Exhausted from the grueling schedule demands, Lasser left the series after two seasons and 325 episodes. The serial was rebranded "Forever Fernwood", which centered on the lives of the other "MH2" characters and lasted for 26 more weeks. In an interview for the bonus features of the "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" DVD box set from Shout! Factory, Lasser reveals that the idea for Mary's nervous breakdown at the end of the first season came after she wrote a 12-page letter suggesting the idea to Norman Lear.