101 Best Written TV Series

Aired: CBS, 1970-1977

The MTM brand, under Moore and then-husband Grant Tinker, was responsible for an iconic run of comedies (and dramas) in the 1970s, beginning with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, an updating of the workplace sitcom set at a Minneapolis TV station where Mary Richards (Moore) was a news writer and producer. The show mirrored numerous cultural shifts (Mary was a single woman living on her own, dating freely, whose family consisted of her co-workers) and was an important proving ground for writers including co-creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, as well as David Lloyd (author of the famous "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode), Ed. Weinberger, Stan Daniels and others who would go on to infuse a similar sophisticated sensibility into MTM sitcoms of the '70s like The Bob Newhart Show, and later, such shows as Taxi, Cheers, and Frasier.

Credited Writers

Sybil Adelman
George Atkins
Gloria Banta
Mike Barrie
John D. F. Black
James L. Brooks
Charlotte Brown
Allan Burns
Glen Charles
Les Charles
Dick Clair
Martin Cohan
Valerie Curtin
Stan Daniels
Elias Davis
David Davis
Martin Donovan
Michael Elias
Barbara Gallagher
Karyl Geld
Robert Gerlach
Ann Gibbs
Craig Alan Hafner
Gig Henry
Bob J. Ellison
Allan Katz
Joel Kimmel
George Kirgo
Arnie Kogen
Charles Lee
Michael Leeson
David Lloyd
Arnold Margolin
Jerry Mayer
James McDonald
Monica McGowan
Jenna McMahon
Marilyn Miller
Phil Mishkin
Gordon Mitchell
Rick Mittleman
Jim Mulholland
Lorenzo Music
Pat Nardo
Shelley Nelbert
Gail Parent
Jim Parker
Mary Kay Place
David Pollock
Earl Pomerantz
Richard Powell
Burt Prelutsky
Steve Pritzker
Don Reo
Bob Rodgers
Pam Russell
Susan Silver
Treva Silverman
Kenny Solms
Ziggy Steinberg
Lloyd Turner
Ed. Weinberger
Jack Winter
William Wood
Michael Zinberg