You might not make it, after all

>> Mary and Rhoda should have been left alone

by MATTHEW HAYS

 I was hoping, against my instincts, that this reunion special might be different. But Mary and Rhoda, the made-for-TV reunion movie which airs this week, lives down to our worst expectations. Forgive those of us who hoped that some thought might have actually gone into this. Mary Richards, of course, has morphed into a cultural institution over the years. The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda were perfect sitcom reflections of their time, and the former show is considered one of the very best TV shows ever created.

 The movie finds Mary Richards a grieving widow now living in New York (apparently network execs are still uncomfortable, as they were in 1970, with the notion that Mary could be a divorcee). Rhoda Morgenstern, meanwhile, is recently divorced from hubby #2 (no sign of Joe, her husband from her sitcom). The two women have been estranged for eight years because Mary didn't approve of Rhoda's last husband. With Rhoda's divorce in motion, they are able to rekindle their friendship.

 It's a fairly cheap-o device for exposition: as they catch up, the screenwriters fill us in on where the heck these two have been. Mary worked successfully as a news segment producer for ABC but quit to mother full-time; Rhoda lived in Paris for years but has since returned to give New York another last chance after splitting with hubby. Both Mary and Rhoda are grappling with understanding their twentysomething daughters (the offspring subplots are, at best, truly embarrassing).

 Valerie Harper and Moore haven't appeared together as these characters since the final episode of Mary Tyler Moore (March 19, 1977). Harper fares quite well as Rhoda, still wearing her trademarked headgear and firing off brilliant one-liners (perhaps the script's only saving graces). But Moore appears baffled by her Richards persona, unable to decide what Mary she has become at age 60: is she the perky, spunky girl she played early in the old series, or the self-assured, confident career woman seen in the series' final season? It's impossible for us to tell, as Moore clearly hasn't decided herself.

 Aside from the rock-bottom script (penned by Katie Ford) and clunky direction (Emmy-winner Barnet Kellman), Mary and Rhoda is most jarring for the aura surrounding Moore. In interviews since the classic sitcom that bears her name finished, Moore has admitted to occasionally resenting Mary Richards. After all, a role that memorable in a show that great has left an indelible mark on the actress.

 And you can see its effects here: Moore has been left to compete with Richards in reruns, a screen image of herself in her prime; she's now a victim of too many face-lifts and a ludicrous breast augmentation job. Finally, Mary and Rhoda feels less like catching up with old friends than a cautionary tale about the perils of fame itself. :

 

Mary and Rhoda airs on Monday, February 7 on ABC at 8pm