Mary Tyler Moore (1970–1977): Season 1, Episode 6 - Support Your Local Mother - full transcript

Mary finds a strange woman with a suitcase sitting outside her apartment door. She quickly learns that that woman is Rhoda's mother, Ida Morgenstern, who is visiting from the Bronx. She's at Mary's place since Rhoda isn't home, or so she believes. In actuality, Mary learns directly from Rhoda that she doesn't want to see her mother, with whom she has a love-hate relationship. As such, Mary puts Ida up for as long as she is staying in Minneapolis. Mary, who becomes Ida's surrogate daughter, soon understands the frustration that Rhoda feels in being Ida's daughter. Regardless, Mary tries to get Rhoda to at least see her mother and hopefully come to an understanding mother-daughter relationship with Ida before she heads back to New York.

# How will you make it
on your own #

# This world is awfully big #

# And, girl
this time you're all alone #

# But it's time
you started living #

# It's time you let someone else
do some giving #

# Love is all around #

# No need to waste it #

# You can have the town
Why don't you take it #

# You might just make it #

# After all #

# You might just make it
after all #



Yeah? Okay, Murray,
I'll turn it on.

This is Ted Baxter. Be with me tonight
at W.J.M. election headquarters...

when this reporter and
his team of political experts...

are the first to predict the winner
in the Minneapolis city election.

My comprehensive analysis
will begin at 7:30...

right after the Three Stooges.

Come in.

I can't.

I'm sorry, Mr. Grant.

- My hands were full.
- Can I ask you a personal question?

- Sure.
- What did you knock with?

- With my...
- Uh-huh.

Mr. Grant, Murray and I dug up some
facts for the election show tonight.

And we thought if you liked 'em,
we could put 'em on cue cards...



in case Ted Baxter runs out
of things to say.

Good. Baxter usually runs out after
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen."

Sometimes after
"Good evening, ladies."

Mary, when somebody does a terrific job,
I believe in letting them know it.

Good work, Murray!

Mary, I want you to be in charge
out there on the floor tonight.

- You want me to-to be in charge?
- Mm-hmm.

- But that's your job.
- No, it's telling you what your job is.

Look, if it's a question
of extra money.

- No, it's not a question of money.
- Good, 'cause there isn't any.

Mr. Grant, you don't seem
to understand. l-l-l...

In order to be in charge,
you have to be able to...

exert authority,
and I've never been any good at that.

- You can do it.
- No, I can't. You... You could do it.

If I were you, right now
I'd probably be saying,

"Mary, I'm in a little bind
right now and..."

I don't wanna talk about it.
You're doing it.

You see?
There it is. That's it.

Start by telling the crew to
take a half-hour dinner break.

- A half hour?
- Mm-hmm.

The way the snow's coming down,
it'd be nice...

if everybody was back
by the time they had to start.

Go tell 'em.

Mr. Grant, really, I've just never
been any good at exerting authority.

- They probably won't even listen to me.
- What'd you say?

l...

I'll find out
for you right now.

Harry, where do you want
camera two?

Have him on the tote board.
- I want you on the board.

- Do you have a minute?
- Let me check Baxter's...

- Over here, Murray.
- No, it's okay. Take your time.

It's fine.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm Ted Baxter.

"Welcome to W.J.M. 's continuous
election night coverage, and remember.

"We'll stay on the air
until a winner is declared.

Take off glasses.
Look concerned."

- Ted said to put that in there.
- Take it out.

Come on, Murr. Leave it in.
That's the way I remember my motivation.

I don't mind you remembering
your motivation.

It just frosts me when you read it
over the air like you did last night.

"Mississippi River rises.

"Thousands flee homes.

Take off glasses.
Look concerned."

I can explain that. When I took
off my glasses to look concerned,

I forgot my place
in the cue card.

- Hi, Mar.
- Hi, Ted.

Tom, could you take this material
and put it on cue cards for Ted?

- Who okayed this material?
- I did.

