MARY - THE COMPLETE SERIES (CBS 1985-86) RARE! Mary Tyler Moore, James Farentino, John Astin, Katey Sagal, Carlene Watkins, James Tolkan, David Byrd

Mary is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from December 11, 1985, to April 8, 1986. The series stars Mary Tyler Moore in her return to series television after her successful Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Moore plays Mary Brenner, a 40-ish divorcée working at a second rate tabloid, the Chicago Eagle. She was formerly a high-profile writer at a fashion magazine which recently went out of business, and she is now reduced to writing a consumer-assistance column, "Helpline", helping to expose substandard business practices and products and the often uncaring reaction of government to these problems. Her boss, Managing Editor Frank DeMarco (James Farentino), concentrates on sensationalism as he is convinced that that is what really sells papers. He is also quite a ladies' man, and is attracted to Mary, as she is to him, but she finds dealing with that situation to be quite awkward.

Also working at the Eagle are the cynical, chain-smoking columnist Jo Tucker (Katey Sagal), the condescending theater critic Ed LaSalle (John Astin), and Tully (David Byrd), a copy editor who can scarcely function because he is going blind but knows he isn't going away; his job has strong protection from the union. Neighbors include Susan Wilcox (Carlene Watkins), Mary's good friend, whose fiancé Lester Mintz (James Tolkan) seems to be somehow "connected".

This 3-disc set contains all 13 episodes produced.

1. "From Pillar to Post" - December 11, 1985 - Mary is determined to prove she's tough enough to handle her new job as a consumer help-line columnist for the Chicago Eagle.

2. "Make My Day" - December 18, 1985 - Mary is chided by Jo for being too soft on a shady businessman, so Jo harangues the man by pretending to be Mary.

3. "Chicago Hi-Lo" - December 25, 1985 - Mary accepts Jo's invitation to play in the weekly office poker game, hoping to gain acceptance as one of the guys.

4. "Everyone's a Critic" - January 1, 1986 - Mary's vague comments about a play she was supposed to attend - but didn't - appear in Ed LaSalle's theater column review.

5. "The Death Threat" - January 8, 1986 - When the Chicago Eagle is hit with death threats, Mary is shocked that Frank just laughs them off.

6. "Forest for the Trees" - January 15, 1986 - Mary is depressed because her birthday is the same day as her wedding anniversary, but then she receives a gift from someone unexpected.

7. "Same Old Song" - January 22, 1986 - Jo is visited by her on-again/off-again boyfriend (Richard Gilliland) who wants Mary to help him get his completed novel published.

8. "Beans" - January 29, 1986 - Mary threatens to go over Frank's head when she's convinced he made a bad editorial decision.

9. "Table for Two" - February 12, 1986 - When Mary's dinner date calls to cancel after she's left work, Frank engineers a spot at her table.

10. "Mr. Lucky" - February 19, 1986 - Although he thinks he's on a lucky streak, Frank invites Mary to go to Monte Carlo and she declines his offer.

11. "And the Winner Is" -March 19, 1986 - Mary is surprised to win a fashion writer's award for an article she wrote at her former job.

12. "Little Jo" - April 1, 1986 - Mary organizes a dinner in her apartment for Jo and her visiting critical parents (Doris Belack and Dennis Patrick).

13. "Steppin' Out with Mary Brenner" - April 8, 1986 - Mary is placed in an awkward position when she is assigned by Frank to review a play written, directed and produced by Ed LaSalle.

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Number of DVDs: 3

Number of Episodes: 13

Quality: 9/10

Running Time: 5 hrs 12 min

Aspect Ratio: Full Screen 1.33:1

NOTES: This is a fan-made DVD set. Not a studio release.