Phyllis Lindstrom Phyllis Lindstrom Phyllis Lindstrom, nee Sutherland, portrayed by Cloris Leachman, is a fictional character on the television sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and subsequent spin-off, "Phyllis". Phyllis Lindstrom is the snobbish, acid-tongued wife of dermatologist Dr. Lars Lindstrom, who is often referenced but never seen by the audience. The Lindstroms manage the apartment building, actually a Victorian boarding house, in which Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mary and Rhoda develop a close relationship with Phyllis' daughter, Bess. Throughout the series, Rhoda and Phyllis maintain an adversarial but talkative relationship. Phyllis understandably despises Sue Ann Nivens,
James L. Brooks the short-lived series "Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers" in 1974. He and Burns moved on to "Rhoda", a spin-off of "Mary Tyler Moore", taking Valerie Harper's character Rhoda Morgenstern into her own show. It was well received, lasting four years and earning Brooks several Emmys. The duo's next project came in 1977 in the shape of "Lou Grant", a second "Mary Tyler Moore" spin-off, which they created along with Tinker. Unlike its source however, the series was a drama starring Edward Asner as Grant. James Brown of the Museum of Broadcast Communications said it "explore[d] a knotty issue facing