- What about Lou?
- I'm sort of in charge tonight.

- You're in what?
- In charge.

That's dinner break. Take an hour.

Could I have
your attention, please?

Everybody, would you all
just gather around?

- Please, could I have your attention?
- Hey, everybody.

- What's your name, honey?
- Mary.

- Mary wants your attention.
- Thank you.

I have an important
announcement to make.

But first of all, I wanna thank you all
for the very good work...

Get to the important announcement...
This is our dinner hour.

That is the important announcement.

We're only gonna take a half an hour
for dinner tonight.

I can't eat dinner in a half hour.

Of course you can't. It takes someone
that long to cut up his food for him.

The reason we have to eat in a half hour
is that it's snowing really bad out.

I can't eat a whole dinner in
a half hour. That's all there is to it.

Ted, I didn't wanna
have to say this, but...

just a little while ago
I was in Mr. Grant's...

Lou's office... and he put me
in charge of the show tonight.

So, as the person in charge
of the show tonight,

I'm saying that we're gonna
take a half an hour for dinner.

As the anchorman
of the show tonight, I say...

I'll just have to eat
my dinner a little faster. Let's go.

Right.

Mister...

- How's it going?
- Well, uh, they're not...

You know...

I, uh...

Mary, it's really starting
to come down hard.

- What time is it now?
- You have 15 minutes to get back.

- Can I make you a cheese sandwich?
- Oh, great.

- Okay.
- I don't know what dress to wear.

I don't know what shoes...
I don't know what to wear.

- Why don't you wear what you got on?
- I already wore that.

Boy, I should have your job. At least
you get to dress up to go to work.

When a person dresses dummies
in a store window like I do,

the big deal is every Monday morning
when your smock is starched.

You don't know what it's like
giving orders to Ted Baxter.

Oh, is he gorgeous.

Most people on TV are so phony,
but that Ted Baxter...

When he takes off his glasses
and looks concerned, oh...

That guy...

Rhoda, can you get that
for me? I'm not dressed.

Mary, I'm making a sandwich here.
Besides, it's probably for you.

That's it. Wear the fur dress.
Goes great with the fur shoes.

Hello?

Yeah.

Oh, no.
Oh, that is a problem.

Well... No, listen,
it's nobody's fault.

Sometimes no matter how many precautions
you take, these things just happen.

- Who's having the baby?
- That was the employment agency.

- Our extras won't come in the blizzard.
- What were they supposed to do?

- Just answer the phones...
- I can answer phones.

- And look good on television.
- I can answer phones.

- You're on.
- Great.

- My cheese sandwich.
- Yeah.

Um, how is it possible
to make a bad cheese sandwich?

Well, you were out of cheese,
so I used yogurt.

- Five minutes to air time.
- Five minutes.

- Mimi, has the other girl shown up yet?
- Not yet.

- Everything ready, Mar?
- We still need a girl on the phones.

We need someone to run
the tote board.

- The political analyst hasn't shown up.
- Uh-huh.

- Can you tell us when we wrap tonight?
- Uh, I've no idea.

- Think it'll be before 9:00?
- We'll stay till we predict a winner.

- What difference does it make?
- Well, it's not hard to understand.

I wanna go to bed early so
I can get up early tomorrow...

so I can read the reviews
about what I did tonight.

All right.
Excuse me, Ted.

I think this is Dr. Newton,
our political analyst.

- Doctor?
- I'm not even a dentist.

Rhoda! I'm sorry. I thought
you were our political analyst.

I'm glad you're here.
I gotta show you how to work that board.

Look, when the numbers come in,
you get them up on the board.

Yeah. Right on camera
behind Ted Baxter?

Oh. How's this, Mary?
Is this okay?

Yes, it's wonderful, but you have
to do it in back of the board.

- You mean behind this thing?
- That's where the gadgets are.

- I'm not taking this crummy job.
- Rhoda, come on!

You're my friend.
Who else do you give crummy jobs to?

How about one
of those losers over there?

