The BEST episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 5

Every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 5!

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.

Last Updated: 11/16/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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You Try To Be a Nice Guy
star
8.25
16 votes

#1 - You Try To Be a Nice Guy

Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/8/1975

Mary agrees to help a troubled crime prone girl go straight and find a job.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lou and That Woman
star
8.15
20 votes

#2 - Lou and That Woman

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/5/1974

Lou begins seeing a cocktail lounge singer but becomes uncomfortable about her past.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Mary Richards: Producer
star
8.11
18 votes

#3 - Mary Richards: Producer

Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/4/1975

Mary doesn't feel she deserves the title of producer and asks Lou that she be given the chance to produce The Six O'clock News alone.

Directors: Norman Campbell
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Not a Christmas Story
star
8.10
20 votes

#4 - Not a Christmas Story

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/1974

The entire newsroom staff is arguing with each other, and when they are trapped at the office due to bad weather, Sue Ann decides to serve her Christmas dinner early.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School
star
8.06
16 votes

#5 - Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School

Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/22/1975

A con-man tricks Ted into setting up a broadcasters' academy. When he finds out he's been had, he asks Lou, Mary and Murray to be the faculty and give the semester's opening lectures.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate
star
8.04
23 votes

#6 - You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1974

Lou finally loses his temper with Ted when he endorses a political candidate on The Six O'clock News and throws him through the office doors. Lou feels guilty, and Ted takes advantage of him.

Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?
star
8.00
24 votes

#7 - Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1974

Mary refuses to reveal a news source for a story she produced and has to spend a night in jail.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Neighbors
star
8.00
18 votes

#8 - Neighbors

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/7/1974

Lou wants a smaller place and moves in to Rhoda's old apartment but can't help interfering in Mary's private life.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
An Affair to Forget
star
8.00
15 votes

#9 - An Affair to Forget

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/21/1974

Now that Mary is producer, Ted thinks that he can make his move on her. He convinces the rest of the newsroom that they are having an affair.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
I Love a Piano
star
7.95
22 votes

#10 - I Love a Piano

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/19/1974

Murray meets an attractive woman at one of Mary's parties and considers having an affair. On the pretext of buying her old piano, he goes to see her.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Son for Murray
star
7.95
19 votes

#11 - A Son for Murray

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/30/1974

Murray, who has three daughters, wants a son, but his wife Marie doesn't want to have another child. The couple decide to adopt instead.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Menage-a-Phyllis
star
7.89
19 votes

#12 - Menage-a-Phyllis

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1974

Phyllis dates a man on a platonic basis, but he is attracted more to Mary and begins seeing her.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Not Just Another Pretty Face
star
7.87
15 votes

#13 - Not Just Another Pretty Face

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1974

Mary dates a man with whom she has nothing in common and becomes concerned that their relationship is superficial.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Outsider
star
7.75
24 votes

#14 - The Outsider

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1974

WJM-TV hires a young business consultant, who demands certain changes for The Six O'clock News, offending every member of the news team.

Directors: Peter Bonerz
Writer: Jack Winter
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A New Sue Ann
star
7.75
20 votes

#15 - A New Sue Ann

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1974

A young fan, Gloria, persuades Sue Ann to hire her for The Happy Homemaker. Sue Ann is less than pleased when Gloria plays up to the station manager and gets a larger role on the show at the expense of her own.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Girl Like Mary
star
7.67
15 votes

#16 - A Girl Like Mary

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/14/1974

Lou wants to hire a female newscaster 'like Mary', so Mary decides to audition for the job herself.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Phyllis Whips Inflation
star
7.64
14 votes

#17 - Phyllis Whips Inflation

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/18/1975

Phyllis and Lars have a dispute and she finds her credit cards cut off. She looks for a job but finds that she has no relevant skills.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
What Are Friends For?
star
7.60
15 votes

#18 - What Are Friends For?

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/16/1974

Mary and Sue Ann go to a convention in Chicago and Mary finds out that Sue Ann leads a lonely life.

Directors: Alan Rafkin
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:Apple TV
You Can't Lose 'em All
star
7.58
12 votes

#19 - You Can't Lose 'em All

Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/15/1975

Lou wins the Albert Mason Award, which he had once said was for broadcasting veterans who couldn't chew their own food.

Directors: Marjorie Mullen
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:Apple TV
A Boy's Best Friend
star
7.56
16 votes

#20 - A Boy's Best Friend

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1974

Ted is shocked when he finds out his mother does not intend to marry her boyfriend, but will live with him.

Directors: Mary Tyler Moore
Writer: David Lloyd
Watch Now:Apple TV
Anyone Who Hates Kids and Dogs
star
7.47
15 votes

#21 - Anyone Who Hates Kids and Dogs

Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/8/1975

Mary likes her new boyfriend but finds his son absolutely intolerable.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Jerry Mayer
Watch Now:Apple TV
The System
star
7.41
17 votes

#22 - The System

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/11/1975

When Ted's formula for betting on football games works, Lou goes into partnership with him. He winds up betting all of the season's winnings on the Super Bowl without telling Ted.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:Apple TV
Marriage Minneapolis Style
star
7.33
15 votes

#23 - Marriage Minneapolis Style

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/1/1975

Ted pops the question to Georgette at Murray's 20th wedding anniversary party and then gets cold feet.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Shame of the Cities
star
7.20
15 votes

#24 - The Shame of the Cities

Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/25/1975

Lou wants to research his own news story now that Mary's producer and decides to launch a major investigation on a city councilor only to discover that he is completely honest.

Watch Now:Apple TV