Phyllis (TV series)

When Phyllis' musical efforts hit a sour note, Leo (Richard Schaal) and Julie (Liz Torres) comfort her.

Left penniless after the death of her husband Lars, Phyllis and her daughter Bess (Lisa Gerritsen) move in with Lars's mother, the scatterbrained Audrey Dexter (Jane Rose) and stepfather Judge Jonathan Dexter (Henry Jones). Phyllis takes a job as an assistant in a photographic studio. The owner, Julie Erskine, was played by Barbara Colby. In the 1974-1975 season, Colby was featured on The Mary Tyler Moore Show playing Sherry Ferris, a prostitute who Mary Richards (Moore) befriends. Her appearances on that show were so popular with viewers that when Phyllis was being cast, the producers enthusiastically signed her as a regular cast member. However, after three episodes of Phyllis had been filmed, Colby was murdered and the part was assumed by Liz Torres. Leo Heatherton (Richard Schaal, who was married to Valerie Harper, who played the title character in Rhoda) was a well-meaning but bumbling photographer at the studio.

Much of the first season's humor stemmed from Phyllis' attempts to fit into the job market, having lived for many years as the spoiled wife of a rich dermatologist. Judith Lowry guest starred in an early episode ("Leaving Home") as Jonathan's mother, Sally Dexter. She was so well received by viewers that by the end of the first year Lowry became a regular when Mother Dexter joined the household.

Aired on Monday nights between two popular shows – Rhoda and All in the Family – Phyllis instantly became a top ten hit. Cloris Leachman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The sitcom was the sixth highest-rated television series for the 1975–76 television season (at the time ranking higher than both Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show).

Season two

Toward the end of the first season, the ratings were beginning to slip. As a result, the series premise was reworked for the second season. Erskine Photography and the characters Julie Erskine (Liz Torres) and Leo Heatherton (Richard Schaal) were dropped with the explanation that Julie had married suddenly, sold the photography studio, and moved away, putting Phyllis out of a job. Leachman, Gerritsen, Jones, Rose and Lowry remained with Phyllis.

In the second-season premiere Phyllis was hired as an assistant to a San Francisco City Supervisor.

New characters were Phyllis's boss Dan Valenti (Carmine Caridi), Leonard Marsh (John Lawlor), an inept politician in the office, and Leonard's secretary Harriet Hastings (Garn Stephens). Harriet was initially Phyllis's rival, but they later became friends. Both Caridi and Lawlor had appeared in two separate episodes of Phyllis the previous season - Caridi as a junk dealer in the episode "Phyllis's Garage Sale" and Lawlor as a policeman in the episode "Crazy Mama".

The ratings continued to drop. Rhoda was also going through a format change at the time, which may have also affected Phyllis’ ratings. During this time both series' chief competition, NBC's Little House on the Prairie, flourished.

Cloris Leachman as Phyllis

Judith Lowry as Mother Dexter (1976)

In a December 1976 episode, Jonathan's cranky and outspoken Mother Dexter (Lowry), Phyllis' main nemesis, married Arthur Lanson (Burt Mustin); both Lowry, 86, and Mustin, 92, died within a month of the episode's airing. (Episodes featuring Lowry continued to air through early February 1977; Mustin's character was mentioned but not seen after the wedding episode.).

CBS moved both Rhoda and Phyllis to Sunday nights at 8:00 P.M. and 8:30 P.M., respectively. Actress Jane Rose (who played Audrey Dexter) took ill. These cast changes necessitated new story lines. Bess's role became more prominent. She found romance with Mark Valenti (Craig Wasson), the nephew of Phyllis' boss, and they later married.

By the middle of the 1976–77 season, the ratings for Rhoda had improved but Phyllis was still faltering. Rhoda was renewed for an additional season (it would ultimately be canceled in December 1978), but Phyllis was dropped by CBS in the spring of 1977, finishing in 40th place that season. The complications resulting from the deaths of several cast members during the show's run, as well as the ill health of actress Jane Rose, are said to have been factors in the series' cancellation.

The final episode ("And Baby Makes Six") had Bess announcing that she and Mark were expecting their first child. This installment aired Sunday, March 13, 1977. The same week, on Saturday, March 19, Leachman made her last appearance as Phyllis Lindstrom on the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

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List of Phyllis episodes

List of Phyllis episodes

Phyllis, created by Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels based on a character from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, was broadcast on CBS from 1975 to 1977.

Lisa Gerritsen

Lisa Gerritsen

Lisa Gerritsen is an American former child actress. She is most famous for her role as Bess, the independent-minded daughter of Phyllis Lindstrom on the 1970s television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Phyllis.

Jane Rose

Jane Rose

Jane Prim Rose was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Phyllis Lindstrom on the CBS sitcom Phyllis (1975–1977).

Henry Jones (actor)

Henry Jones (actor)

Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

Barbara Colby

Barbara Colby

Barbara Colby was an American actress. She appeared in episodes of numerous television series before a 1974 appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show led to a main cast role on the new series Phyllis; after filming three episodes, she and a colleague were murdered outside an acting class, in an unsolved shooting.