You know I have trouble
telling people what to do.

- You seem to be telling me pretty good.
- Rhoda, please?

All right, but this is the last time
I do a favor for you, Mary Richards.

You see that headset?
Put it on.

When the numbers come in,
get them up on the board.

If I'd known this was the job,
I would've bought an ankle bracelet.

Stand by for air.

- Good luck, Ted.
- Thanks, Mar.

Mary, I am smiling.

When I am smiling,
I am happy.

The first results
are starting to come in.

Turner: 85;
Mitchell: 23.

There it goes up
on that tote board.

Good. Baxter seems
in good form. Fine.

Everything's working smoothly.
Mary, when someone does a terrific job,

I believe
in letting them know it.

You're doing a...
What was that?

What's wrong with the lights?

The Teletype stopped.

It can't stop.
If it stops, we don't get votes.

It stopped.
We don't get votes.

The storm must've knocked
the lines down.

At least we have people
at the precinct to phone the votes in.

Hello? Hello?

- Stand by.
- Hey.

- Action!
- Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

It's 7:30. The polls are closed.
And I'm Ted Baxter.

Welcome to W.J.M.'s
continuous election night coverage.

We'll be on the air with returns
until a winner is declared.

We're in for an exciting evening
here at W.J.M.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for those
of you that have tuned in late,

we've been on the air for two hours now,
and the up-to-the-hour totals.

Turner: 85,;
Mitchell: 23.

And the tension is mounting.

Oh, a commercial.
Good.

We'll be back with more results,
I hope, right after this commercial.

And cut!

I can't take it anymore!

Two hours of 85-23, 85-23?

I need new numbers.
I can't ad-lib anymore.

- But, Ted, your ad-libbing is great.
- Really?

Really.
Yes, just fine. Fine.

A couple of small points,
hardly worth mentioning,

but do you think it's right
on the election show...

to do impressions
of Humphrey Bogart?

That's all you know.
I was doing Jimmy Cagney.

I'm not going
back out there alone.

- Has the political analyst arrived yet?
- No.

I'm going back
out there alone.

I'll never make it.

Look, Ted, I'm positive the phone lines
are gonna be repaired soon.

In the meantime, we're all counting
on you to pull us through.

Thirty seconds. Stand by.

- Ted, you're gonna be just fine.
- Why do we have to go back on the air?

Why don't we rerun
last year's elections?

At least last year's elections,
the numbers changed.

Not like Turner: 85;
Mitchell: 23...

Turner: 108; Mitchell: 61.
Like that.

Turner: 112,;
Mitchell: 74.

- The board's working.
- Don't stop me now. I'm rolling.

- Turner: 136,; Mitchell: 114.
- Hold it.

Hold it just a...

Rhoda, you're leaning
on the switch.

Hi, Mary.

Nice guy. He's the floor manager,
whatever that is.

Do you have to do that
at a time like this?

You know what it's like all alone
behind that board?

- It was Turner: 85...
- Mitchell: 23. I know.

- Rhoda, please, get back there.
- Okay, okay.

Ted, I'm sorry. Rhoda made a mistake.
These are the wrong numbers.

Stand by, everybody.

What's wrong is I'm standing here
and he's gonna throw his finger at me,

and I'm gonna have to say,
"Welcome back to election headquarters."

It's still Turner: 85;
Mitchell: 23.

A definite trend is being set.

Turner's lead seems to be
holding quite steady.

And the excitement
is just beginning.

Meanwhile, let's have a look at some
of the other hotly-contested issues.

For example, the controversial
Proposition "A"...

seems to be shaping up
as quite a cliffhanger.

Right now the figures are
zero to zero.

Have you ever wondered
what the letters W.J.M. stood for?

Well, I certainly have.

And so, in 1951,

W.J.M. was granted a license
by the F.C.C.

Have you ever wondered
what the letters F.C.C. stand for?

That man is dying out there.

He's read everything in the studio,
including his driver's license.

