A satire on soap operas dealing with a VERY strange housewife named Mary Hartman (Louise Lasser) and her heavily dysfunctional family and friends. It dealt with homosexuality, alcoholism, wife beating, drug abuse, rape, murder ALL done with a comic twist. Most TV shows wouldn't touch those subjects--but this one did.
This was considered very strong material for its time. It usually played during the afternoon hours but parents were horrified that their children were being subjected to this. Personally I was 14 when it started--I just found it funny and not even remotely shocking. It was moved to late night (11:30) in most areas on the country. It had a successful run for a few years until creator Norman Lear decided to end it. There was a final episode that tied together all the loose ends.
In terms of subject matter this was extreme...but its also very much of its time. The show didn't get too controversial (two gay characters were only allowed to talk to each other--no kissing or hugging) and the off the wall humor kept giving the show a light touch. So it was ahead of its time--but today it comes across as pretty slow and dated. The humor seems pretty silly now and the subject matter isn't even remotely extreme anymore. TV Land tried to revive it a few years ago and it didn't work.
So--it did help push the boundaries of what could be shown and talked about on TV but, unfortunately, it doesn't age well.
This was considered very strong material for its time. It usually played during the afternoon hours but parents were horrified that their children were being subjected to this. Personally I was 14 when it started--I just found it funny and not even remotely shocking. It was moved to late night (11:30) in most areas on the country. It had a successful run for a few years until creator Norman Lear decided to end it. There was a final episode that tied together all the loose ends.
In terms of subject matter this was extreme...but its also very much of its time. The show didn't get too controversial (two gay characters were only allowed to talk to each other--no kissing or hugging) and the off the wall humor kept giving the show a light touch. So it was ahead of its time--but today it comes across as pretty slow and dated. The humor seems pretty silly now and the subject matter isn't even remotely extreme anymore. TV Land tried to revive it a few years ago and it didn't work.
So--it did help push the boundaries of what could be shown and talked about on TV but, unfortunately, it doesn't age well.