Dayton’s. The place where I have all my childhood memories that bear the closest resemblance to A Christmas Story. Going downtown around Christmas, seeing the Lego and Playmobil toy displays, and Santa. Taking the skyway. Then back to the suburbs.
Well, if she was in Minneapolis then where was she moving from in those opening scenes?
And why in God’s name did Rhoda move from New York City to Minneapolis?
I guess I’m remembering now that on the “Rhoda” show Rhoda moved back to New York.
Funny the things one forgets.
I remember liking “That Girl” but now when I watch reruns on TV Land I’m shocked and appalled at how sexist it is. And that show was supposed to be feminist!
12.
cathyx
For a woman just starting out, she sure had a lot of different coats.
13.
kerFuFFler
@Southern Beale: I suspect she was moving there from small-town Minnesota—-Lake Wobegon perhaps?
14.
gene108
Theme songs for T.V. shows have really come down a notch or ten.
No one bothers with a catchy opening tune any more.
I don’t remember Mary’s “small-town”-ness being an issue in the show. It was “single career woman” not “goll-eee, small town girl’s in the big city!”
Weird.
17.
Ohio Mom
My vague memory is that Mary, who was from a small town, had bravely broken off an engagement with a fellow who was very appropriate but did not float her boat, and had moved to Minneapolis to start her real life. The thing that made the show different was exactly that this back story was not stressed and it was indeed, “single career woman,” not “small-town girl makes good.” Because that’s how Mary saw herself.
I remember more clearly her interview with Mr. Grant, who says something like, “You’re perky (Mary smiles). I hate perky.” I don’t know why Rhoda was in the Twin Cities, though. Maybe it was to take that job dressing the department store windows.
This is the first time I’ve seen the opening credits in color, and yes, she did have a lot of expensive looking coats for someone just starting out. Wasn’t so obvious in black & white.
18.
Ohio Mom
Now I’m also remembering a very old Nora Ephron essay where she writes that the MTM Show made it okay and even respectable to stay in on a Saturday night and not go out to prove you were popular and hip.
Even more fun, is that often, depending on the plot of that weeks show, they modify it to capture some quirk of the plot. Really fun and always a pleasant surprise.
22.
jehrler
Just for fun, here are a couple examples of the Psych theme songs that have been changed to reflect the plot of the episode:
@Ohio Mom:
This is right. She fled a fiance and started a new life in Minneapolis. But Mr. Grant said, “You’ve got spunk. I hate spunk.”
Also, I learned from watching Pop Up Video that in the original script Mary was leaving a failed marriage, but the producers changed it to fleeing a fiance because they thought audiences would think she had divorced Dick Van Dyke, her previous TV husband.
27.
Ohio Mom
Thanks bobbo. I remembered it was spunk Mr. Grant didn’t like after I posted, while I was moving the laundry around, picking up the kitchen, etc., and before I got back to the computer. Didn’t know about the failed marriage bit, though. That’s a fun little factoid.
28.
noho
I just finished watching this with my wife and this show holds up pretty damn well. The later seasons, especially.
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Southern Beale
I forgot Mary was in Minneapolis … for some reason I thought she was in New York? Or was she from Minneapolis and moved to New York?
Thinking her big “throw my hat in the air” moment was about arriving in Minneapolis seems somehow … anticlimactic.
russell
A walk down memory lane.
Steeplejack
@Southern Beale:
She was always in Minneapolis, I think.
Ash Can
@Southern Beale: “That Girl” (Marlo Thomas) was in New York.
Ash Can
@Steeplejack: Those opening shots show her moving from somewhere, but I can’t recall where, or if it was ever even said.
dr. bloor
Someone with mad photoshop skillz should superimpose Michelle Bachmann’s face over MTM’s.
kd bart
Rhoda was from New York. Specifically, The Bronx.
cleek
other great TV shows set in Minnesota: Coach, Little House, Rocky & Bullwinkle
Ash Can
@dr. bloor: Sacrilege!
jon
Dayton’s. The place where I have all my childhood memories that bear the closest resemblance to A Christmas Story. Going downtown around Christmas, seeing the Lego and Playmobil toy displays, and Santa. Taking the skyway. Then back to the suburbs.