What we need are votes to talk about.
What's happening with the phone company?

- I sent a man over there.
- And?

He's missing. So I sent another man
to look for the first man.

- Don't tell me.
- Yes.

I'd like to send another man, but
it's getting harder to find volunteers.

Maybe we ought to
send Baxter.

No, no, no. With our luck,
he'd be the only one to make it back.

Mr. Grant, why don't we just rerun an
old movie until everything gets fixed?

That's a good question...

for someone who doesn't know
anything about this business.

We sold our election night
coverage to sponsors.

They don't have to pay us unless
we give them election night coverage.

So, unless there's a movie
called Election Night Coverage...

Lou, Ted ran out
of things to say.

What? He ran out of things
to say three hours ago.

- This time it's different.
- What?

- Turn on the sound, Mary.
- The sound is on.

Oh, this is different.

- What's he doing out there?
- Breathing.

I don't believe
I've ever seen that before.

- Murray, get into commercial fast.
- Right.

That settles it. There are votes out
there, and I'm gonna bring 'em here.

Mario, get the mobile unit gassed up,
check the chains. I'm taking it out.

- No!
- What do you mean, no?

- No, don't go.
- I didn't say no... I said yes.

- Yes, I'm still going.
- Mr. Grant, please don't go.

If you go,
who's gonna be in charge?

Same person who's been
in charge... you.

They only let me be in charge because
they knew you were here to be in charge.

Why don't you stay and let me
go get the votes?

- I can't let you go out in that snow.
- Why? I'm good in the snow.

I drive very carefully.
I've driven in it before.

- You really think you can?
- Of course I can.

The mobile unit has
automatic transmission, doesn't it?

Four on the floor,

double clutch, compound low,
four-wheel drive and a hydraulic shovel.

- I can learn.
- Look, Mary.

I hate to tell you this,
but the mobile unit is a truck.

A big truck.

- A big one.
- I can still learn.

It's... It's something...
It's-It's like an "H," right?

It's more like an "H" with a "W"
in the middle of it...

and a "T" on the side.

I'm sorry, Mary.
You're still in charge.

- And will you stop looking like that.
- Like what?

Like that. Like a poster
for Radio Free Europe.

Well, l... I suddenly
just feel so lonely.

Turn on the TV.

That's always good company.

Add the yolks of three eggs,
half a cup of walnuts...

Makes a wonderful
late-night snack.

He's doing recipes?

I'll hurry.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
it's still Turner: 85; Mitchell: 23.

But I'm sure our phone lines
will be repaired soon...

and we'll have some
new results.

With luck, maybe right
after this next commercial.

And cut!

Ted, are you all right?

You... you're doing this to me.

I'm gonna find you
some help.

Murray, he needs somebody
to talk to.

Don't look at me.
I don't even talk to him at parties.

Who we gonna get?

What about him?
He's already in makeup.

Thank heaven.
That must be the political analyst.

- Doctor?
- Father.

- Doctor Father?
- Father Flint.

Well, I'm very pleased to meet you.
I wasn't expecting to meet a priest.

It's my turn to do sermonette.

Oh. Father, we're having
a little trouble here.

I know, I know.

I haven't seen a man
suffer like that since Job.

- Would you consider going on with him?
- I'd be delighted.

- I've always wanted to do a talk show.
- Thank you, Father.

Ted, we've got some help.

What's he doing here?
Do I look that bad?

Relax, my dear boy.
You're going to be all right.

Where's my close-up camera?
Am I on my mark here?

In the chair, Father.
Coming out of commercial. Stand by.

Good luck, Ted. It's gonna be fine.
And, Father, thank you.

Stand by! Action!

Back again,
ladies and gentlemen.

We're fortunate to have
an old friend drop by to say hello...

while our phone lines
are being repaired.

I'd like you to meet
Father... Father...

- What's your name?
- Father Flint.

Father Flint.

Tell me, Padre...

Now that you're here, I'm sure
our viewers would like to know.

