Phyllis

Phyllis
Format	Sitcom
Starring	Cloris Leachman Henry Jones Jane Rose
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	48
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 11, 1975 – March 13, 1977
Chronology
Preceded by	The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Related shows	Rhoda Lou Grant

Phyllis is an American television sitcom and the second spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (the first being Rhoda) created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In the new series, Phyllis and her daughter Bess Lindstrom moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco, after the death of her husband, Dr. Lars Lindstrom. It was revealed that San Francisco was Phyllis' and Lars' original hometown, prior to their moving to Minneapolis, and that his mother and stepfather still resided there.

Phyllis aired on CBS Mondays at 8:30 pm and ran from September 11, 1975 to March 13, 1977.

Phyllis was a great success during its first season. Cloris Leachman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a comedy series, and the series was the sixth highest-rated television series for the 1975-1976 television season (at the time ranking higher than both Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show). However, Phyllis was canceled by CBS in 1977 after only 48 episodes due to steadily declining ratings during the second season, when it finished in 40th place. Phyllis ended the same week that The Mary Tyler Moore Show did. Cloris Leachman appeared in the final episodes of both shows.

Synopsis

Phyllis and Bess move in with Lars' mother Audrey Dexter (Jane Rose) and stepfather Judge Jonathan Dexter (Henry Jones), and Phyllis takes a job as an assistant in a photographic studio. The owner, Julie Erskine, was played by Barbara Colby, who had appeared in a recurring role as a different character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Colby was murdered after three episodes of Phyllis had been filmed, and the part was assumed by Liz Torres. Much of the first season's humor stemmed from Phyllis' attempts to fit into the job market, after having lived most of her life as the spoiled wife of a rich physician.

During the second and final season, Phyllis would switch jobs and work as an administrative assistant for San Francisco City Supervisor Dan Valenti (Carmine Caridi). Elderly actress Judith Lowry also appeared as Mother Dexter, Jonathan's mother and Phyllis' main nemesis. Accordingly, she was better than everyone when it came to putting Phyllis in her place. In a 1976 episode, Mother Dexter married the similarly aged Arthur Lanson (Burt Mustin); both Lowry and Mustin died within a month of the episode's airing. Bess also found romance with Mark Valenti (Craig Wasson), the nephew of Phyllis' boss, whom she later married. In the final episode, Bess announced that she was pregnant with their first child.

Cast

• Cloris Leachman - Phyllis Lindstrom
• Henry Jones - Judge Jonathan Dexter
• Jane Rose - Audrey Dexter
• Lisa Gerritsen - Bess Lindstrom
• Judith Lowry - Sally "Mother" Dexter
• Barbara Colby - Julie Erskine #1 (1975)
• Liz Torres - Julie Erskine #2 (1975-1976)
• Richard Schaal - Leo Heatherton (1975-1976)
• Carmine Caridi - Dan Valenti (1976-1977)
• John Lawlor - Leonard Marsh (1976-1977)
• Garn Stephens - Harriet Hastings (1976-1977)
• Burt Mustin - Arthur Lanson (1976)
• Craig Wasson - Mark Valenti (1977)

Episodes

Season 1 (1975-76)

• Pilot (September 11, 1975)
• Bess, Is You A Woman Now? (September 18, 1975)
• Up for Grabs (September 22, 1975)
• Leaving Home (September 23, 1975)
• The First Day (September 30, 1975)
• Phyllis Takes Piano Lessons (October 7, 1975)
• Phyllis' Garage Sale (October 14, 1975)
• The First Date (October 27, 1975)
• All Together Now (October 30, 1975)
• Audrey Leaves Jonathan (November 6, 1975)
• Phyllis Opens Julie's Heart (November 17, 1975)
• So Lonely I Could Cry (November 24, 1975)
• Phyllis and the Little People (December 1, 1975)
• There's No Business Like No Business (December 8, 1975)
• Paging Dr. Lindstrom (December 22, 1975)
• The $17,623,419.53 Man (January 5, 1976)
• Honor Thy Mother Dexter (January 12, 1976)
• Phyllis in Love (January 19, 1976)
• Crazy Mama (January 26, 1976)
• A Man, A Woman and Another Woman (February 2, 1976)
• Leo's Suicide (February 9, 1976)
• Sonny Boy (February 16, 1976)
• Widows, Merry and Otherwise (February 23, 1976)
• The Triangle (March 1, 1976)

Season 2 (1976-77)

• The New Job (September 20, 1976)
• You're Not Getting Any Better, Just Older (September 27, 1976)
• Speech 1A (October 4, 1976)
• Off the Bench (October 11, 1976)
• Boss or Buddy, or Both, or Neither (October 18, 1976)
• Phyllis Cries Wolf (October 25, 1976)
• Out of the Closet (November 1, 1976)
• The Wrong Box (November 8, 1976)
• Phyllis and the Jumper (November 15, 1976)
• Mother Dexter Cohabitates (November 22, 1976)
• Mother Dexter's Wedding (December 6, 1976)
• Bess Airs Her Views (December 20, 1976)
• The Christmas Party (December 27, 1976)
• Phyllis Runs the Office (January 3, 1977)
• The Threat (January 10, 1977)
• Taking A Chance on Chance (January 16, 1977)
• Leonard and the Bribe (January 23, 1977)
• Broken-Hearted Bess (January 30, 1977)
• I Am Beautiful (February 6, 1977)
• Dan's Ex (February 13, 1977)
• Audrey's New Life (February 20, 1977)
• The Elopement (February 27, 1977)
• The Apartment (March 6, 1977)
• And Baby Makes Six (March 13, 1977)

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (October 2009)

• Phyllis was the sixth highest-rated television series during the 1975-1976 television season, ranking higher than both Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show for that season.
• Years before appearing together on Phyllis, Henry Jones and Cloris Leachman appeared together in a 1972 episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, "You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore".
• The opening credits to Phyllis parody other TV series opening credits of the same period, specifically The Mary Tyler Moore Show by depicting the character Phyllis in a variety of San Francisco settings, while the theme song plays. The theme song parodies Broadway musical numbers, most specifically Jerry Herman's title songs to "Hello Dolly" and "Mame". In keeping with the nature of the character, the final line of the song is sung flat, and off-key. Lyrics:

Who makes the fog surrounding the Golden Gate simply disappear?

Phyllis, Phyllis

Who makes the warning bells on the cable cars play "The Gangs All Here"?

Phyllis, Phyllis

Who charms the crabs at Fisherman's Wharf right out of their shells?

Who lights the lamps of Chinatown just by walking in view? Who?

Phyllis! Phyllis! Phyllis! It sure isn't you!

Mary Tyler Moore Show tie-ins

• Mary Tyler Moore guest starred as Mary Richards on two episodes of Phyllis: "The First Day" and "You're Not Getting Any Better, Just Older", in which Mary visits Phyllis in San Francisco.
• In 1977, Cloris Leachman also appeared as Phyllis Lindstrom on the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (March 19, 1977), the same week that the final episode of Phyllis aired.

VHS release

In July 1992, a VHS containing the first two episodes of Phyllis was released by MTM Home Video; the cassette has long been out of print and Phyllis has not been released on DVD.

External links

• Phyllis at the Internet Movie Database
• Phyllis at TV.com
• Phyllis at EpGuides.com