The Mary Tyler Moore Show (TV Series) Didn't You Used to Be... Wait... Don't Tell Me (1971) User Reviews

The Class of '59

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 3 February 2017]

Once again Howard Arnell shows up. This time it's Mary's all-school reunion. Her class has been known for a lack of spirit, and her adversary in high school has only managed to get ten people to show up our of a class of 170. Rhoda tags along hoping to find some divorced men. Howard is again on the make, trying to get Mary to marry him. Meanwhile, several other characters from her past show up. My favorite was Jack Riley, who later played Mr. Carlin, the cynical group member from "The Bob Newhart Show." Mary is supposed to receive an award, so there is a bit of suspense for a while. One highlight of the episode is at the newsroom where Mary tries to talk Mr. Grant into sending her to do a a story on the 50th anniversary of her high school.

Howard Arnell and another dud party

[Rrrobert · 7/10 · 19 July 2019]

Howard Arnell (Richard Schaal) is back for another shaggy dog story of awkward interactions.

Mary and Rhoda attend Mary's school reunion, where all guests must remove their shoes. The poorly attended party is a dud and isn't helped by Howard's clumsy attempts to woo Mary. At least Rhoda meets a nice "Square" guy with a short back and sides haircut (which looks pretty good by modern standards).

Attempts to bring the meandering story to a head with Howard's surprise proposal don't really work.

Guest Jack Riley has a funny bit. Riley later returned as a prospective tenant who drops in at Mary's party where Georgette makes her debut.

The funniest bits are the opening scenes at the office with Lou, Murray, Ted. You can see why the series increasingly did workplace episodes as it went on...