How long have you been
interested in religion?

Did you hear the one about the minister
and the rabbi and the priest...

who all decided to play golf
one election day?

Yes, Father,
about a half hour ago.

I see it's time
for another commercial.

Oh, oh. Ted and I
will be right back...

after this important message.

And cut!

It's going just fine, Ted.
Really fine.

I think you're gonna have to find
someone to take Father Flint's place.

Poor man. He seemed to have lost a lot
of his wind after they sang "Danny Boy."

Listen, everybody. Channel 3
just predicted Turner a winner...

and signed off!

All we have to do is declare Turner
a winner, and we can all go home.

- No, hold it. Hold it just a minute.
- What was that?

That was,
"Hold it just a minute."

We can't go on with that information.
It's not official.

- It's official enough for me.
- Murray, no. We have an obligation.

Mary, all those people
out there are sleeping.

I feel no obligation
to sleeping people.

Well, I'm sure at least
Turner and Mitchell aren't sleeping.

It wouldn't be right.
It would be dishonest.

- Who is she?
- Who are you anyway?

Rhoda, I feel very strongly about this.
It would be wrong.

It wouldn't be so bad.

- Hey, what more do you need?
- Coming out of commercial. Stand by.

I am going to declare
a winner now.

Ted, Ted, look. I know you're dead tired
and you wanna go home.

We all wanna go home, but I cannot
let you make this announcement.

I'm going to declare
a winner now.

Ted, if you declare
a winner now,

you're fired.

Stand by, everybody!

And action!

Welcome back,
gentlemen ladies.

It looks like...

Turner: 85;
Mitchell: 23.

And we'll stay right here until we
get all the facts to declare a winner.

Oh, I see Gordie the weatherman
just stopped in to say hello.

He's gonna tell us all about what makes
it snow right after this commercial.

And cut!

Congratulations, kid.
How'd you do it?

I don't know.
I just opened my mouth,

and "you're fired"
just came out.

I guess I'm not so bad
at being in charge after all.

Say, Rhoda, aren't you supposed to
be in back of that board right now?

I don't feel like it.

Oh, Tom, I wonder,
could I talk to you...

Later. I'm busy.

But I'm supposed to be...
in charge.

And so I decided
to pack my bags...

and leave New York City
and come here to Minneapolis.

People ask me,
"Why Minneapolis?"

And I replied,
"Why not?"

Oh, I see it's time
for a commercial.

Ted and I will be right back
after this brief message.

And cut!

And what did you do
after you got to Minneapolis?

- Ted, we're off the air.
- Oh, are we?

- Yeah.
- Would you lead me to the water?

I think I'm thirsty.

Of course.

Steady now. Come on.

Hi. Hey, what's going on here?

Say, aren't you...
Are you Chuckles the Clown?

No, no, I'm Walter Cronkite.

- How did you get through the snowstorm?
- I took the bus.

It quit snowing about an hour ago.
Listen.

How come you're still on the air?
I have to go on in half an hour.

- We're waiting for the returns.
- Haven't you heard?

- We haven't heard anything.
- Oh, for crying out loud.

"Mitchell wins it.
Turner concedes."

- Turner...
- Mitchell won it, not Turner.

- Mm-hmm.
- Chuckles, listen.

Ted is not really
in any condition to go on.

Would you go on and announce
the winner so we can all go home?

Chuck-a-luck-a-bunky-wuck!
Would I ever!

Just point Mr. Camera at me.

Coming out of commercial.

And action!

Hi, boys and girls!

Our new mayor is
Mr. Mitchell!

So let's all give him
a really colossal...

Chuckles the Clown Club cheer!

Chuck-a-luck!
Chuck-a-luck!

Chuck-a-luck-luck-luck-luck-a-chuck!
Luck-a-chuck!

Luck-chuck-chuck!

Mary, when I put somebody in charge,
I never second-guess 'em.

That's my policy.

So I'm never gonna ask you why you
put Ted Baxter in a clown suit.