The Mary Tyler Moore Show mirror those of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". When the writers of the sitcom "Friends" were about to create their series finale, they watched several other sitcom finales. Co-creator Marta Kauffman said that the last episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was the "gold standard" and that it influenced the finale of "Friends". The show spun off three television series, all of which aired on CBS: the sitcoms "Rhoda" (1974–78) and "Phyllis" (1975–77), and the one-hour drama "Lou Grant" (1977–82). In 2000, Moore and Harper reprised their roles in a two-hour ABC TV-movie, "Mary and Rhoda". Two retrospective specials
Roots (1977 miniseries) Roots (1977 miniseries) Roots is an American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel "". The series first aired on ABC in January 1977. "Roots" received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings for the finale, which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series, and the second-most watched overall series finale in U.S. television history. It was produced on a budget of $6.6 million. The series introduced LeVar Burton in the role of Kunta Kinte. A