15 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’

4. Mary Tyler Moore’s Tragic Past

Years after the end of her show, Mary Tyler Moore was confronted with tragedy when her brother John was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Mary Tyler Moore confessed in her autobiography that she made the choice to help “her terminally ill brother try to commit suicide by feeding him ice cream laced with a deadly overdose of drugs.” Moore expressed no regret for the attempt which ultimately failed; it’s a somber anecdote for a woman so typically joyful. Sadly, she had a further family tragedy when her only son died from an accidental self-inflicted gun shot wound in 1980.

5. Mary Tyler Moore Wasn’t Afraid To Move Forward

As the star of her own show, Mary Tyler Moore kicked things off with a progressive attitude. It was trait she’d carried with her throughout her career. In fact, on the Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore insisted on wearing capris for at least one scene every episode. At that time it was tradition for women to wear dresses. “But Moore insisted all the housewives she knew wore pants. She was allowed to continue wearing them, helping capri pants become a popular fashion fad for women across America.”

6. Tina Fey Loves It

Tina Fey, the mastermind behind 30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is a professed lover of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. At one point, she told USA Today, “I always wanted it to be about relationships in the office,” she says. “Our goal is to try to be like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where it’s not about doing the news.”