Louise Lasser for starring as the neurotic, unhappy housewife Mary Hartman in the serialized satire "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" appearing on the covers of "Newsweek", "People", and "Rolling Stone" during the run of the show. "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" aired five nights a week for two seasons from 1976-1977. In his autobiography, producer Norman Lear says that the casting of Lasser took less than a minute after Charles H. Joffe told him there was only one actress to play the part of Mary Hartman and Lear met the former Mrs. Woody Allen. Lasser refused the role at first. Of the casting process,
She Done Him Wrong was released the same year and also co-starred Grant. "She Done Him Wrong" bears some resemblances to "The Bowery", a Raoul Walsh film released later the same year by United Artists starring Noah Beery's brother Wallace. The two films each include a saloon owner called Chuck Conners, as a main character (played by Wallace Beery) in "The Bowery", and a smaller role (played by Tammany Young) in "She Done Him Wrong". Louise Beavers was the only African American actress to be brought aboard the film by West personally. She wanted a black woman to appear opposite her; when she did