Southern Beale
Well, if she was in Minneapolis then where was she moving from in those opening scenes?
And why in God’s name did Rhoda move from New York City to Minneapolis?
I guess I’m remembering now that on the “Rhoda” show Rhoda moved back to New York.
Funny the things one forgets.
I remember liking “That Girl” but now when I watch reruns on TV Land I’m shocked and appalled at how sexist it is. And that show was supposed to be feminist!
cathyx
For a woman just starting out, she sure had a lot of different coats.
kerFuFFler
@Southern Beale: I suspect she was moving there from small-town Minnesota—-Lake Wobegon perhaps?
gene108
Theme songs for T.V. shows have really come down a notch or ten.
No one bothers with a catchy opening tune any more.
Southern Beale
@gene108:
The “Friends” theme with the hand-clapping was the last catchy sitcom theme song. They killed it.
Southern Beale
@kerFuFFler:
I don’t remember Mary’s “small-town”-ness being an issue in the show. It was “single career woman” not “goll-eee, small town girl’s in the big city!”
Weird.
Ohio Mom
My vague memory is that Mary, who was from a small town, had bravely broken off an engagement with a fellow who was very appropriate but did not float her boat, and had moved to Minneapolis to start her real life. The thing that made the show different was exactly that this back story was not stressed and it was indeed, “single career woman,” not “small-town girl makes good.” Because that’s how Mary saw herself.
I remember more clearly her interview with Mr. Grant, who says something like, “You’re perky (Mary smiles). I hate perky.” I don’t know why Rhoda was in the Twin Cities, though. Maybe it was to take that job dressing the department store windows.
This is the first time I’ve seen the opening credits in color, and yes, she did have a lot of expensive looking coats for someone just starting out. Wasn’t so obvious in black & white.
Ohio Mom
Now I’m also remembering a very old Nora Ephron essay where she writes that the MTM Show made it okay and even respectable to stay in on a Saturday night and not go out to prove you were popular and hip.
Blackfrancis
I’m always looking for an excuse to post this, but it’s really only good for Buffalonians who like hockey.
Chris Wolf
The Husker Du version is better.
jehrler
@gene108:
I have to disagree.
The theme song from Psych on USA is great and has a place on my iPhone.
Here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Gced_Z_KU
Even more fun, is that often, depending on the plot of that weeks show, they modify it to capture some quirk of the plot. Really fun and always a pleasant surprise.
jehrler
Just for fun, here are a couple examples of the Psych theme songs that have been changed to reflect the plot of the episode:
Bollywood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbodxiyYAHw&feature=related
Xmas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeY1J5GkqnI&feature=related
Boys 2 Men: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZD47Dje4oA
JoeG
MTM Show was never broadcast in B-W… (The DVD Show was, of course…)
CJWhite
Hey Joe, some of us did not have color TVs when the show was (first) broadcast. :)
slag
Great submission! Love this theme song.
bobbo
@Ohio Mom:
This is right. She fled a fiance and started a new life in Minneapolis. But Mr. Grant said, “You’ve got spunk. I hate spunk.”
Also, I learned from watching Pop Up Video that in the original script Mary was leaving a failed marriage, but the producers changed it to fleeing a fiance because they thought audiences would think she had divorced Dick Van Dyke, her previous TV husband.
Ohio Mom
Thanks bobbo. I remembered it was spunk Mr. Grant didn’t like after I posted, while I was moving the laundry around, picking up the kitchen, etc., and before I got back to the computer. Didn’t know about the failed marriage bit, though. That’s a fun little factoid.
noho
I just finished watching this with my wife and this show holds up pretty damn well. The later seasons, especially.