The BEST episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 4
Every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 4, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 4!
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 - Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite
Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/9/1974
After a heavy self-promotion campaign, Ted wins his first Teddy Award. When Walter Cronkite comes to the newsroom, Ted assumes that he will be hired by the networks.
#2 - Lou's Second Date
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/16/1974
Lou and Rhoda find they have a lot in common and begin seeing each other on a casual basis but everyone assumes that the romance is serious.
#3 - The Lou and Edie Story
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1973
On the advice of their marriage counselor, Lou's wife, Edie, decides to move out. Lou is heartbroken by the prospect.
#4 - Happy Birthday, Lou!
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/22/1973
Mary plans a surprise party for Mr. Grant's birthday, only to find out too late that he hates birthday parties.
#5 - The Dinner Party
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1973
Mary invites Congresswoman Geddes to a fancy dinner at her home, trying hard to ensure that everything is perfect.
#6 - Two Wrongs Don't Make a Writer
Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/23/1974
Ted joins Mary at a night-school class in creative writing, and winds up plagiarizing her assignment.
#7 - I Was a Single for WJM
Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/2/1974
Mary goes to a singles bar to research a documentary, but on the night the crew arrives for filming, the same people who were willing to tell Mary everything don't want to be seen on camera.
#8 - WJM Tries Harder
Season 4 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/5/1974
Mary begins dating the anchorman from Minneapolis's top news show and becomes ashamed of WJM-TV's smaller news operation.
#9 - The Lars Affair
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1973
Phyllis finds out that Lars has been having an affair with Sue Ann Nivens, the star of WJM-TV's The Happy Homemaker show.
#10 - Son of “But Seriously, Folks”
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/1973
Mary's former boyfriend, Wes Callison, gets a job in the newsroom but his affection for Mary gets in the way of his work.
#11 - Father's Day
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/20/1973
Ted meets his father, who deserted him as a baby.
#12 - Hi There, Sports Fans
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1973
When Mary asks Lou for more responsibility in the newsroom, he assigns her the task of hiring a new sportscaster, but first she must fire the old one.
#13 - Angels in the Snow
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1973
Mary's boyfriend is younger than she is and she and Rhoda discover there is a generation gap when they go and visit his friends at a party.
#14 - Just Friends
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/24/1973
Lou is still heartbroken over Edie's departure and asks Mary to help them get back together.
#15 - Rhoda's Sister Gets Married
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1973
Rhoda and Mary fly to New York for Rhoda's younger sister's wedding. Rhoda's mother downplays the whole thing fearing that Rhoda is envious.
#16 - The Co-Producers
Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/19/1974
Mary and Rhoda are given permission to develop a new show for WJM but their dreams begin to fade when they find out that the hosts will be Ted and Sue Ann, who both begin to interfere with their plans.
#17 - Best of Enemies
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/26/1974
Rhoda tells the secret of Mary's that she never graduated from college, as she claimed on her job application, and their friendship is suddenly put at risk.
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#18 - Better Late... That's a Pun... Than Never
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/2/1974
To relieve her boredom, Mary jokingly writes a humorous obituary of one of the people in the WJM-TV file. Coincidentally, the same person dies the following day and the obituary is read on the air. Lou has no choice but to suspend Mary, but she threatens to quit in response.
#19 - Love Blooms at Hemples
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1973
Rhoda begins dating the boss of Hemple's and falls deeply in love with him. She wants to tell him how she feels, but Mary warns her to take things slowly.
#20 - I Gave at the Office
Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/8/1973
Murray's daughter, Bonnie, is looking for a job and Mary is persuaded into giving her one but Bonnie is not as efficient as everyone had hoped.
#21 - Lou's First Date
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/3/1973
Lou gives Mary the task of finding him a date for an awards' ceremony. A name mix-up means that Lou winds up taking out an 80-year-old woman.
#22 - We Want Baxter
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/1/1973
Phyllis persuades Ted to stand for local government. Ted agrees and goes so far as to quit his job at WJM-TV.
#23 - Almost a Nun's Story
Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/15/1973
Georgette finds Ted making out with a woman in his dressing room. She then decides to enter a nunnery, but the head nun talks her out of it.
#24 - Cottage for Sale
Season 4 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1974
Phyllis, who has gotten her real estate license, persuades Lou to sell his house. However, Lou hasn't really made up his mind whether he wants to move.