January 5, 1976 - April 7, 1978
Syndicated Situation Comedy - 455 Episodes
Cast:
| Mary Hartman: | Louise Lasser |
| Tom Hartman: | Greg Mullavy |
| Martha Shumway: | Dody Goodman |
| Cathy Shumway: | Debralee Scott |
| Heather Hartman: | Claudia Lamb |
| Loretta Haggers: | Mary Kay Place |
| Charlie Haggers: | Graham Jarvis |
| Merle Jeeter: | Dabney Coleman |
| Wanda Jeeter: | Marian Mercer |
| Garth Gimble/Barth Gimble: | Martin Mull |
| Coach Leroy Fedder: | Norman Alden |
| Reverend Brim: | Orson Bean |
| Mel Beach: | Shelley Berman |
| Pat Gimble: | Susan Browning |
| George Shumway #1: | Philip Bruns |
| Mac Slattery: | Dennis Burkley |
| Jeffrey DeVito: | Randall Carver |
| Popesco: | Severn Darden |
| Annie Wylie: | Gloria DeHaven |
| Eleanor Major: | Shelley Fabares |
| Harmon Farinella: | Richard Hatch |
| George Shumway #2: | Tab Hunter |
| Mae Olinski: | Salome Jens |
| Penny Major: | Judith Kahan |
| Raymond Larkin: | Victor Kilian |
| Jimmy Joe Jeeter: | Sparky Marcus |
| Dorelda Doremus: | Doris Roberts |
| Mrs. Fedder: | Reva Rose |
| Ronald Drayton: | Robert Snively |
| Sergeant Dennis Foley: | Bruce Solomon |
| Dr. Szymon: | James Staley |
| Annabelle: | Renée Taylor |
This was the classic soap opera to satirize all soap operas.
Mary Hartman was a "typical American housewife"
living in the small town of Fernwood, Ohio. She was
totally impressionable and rather slow-witted, with
the most significant things in her life coming from
television commercials, which she believed totally.
One of her early concerns was the prospect of "waxy
yellow buildup" on her kitchen floor and how to avoid
it. Pigtailed and plain, her life was full of one
crisis after another--her father disappeared, her
daughter was held hostage by a mass murderer, her
husband (Tom) was impotent, and her best friend
(aspiring country music singer Loretta Haggers) was
paralyzed. Eventually Mary's implacable calm collapsed
and she had a nervous breakdown, as well as an affair
with local cop Dennis Foley. Mary's grandfather,
Raymond Larkin, was known to all as the Fernwood
Flasher for his penchant for exposing himself in
public; her sister, Cathy, was a local swinger; and
her mother, Martha, was decidedly flaky. Tom Hartman
was an assembly-line worker at the local automobile
plant where he worked with Loretta's husband, Charlie.
Jimmy Joe Jeeter was an eight-year-old evangelist
whose career was cut short when he was electrocuted
by a television set that fell into his bathtub.
His father, Merle, was Fernwood's mayor.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was the creation of
producer Norman Lear. The novelty of a satirical
soap opera attracted many viewers after the late
local news in most cities. When Louise Lasser
left the show in 1977, it continued for another
six months under the title Forever Fernwood.
Click HERE to download theme song.
Click HERE to purchase TV books and videos!
Look for Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in TV Land.
Fernwood Central
By Unknown
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
From TV.com
The Mary Kay Place Place
By Chris
These links were last tested September 2001.
Check out this classic TV Guide cover...
