Phyllis (TV series)
American sitcom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American sitcom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Phyllis is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from September 8, 1975, to March 13, 1977. Created mainly by Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels, it was the second spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the first being Rhoda). Mary Tyler Moore Show producer James L. Brooks was also involved with the show as a creative consultant.[1] The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who had been Mary Richards' friend, neighbor, and landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (November 2020) |
Phyllis | |
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Mother-in-law Audrey Dexter (Jane Rose) with Phyllis (1975) | |
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | James L. Brooks[1] Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger |
Based on | Phyllis Lindstrom by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns |
Starring | Cloris Leachman Henry Jones Jane Rose Judith Lowry Lisa Gerritsen Barbara Colby Liz Torres Richard Schaal Carmine Caridi Garn Stephens John Lawlor |
Theme music composer | Stan Daniels |
Composer | Dick DeBenedictis |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 48 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | Stan Daniels Michael J. Leeson Ed. Weinberger |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Production company | MTM Enterprises |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 8, 1975 – March 13, 1977 |
Related | |
In this series, Phyllis, along with her daughter Bess Lindstrom, moves from Minneapolis to San Francisco after the death of her husband, Dr. Lars Lindstrom. It was revealed that San Francisco was Phyllis and Lars's original hometown prior to their moving to Minneapolis, and that Lars's mother and stepfather still resides there.
Left penniless after the death of her husband Lars, Phyllis and her daughter Bess (Lisa Gerritsen) move in with Lars's mother, the scatterbrained Audrey Dexter (Jane Rose) and stepfather Judge Jonathan Dexter (Henry Jones). Phyllis takes a job as an assistant in a photographic studio. The owner, Julie Erskine, was played by Barbara Colby. In the 1974-1975 season, Colby was featured on The Mary Tyler Moore Show playing Sherry Ferris, a prostitute who Mary Richards (Moore) befriends. Her appearances on that show were so popular with viewers that when Phyllis was being cast, the producers enthusiastically signed her as a regular cast member. However, after three episodes of Phyllis had been filmed, Colby was murdered and the part was assumed by Liz Torres. Leo Heatherton (Richard Schaal, who was married to Valerie Harper, who played the title character in Rhoda) was a well-meaning but bumbling photographer at the studio.
Much of the first season's humor stemmed from Phyllis' attempts to fit into the job market, having lived for many years as the spoiled wife of a rich dermatologist. Judith Lowry guest starred in an early episode ("Leaving Home") as Jonathan's mother, Sally Dexter. She was so well received by viewers that by the end of the first year Lowry became a regular when Mother Dexter joined the household.
Aired on Monday nights between two popular shows – Rhoda and All in the Family – Phyllis instantly became a top ten hit. Cloris Leachman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The sitcom was the sixth highest-rated television series for the 1975–76 television season (at the time ranking higher than both Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show).
Toward the end of the first season, the ratings were beginning to slip. As a result, the series premise was reworked for the second season. Erskine Photography and the characters Julie Erskine (Liz Torres) and Leo Heatherton (Richard Schaal) were dropped with the explanation that Julie had married suddenly, sold the photography studio, and moved away, putting Phyllis out of a job. Leachman, Gerritsen, Jones, Rose and Lowry remained with Phyllis.
In the second-season premiere Phyllis was hired as an assistant to a San Francisco City Supervisor.
New characters were Phyllis's boss Dan Valenti (Carmine Caridi), Leonard Marsh (John Lawlor), an inept politician in the office, and Leonard's secretary Harriet Hastings (Garn Stephens). Harriet was initially Phyllis's rival, but they later became friends. Both Caridi and Lawlor had appeared in two separate episodes of Phyllis the previous season - Caridi as a junk dealer in the episode "Phyllis's Garage Sale" and Lawlor as a policeman in the episode "Crazy Mama".
The ratings continued to drop. Rhoda was also going through a format change at the time, which may have also affected Phyllis’ ratings. During this time both series' chief competition, NBC's Little House on the Prairie, flourished.
In a December 1976 episode, Jonathan's cranky and outspoken Mother Dexter (Lowry), Phyllis' main nemesis, married Arthur Lanson (Burt Mustin); both Lowry, 86, and Mustin, 92, died within a month of the episode's airing. (Episodes featuring Lowry continued to air through early February 1977; Mustin's character was mentioned but not seen after the wedding episode.).
CBS moved both Rhoda and Phyllis to Sunday nights at 8:00 P.M. and 8:30 P.M., respectively. Actress Jane Rose (who played Audrey Dexter) took ill with cancer, and though she did not leave the show, her role was reduced so that she could deal with her illness. These cast changes necessitated new story lines. Bess's role became more prominent. She found romance with Mark Valenti (Craig Wasson), the nephew of Phyllis' boss, and they later married.
By the middle of the 1976–77 season, the ratings for Rhoda had improved but Phyllis was still faltering. Rhoda was renewed for an additional season (it would ultimately be canceled in December 1978), but Phyllis was dropped by CBS in the spring of 1977, finishing in 40th place that season. The complications resulting from the deaths of several cast members during the show's run, as well as the ill health of actress Jane Rose, are said to have been factors in the series' cancellation.
The final episode ("And Baby Makes Six") had Bess announcing that she and Mark were expecting their first child. This installment aired Sunday, March 13, 1977. The same week, on Saturday, March 19, Leachman made her last appearance as Phyllis Lindstrom on the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
In July 1992, a VHS titled Phyllis—Volume 1 containing the first two episodes was released by MTM Home Video; however, a second volume was never released.
VHS Name | Ep# | Release Date | Titles |
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Phyllis—Volume 1 | 2 | July 1992 |
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