Waxy Yellow Buildup -- Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

From the first

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Mary
• Hartman
• Louise
• Lasser
• Advertising
• Parody
• Soap
• Norman
• Lear

[mumbleora]

Can't get any sexier..

[drummerbraves]

I don't think that Louise Lasser and Debralee Scott are scary looking.

[gymnastix]

Also, that opening credit sequence, of the flowers in the kitchen window sill, was a direct lift from the CBS soap "Love Of Life," which, in the late 1960s and early '70s had a very similar opening sequence.

By the way, Dody Goodman, by that point, was a very respected comic actress, had appeared on "The Tonight Show" as a regular when Jack Paar (pre-Johnny Carson) hosted the late night show, along with Betty White and others (1957-62)..

[gymnastix]

The voice calling "Mary Hartman, Mary Hart,man" was that of Dody Goodman, who played "Martha Shumway," "MH's" mother on that soap opera satire series.

Keep in mind, this was, like the prime time series "SOAP," a parody of serious soap operas, was intended to be offbeat, weird, etc., and make viewers laugh at the daytime drama genre.

What was unique about "MHMH" was that it, unlike the weekly "SOAP" sitcom, aired every weekday, just like a real soap.

[gymnastix]

I have read Louise Lasser was in the throes of a serious cocaine addiction while starring on "MHMH," that she would tape lines of dialog to props (coffee cups, ironing board, etc.) on the set to help her with lines, which accounts for that staring look so often on her face.

On the other hand, that may just be a wild rumor.

[Bestmanme08]

Martin Mull (Garth Gimble)in great new bio (Charlton Heston: An Incredible Life: Revised Edition) at amazon!

[Jim1068]

Is that Hotsy Totsy on the left?

[jackie287]

I was about 7 and this show freaked me out too. I don't know what it was but I remember the voice saying Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman... and I can still remember seeing it as a kid.

[paktype]

That was Dody Goodman's voice.

[ssballs]

Yes and maybe

[stereoclinique]

haha...was Everyone in the 70s on drugs?

Mrs. Hartman was definitely on ludes...or was she just sniffing all of those cleaning products under the sink...

[BestManMe09]

Martin Mull is naturally lobotomized in reallife! He admitted in reallife in a 1978 that he never actually yelled. Count yourself as normal if you do yell occasionally!