Mary Richards Falls in Love

The first 'dating' episode in a long while. Mary has a serious romance with Joe (Ted Bessell) who likes public displays of affection but has never told Mary "I love you", which bothers her.

The romance also kind of bothers Lou, Murray and Ted. These are the funniest scenes of the episode.

I don't generally like 'dating' episodes and I found Ted Bessell annoying and unappealing here. But overall this is a pretty funny and well-done episode. There's a twist at the end - unexpected but not entirely unbelievable.

Beth Howland who was previously Mary's prickly friend turned love rival Linda Foster in episode 'Have I Found a Guy for You' has a walk-on playing quite a similar role.

David Groh and Valerie Harper from 'Rhoda' make a cameo appearance.

The tag suggests make-up sex will follow. But didn't Joe just usher Joan out of his apartment? Maybe that's why Mary likes him so much.

I don't know... the chemistry that made 'the Donald' such a comfortable fit for Marlo Thomas' perky Ann Marie is lacking here. I cringed a bit at seeing them as a couple! But Ted deserved a shot at a recurring or even regular role on another successful sitcom. A few weeks later 'Joe' was back, in "One Too Many Boyfriends", which turned rather uncomfortably into soap opera, and managed to make him less likable. And after all, every character on MTM was likable, even the calculatedly annoying ones.

Audience response didn't favor more of his character, and after all, was ANYONE good enough for Mary? At least the actor should be someone with as much appeal as Mary Tyler Moore, and that's a pretty tall order. But it was worth a shot.