Even if you haven’t seen an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in years, you can probably picture it via a single freeze-frame. You know the one: Mary Richards, smiling brightly amid the herd gathered at a crowded Minneapolis intersection, suddenly whirls and flings her tam-o’-shanter into the air. Probably the most famous frozen moment in film and TV, that carefree toss tells us everything about a woman determined to live happily ever after, on her terms.
What comes to my mind, though, are the wide shots of Mary traveling the pedestrian path beside Lake of the Isles with long, purposeful steps, unhurried yet anything but slow. Over its seven seasons, which aired on CBS between 1970 and 1977, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” introduced three versions of its opening credits sequence. Each highlights Mary’s professional evolution and, of course, her changing wardrobe and hairstyle.
