Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (sometimes abbreviated as MH2) was a syndicated prime-time soap opera produced by Norman Lear and directed by Joan Darling.

Related Topics:
Syndicated - Prime-time - Soap opera - Norman Lear - Joan Darling

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Lear conceived MH2 as satire, but it was viewed as so controversial that many stations aired it well after their 11 P.M. newscasts. The irony was that while MH2 dealt with many of the same topics found in episodes of daytime soap operas, the topics were called by their names (impotence, sexual perversion) instead of being referred to in hushed tones and euphemisms; all the while the cast had their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks. For this reason, the series was even more controversial than anyone could have imagined.

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The storyline followed Mary Hartman, played by Louise Lasser, and her family. Mary Hartman's husband Tom was played by Greg Mullavey, her mother by Dody Goodman, and Mary?s best friend and nextdoor neighbor, Loretta Haggars, by Mary Kay Place. Other cast members included Renee Taylor, Reva Rose, Martin Mull (as both Garth Gimble and Barth Gimble), Dabney Coleman, Marian Mercer and Doris Roberts. The series took place in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. In its first episode, MH2 addressed a family that had been mass-murdered (including the goats and chickens) and the "Fernwood Flasher", who turned out to be Mary's grandfather.

Related Topics:
Louise Lasser - Dody Goodman - Mary Kay Place - Martin Mull - Dabney Coleman - Doris Roberts

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The series was cancelled in 1976, but three other spin-offs, including Fernwood 2Nite, lived on into the early 1980s. Mary Kay Place was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album Tonite! At the Capri Lounge, Loretta Haggers on which she sang as her MH2 character, Loretta Haggers. One of the songs Place wrote for the album, "Baby Boy", climbed to the Top 60 on Billboard's Pop Charts, and #3 on the country charts, in 1976.

Related Topics:
Fernwood 2Nite - Grammy Award

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