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The Best Episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 4

Every episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 4!

30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a...
Genre:Comedy
Network:CBS

Season 4 Ratings Summary

"The Lars Affair" is the best rated episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" season 4. It scored 8.9/10 based on 334 votes. Directed by Jay Sandrich and written by N/A, it aired on 9/15/1973. This episode is rated 1.6 points higher than the second-best, "Angels in the Snow".

  • The Lars Affair
    8.9/10334 votes

    #1 - The Lars Affair

    Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1973

    Phyllis finds out that Lars has been having an affair with Sue Ann Nivens, the star of WJM-TV's The Happy Homemaker show.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Angels in the Snow
    7.3/10210 votes

    #2 - Angels in the Snow

    Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/22/1973

    Mary's boyfriend is younger than she is and she and Rhoda discover there is a generation gap when they go and visit his friends at a party.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Rhoda's Sister Gets Married
    7.6/10197 votes

    #3 - Rhoda's Sister Gets Married

    Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 9/29/1973

    Rhoda and Mary fly to New York for Rhoda's younger sister's wedding. Rhoda's mother downplays the whole thing fearing that Rhoda is envious.

    Director: Jerry Belson

    Writer: N/A

  • The Lou and Edie Story
    8.0/10194 votes

    #4 - The Lou and Edie Story

    Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1973

    On the advice of their marriage counselor, Lou's wife, Edie, decides to move out. Lou is heartbroken by the prospect.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: Treva Silverman

  • Hi There, Sports Fans
    7.7/10180 votes

    #5 - Hi There, Sports Fans

    Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/13/1973

    In this episode Dick Gautier guest stars briefly as Ed Cavenaugh, a sleazy sportscaster. Have a look at his website at Dick Gautier.com. Gordon Jump, later of MTM Enterprises' ""WKRP"" is seen for a few minutes playing one of the sportscaster applicants. When Ted asks Mary to order tweezers and other assorted supplies for his personal use, she gets more than a little flustered and asks Lou to give her something challenging to do. At the drop of a hat, he assigns her the task of hiring a new sportscaster...and firing the old one. In order to let Ed Cavenaugh down easy, she invites him to lunch and he tries to mesmerize her with his suavity with the opposite sex. Then Mary learns a lesson: don't fire the current sportscaster until you've hired another one. After days of screening applicants, listening to demo tapes and perusing their eight-by-ten glossies, she decides on Andy Rivers.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: Jerry Mayer

  • Father's Day
    7.4/10169 votes

    #6 - Father's Day

    Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/20/1973

    Ted meets his father, who deserted him as a baby.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Son of But Seriously Folks
    6.5/10176 votes

    #7 - Son of But Seriously Folks

    Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 10/27/1973

    Mary's former boyfriend, Wes Callison, gets a job in the newsroom but his affection for Mary gets in the way of his work.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Lou's First Date
    8.4/10218 votes

    #8 - Lou's First Date

    Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/3/1973

    Lou gives Mary the task of finding him a date for an awards' ceremony. A name mix-up means that Lou winds up taking out an 80-year-old woman.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Love Blooms at Hemples
    7.7/10178 votes

    #9 - Love Blooms at Hemples

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/10/1973

    Rhoda begins dating the boss of Hemple's and falls deeply in love with him. She wants to tell him how she feels, but Mary warns her to take things slowly.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • The Dinner Party
    8.9/10286 votes

    #10 - The Dinner Party

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1973

    Mary invites Congresswoman Geddes to a fancy dinner at her home, trying hard to ensure that everything is perfect.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Just Friends
    7.5/10156 votes

    #11 - Just Friends

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 11/24/1973

    Lou is still heartbroken over Edie's departure and asks Mary to help them get back together.

