Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted

Fun look back at one of the classic TV sitcoms. Readers should be aware that Armstrong devotes a lot of pages to MTM's female writers. While this allows her to explore how a group of smart, funny women made inroads to what had previously been a male-dominated world, it leaves less room for stories about the actual show we all remember so fondly. There are discussions about a few seminal episodes, most notably “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” but I would have liked more of a focus on the show and the stars, and a little less on the writers, producers and directors.

Really well written, plus it's inadvertently a multimedia experience, because not only is the show currently available, so many of the things mentioned in context (Rhoda's landmark wedding, Mary's wild variety special, the MTM cast reunion on Oprah) are available on YouTube. Interesting, fun and immersive - I couldn't have asked for more.