Mary (1978 TV series) Mary (1978 TV series) Mary is an American comedy-variety show hosted by and starring Mary Tyler Moore that aired Sundays at 8:00 pm (EST) on CBS from September 24 to October 8, 1978, with a total of three episodes produced over one season. "Mary" was the attempt by Mary Tyler Moore to return to network television after the triumph of her sitcom ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show") from 1970 to 1977. Her sitcom having not been renewed at her producers' request (they didn't want it to get "stale"), she had taken a year off before returning to television to conquer
Teen sitcom format to "The Wonder Years", which ended before "Boy Meets World" debuted in 1993, both of which focused on a boy dealing with the challenges that come with growing into adolescence) and "Family Matters" (which originated as a family sitcom spun off from the family-friendly though adult-centered "Perfect Strangers", but soon shifted more of its focus towards its teenage characters due to the popularity of the character of nerdy high school (and later, college) student Steve Urkel). Over time, the Big Three television networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) began shifting away from family-oriented comedies toward comedy series focused on adults