    Director: Nancy Walker

    Writer: N/A

  • We Want Baxter
    7.7/10160 votes

    #12 - We Want Baxter

    Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 12/1/1973

    Phyllis persuades Ted to stand for local government. Ted agrees and goes so far as to quit his job at WJM-TV.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: David Lloyd

  • I Gave at the Office
    7.5/10170 votes

    #13 - I Gave at the Office

    Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 12/8/1973

    Murray's daughter, Bonnie, is looking for a job and Mary is persuaded into giving her one but Bonnie is not as efficient as everyone had hoped.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: Don Reo, Allan Katz

  • Almost a Nun's Story
    7.6/10154 votes

    #14 - Almost a Nun's Story

    Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 12/15/1973

    Georgette finds Ted making out with a woman in his dressing room. She then decides to enter a nunnery, but the head nun talks her out of it.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Happy Birthday, Lou!
    8.3/10177 votes

    #15 - Happy Birthday, Lou!

    Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 12/22/1973

    Lou is closing in on fifty and today is his birthday. Mary can't stand the thought of the now-separated Lou celebrating his birthday all alone, so she arranges a surprise party for him. That evening, she invites Lou over for a drink and the doorbell rings just as he tells her how much he appreciated her not throwing an office party for him that afternoon. Gordy is at the door with an envelope...full of hats. Others are out in the hallway, too. Lou is furious and tries to get out using the back door...but there is no back door. Mary asks Lou's permission to invite Murray in. He enters, miffed at Lou's actions. Next Rhoda, and finally Ted, get to come in. Lou admits that he hates displays of affection...then reluctantly agrees to let the remainder of the guests in. While they all file in, he files out and down to MacKluskey's bar where....they throw a surprise party for him. Later he returns to Mary's place to apologize...evidently the guests opened his gifts (at Ted's urging) and they a

    Director: George Tyne

    Writer: David Lloyd

  • WJM Tries Harder
    7.9/10168 votes

    #16 - WJM Tries Harder

    Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 1/5/1974

    Mary begins dating the anchorman from Minneapolis's top news show and becomes ashamed of WJM-TV's smaller news operation.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Cottage for Sale
    7.5/10153 votes

    #17 - Cottage for Sale

    Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 1/12/1974

    Phyllis, who has gotten her real estate license, persuades Lou to sell his house. However, Lou hasn't really made up his mind whether he wants to move.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • The Co-Producers
    8.1/10175 votes

    #18 - The Co-Producers

    Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 1/19/1974

    Mary and Rhoda are given permission to develop a new show for WJM but their dreams begin to fade when they find out that the hosts will be Ted and Sue Ann, who both begin to interfere with their plans.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: David Pollock, Elias Davis

  • Best of Enemies
    7.9/10171 votes

    #19 - Best of Enemies

    Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 1/26/1974

    Rhoda tells the secret of Mary's that she never graduated from college, as she claimed on her job application, and their friendship is suddenly put at risk.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Better Late . . . That's a Pun . . . Than Never
    8.7/10197 votes

    #20 - Better Late . . . That's a Pun . . . Than Never

    Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 2/2/1974

    To relieve her boredom, Mary jokingly writes a humorous obituary of one of the people in the WJM-TV file. Coincidentally, the same person dies the following day and the obituary is read on the air. Lou has no choice but to suspend Mary, but she threatens to quit in response.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: Treva Silverman

  • Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite
    8.4/10189 votes

    #21 - Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite

    Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 2/9/1974

    After a heavy self-promotion campaign, Ted wins his first Teddy Award. When Walter Cronkite comes to the newsroom, Ted assumes that he will be hired by the networks.

    Director: Jay Sandrich

    Writer: N/A

  • Lou's Second Date
    8.2/10171 votes

    #22 - Lou's Second Date

    Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 2/16/1974

    Lou and Rhoda find they have a lot in common and begin seeing each other on a casual basis but everyone assumes that the romance is serious.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Two Wrongs Don't Make a Writer
    8.3/10188 votes

    #23 - Two Wrongs Don't Make a Writer

    Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 2/23/1974

    Ted joins Mary at a night-school class in creative writing, and winds up plagiarizing her assignment.

    Director: Nancy Walker

    Writer: David Lloyd

  • I Was a Single for WJM
    7.7/10172 votes

    #24 - I Was a Single for WJM

    Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 3/2/1974

    Mary goes to a singles bar to research a documentary, but on the night the crew arrives for filming, the same people who were willing to tell Mary everything don't want to be seen on camera.

    Director: Mel Ferber

    Writer: Treva Silverman