Ed Asner died today. He was 91, and a goddamn legend. I checked his IMDB page today; he had performed in 131 different projects IN THE LAST TEN YEARS. Some of those actually involved multi-episode gigs, too. And he's got something like another ten projects that haven't even been released yet.
In reading some obituaries, I kept seeing references to a very famous episode of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW called "Chuckles Bites the Dust", in which a clown who worked at the TV station they're at dies in a freak accident.
If you don't know the show at all, it's about Mary Tyler Moore working in a TV newsroom. And this particular episode won multiple Emmys, including for David Lloyd's writing. TV Guide has also repeatedly named it one of the best TV episodes of all time.
And so in honor of the great Ed Asner, this week I'm going to do five short posts about technique pulled from that episode.
I highly recommend watching the episode first. It's a lot of fun. And you can find it here:
1) EVERY EPISODE IS SOMEONE'S FIRST EPISODE
The episode opens on Mary and Murray working in the office. And as they work Sue Ann (Betty White), Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) and Lou Grant (Asner) come in.
And although the show has had more than 100 episodes at this point, still those opening moments establish who the characters are. Sue Ann is selfish and a little bit mean. (It's so worth watching that opening just to see White in that kind of a role. She is so good at it. She reminds me of Jane Krakowski.)
Ted is incredibly dumb. Murray is funny in a sort of anarchic, laugh at others' expense way. Mary is friendly, warm, professional. And Lou is bossy and no nonsense.
I'm not sure if I'd say many series today think of that scene one with quite that "restate the characters" intention. But based on "Chuckles" I'd say it can actually still be very effective. I know who each of these characters is and the nature of all their relationships in the first three minutes--and at the same time the sequence sets up what is to come.
It really is true, every episode is someone's first. Or could be--you hope so! You don't want to be repetitive or dumb your content down. But if you're looking for a way in, coming back to the essential funny element of each character and their relationships can be a great place to start.
