972
Mary runs into her former boyfriend Dan Whitfield in an elevator by chance. Subsequently, Dan realizes he still has feelings for Mary, breaks off his engagement, and begins dating her again.
#24 - Romeo and Mary
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/27/1973
Rhoda introduces Mary to a very irritating Warren Sturges, who tries everything including a giant billboard across the road from the WJM-TV offices to get her to accept his marriage proposal.