Phyllis (TV series)

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Phyllis
Format Sitcom
Starring Cloris Leachman
Lisa Gerritsen
Jane Rose
Henry Jones
Judith Lowry
Richard Schaal
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 48
Production
Running time 30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run September 11, 1975 – March 13, 1977
Chronology
Preceded by The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Related shows Rhoda
Lou Grant
External links
IMDb profile

Phyllis was an American television sitcom and the second spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the first being Rhoda) created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In the new series, Phyllis and her daughter Bess moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco, after the death of her husband Lars. It was revealed that San Francisco was Phyllis' and Lars' original hometown, prior to their moving to Minneapolis, and that his mother and stepfather still resided there.

Phyllis was aired on CBS Mondays at 8:30 pm and ran from September 11, 1975 to March 13, 1977. Although it was the sixth highest-rated television series during its first season, Phyllis was cancelled by CBS in 1977 after only 48 episodes due to steadily declining ratings during the second season.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Phyllis and Bess moved in with Lars' mother Audrey Dexter (Jane Rose) and stepfather Judge Jonathan Dexter (Henry Jones), and Phyllis took a job as an assistant in a photographic studio. The owner, Julie Erskine, was played by Barbara Colby, who had appeared in a recurring role as a different character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Colby was murdered after three episodes of Phyllis had been filmed, and the part was assumed by Liz Torres. Much of the first season's humor stemmed from Phyllis' attempts to fit into the job market, after having lived most of her life as the spoiled wife of a rich physician.

During the second and final season, Phyllis would switch jobs and work as an administrative assistant for San Francisco City Supervisor Dan Valenti (Carmine Caridi). Elderly actress Judith Lowry also appeared as Mother Dexter, Jonathan's mother and Phyllis' main nemesis. Accordingly, she was better than everyone when it came to putting Phyllis in her place. In a 1976 episode, Mother Dexter married the similarly aged Arthur Lanson (Burt Mustin); both Lowry and Mustin died within a month of the episode's airing. Bess also found romance with Mark Valenti (Craig Wasson), the nephew of Phyllis' boss, whom she later married. In the final episode, Bess announced that she was pregnant with their first child.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Season 1 (1975-76)

  • Pilot (September 11, 1975)
  • Bess, Is You A Woman Now? (September 18, 1975)
  • Up for Grabs (September 22, 1975)
  • Leaving Home (September 23, 1975)
  • The First Day (September 30, 1975)
  • Phyllis Takes Piano Lessons (October 7, 1975)
  • Phyllis' Garage Sale (October 14, 1975)
  • The First Date (October 27, 1975)
  • All Together Now (October 30, 1975)
  • Audrey Leaves Jonathan (November 6, 1975)
  • Phyllis Opens Julie's Heart (November 17, 1975)
  • So Lonely I Could Cry (November 24, 1975)
  • Phyllis and the Little People (December 1, 1975)
  • There's No Business Like No Business (December 8, 1975)
  • Paging Dr. Lindstrom (December 22, 1975)
  • The $17,623,419.53 Man (January 5, 1976)
  • Honor Thy Mother Dexter (January 12, 1976)
  • Phyllis in Love (January 19, 1976)
  • Crazy Mama (January 26, 1976)
  • A Man, A Woman and Another Woman (February 2, 1976)
  • Leo's Suicide (February 9, 1976)
  • Sonny Boy (February 16, 1976)
  • Widows, Merry and Otherwise (February 23, 1976)
  • The Triangle (March 1, 1976)

[edit] Season 2 (1976-77)

  • The New Job (September 20, 1976)
  • You're Not Getting Any Better, Just Older (September 27, 1976)
  • Speech 1A (October 4, 1976)
  • Off the Bench (October 11, 1976)
  • Boss or Buddy, or Both, or Neither (October 18, 1976)
  • Phyllis Cries Wolf (October 25, 1976)
  • Out of the Closet (November 1, 1976)
  • The Wrong Box (November 8, 1976)
  • Phyllis and the Jumper (November 15, 1976)
  • Mother Dexter Cohabitates (November 22, 1976)
  • Mother Dexter's Wedding (December 6, 1976)
  • Bess Airs Her Views (December 20, 1976)
  • The Christmas Party (December 27, 1976)
  • Phyllis Runs the Office (January 3, 1977)
  • The Threat (January 10, 1977)
  • Taking A Chance on Chance (January 16, 1977)
  • Leonard and the Bribe (January 23, 1977)
  • Broken-Hearted Bess (January 30, 1977)
  • I Am Beautiful (February 6, 1977)
  • Dan's Ex (February 13, 1977)
  • Audrey's New Life (February 20, 1977)
  • The Elopement (February 27, 1977)
  • The Apartment (March 6, 1977)
  • And Baby Makes Six (March 13, 1977)

[edit] Trivia

  • Phyllis was one of three spin-offs from The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the other two were Rhoda (1974-1978) and Lou Grant (1977-1982).
  • Phyllis was the sixth highest-rated television series during the 1975-76 television season.
  • The opening credits to Phyllis parody other TV series opening credits of the same period, specifically The Mary Tyler Moore Show by depicting the character Phyllis in a variety of San Francisco settings, while the theme song plays. The theme song parodies Broadway musical numbers, most specifically Jerry Herman's title songs to "Hello Dolly" and "Mame". In keeping with the nature of the character, the final line of the song is sung flat, and off-key. Lyrics:
Who makes the fog surrounding the Golden Gate simply disappear?
Phyllis, Phyllis
Who makes the warning bells on the cable cars play "The Gangs All Here"?
Phyllis, Phyllis
Who charms the crabs at Fisherman's Warf right out of their shells?
Who lights the lamps of Chinatown just by walking in view? Who?
Phyllis! Phyllis! Phyllis! It sure isn't you!

[edit] Mary Tyler Moore Show tie-ins

  • Mary Tyler Moore guest starred as Mary Richards on two episodes of Phyllis: "The First Day" and "You're Not Getting Any Better, Just Older", in which Mary visits Phyllis in San Francisco.
  • In 1977, Phyllis also appeared on the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (March 19, 1977, the same week as Phyllis was canceled.).

[edit] VHS release

In July 1992, a VHS containing two episodes of Phyllis was released by MTM Home Video; the cassette has long been out of print and Phyllis has not been released on DVD.

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