Judith Lowry

Judith Lowry

Judith Carter Lowry was an American actress. She had nearly 30 film and television roles and appeared on stage, most notably in the Off-Broadway production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds and on Broadway in Archibald MacLeish's J.B. She became well-known for her role as Mother Dexter on the CBS show Phyllis during the last year of her life, but died midway through the show's second season.

All in the Family

All in the Family

All in the Family is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was produced as the continuation series Archie Bunker's Place, which picked up where All in the Family had ended and ran for four more seasons through 1983.

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a musical or comedy television series for the calendar year.

1975–76 United States network television schedule

1975–76 United States network television schedule

The following is the 1975–76 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1975 through August 1976. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1974–75 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

Carmine Caridi

Carmine Caridi

Carmine Caridi was an American film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles in the films The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990).

John Lawlor (actor)

John Lawlor (actor)

John Lawlor is an American actor and assistant director.

Garn Stephens

Garn Stephens

Garn Stephens is a retired American film, television and theatre actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the television series Phyllis and the 1982 horror film Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

• Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, an arrogant, self-centered woman who moves to San Francisco, California from Minneapolis, Minnesota, after her husband, Lars, dies and leaves her and her daughter with no savings. She suddenly finds herself having to find a job after being the pampered wife of a dermatologist for decades. In season one, she works as a photographer's assistant, and in season two, she works as a political assistant. Phyllis was previously a featured character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary Richards' good friend and landlord. Leachman made her final appearance as Phyllis on the finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a week after the spinoff series ended its run. In the episode, she visits Mary with her frenemy, Rhoda Morgenstern, in order to cheer Mary up when she gets fired from her job.
• Henry Jones as Judge Jonathan Dexter, the calm and level-headed second husband of Audrey Dexter. Phyllis' husband Lars was his stepson. He is protective and judgmental of his mother Sally, whose obscene and overt behavior usually leads to his chagrin.
• Jane Rose as Audrey Dexter, the ditzy and ever-cheerful wife of Jonathan. She had a son named Lars Lindstrom with her first husband. After Lars' death in 1975, her penniless, widowed daughter-in-law and granddaughter move from Minnesota to live with them in California. Rose became ill with cancer toward the end of the show's run, leading the show to depend more on characters like Bess and Mark to provide plots for later episodes.
• Lisa Gerritsen as Bess Lindstrom, Phyllis' highly intelligent and mature daughter. Bess is a 17-year-old senior in high school during season one and an 18-year-old freshman in college during season two. Upon moving to San Francisco, Bess goes through many boyfriends and heartbreaks before entering a whirlwind romance with Mark Valenti, the nephew of her mother's boss. She quickly marries Mark and announces that she is pregnant with their child in the series finale. She and Phyllis both appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show before moving to the new show.
• Judith Lowry as Sally "Mother" Dexter, Jonathan's cantankerous, sharp-tongued, 86-year-old mother. While she has a soft spot for Bess, Mother Dexter acts abrasively toward Phyllis. Mother Dexter has a lascivious side, frequently demonstrating her sexual feelings for actor Charles Bronson. In season two, she shocks the rest of her family by shacking up with her boyfriend, Arthur Lanson, in his mobile home. After talking over the situation with her family and Arthur, the couple decides that they want to get married and have their wedding officiated by Jonathan in the living room of the Dexter home. Lowry appeared as Mother Dexter in five episodes after the wedding episode. She had died of a heart attack at the age of 86 in November 1976, a month before the wedding episode aired. Burt Mustin, who portrayed Arthur, died two months after Lowry.
• Barbara Colby as Julie Erskine #1 (1975), Phyllis' first boss. Along with Burt Mustin, Colby came to Phyllis after playing a different role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She had previously played a prostitute who befriended Mary Richards when they spent the night in jail together. The character of Erskine was recast with Liz Torres after Colby was killed in a drive-by shooting while walking out of an acting class.
• Liz Torres as Julie Erskine #2 (1975–1976). Torres replaced Barbara Colby after she was murdered in July 1975. The character was written out of the series after the first season.
• Richard Schaal as Leo Heatherton (1975–1976), Phyllis' well-meaning, but bumbling coworker at the photography studio. Along with Julie, the character of Leo was written out of the series after season one ended in an attempt to rework the series and boost ratings.
• Carmine Caridi as Dan Valenti (1976–1977), Phyllis' boss in season two when she becomes a political assistant. His nephew, Mark, eventually becomes Bess' husband.
• John Lawlor as Leonard Marsh (1976–1977), Phyllis' co-worker in season two. Leonard does not tend to get along with Phyllis.
• Garn Stephens as Harriet Hastings (1976–1977), Phyllis' co-worker in season two. Like Leonard, Harriet does not have a very friendly relationship with Phyllis.
• Burt Mustin as Arthur Lanson (1976), the devoted suitor, and later husband, of Mother Dexter. He is an elderly veteran of World War I who lives in a trailer park. He enjoys hanging out with fellow World War I veterans and exchanging stories of their time in combat. He is mentioned during the latter half of season two but disappeared from the show soon after the episode in which he and Mother Dexter marry. Mustin became ill not long after the episode's airing, and died in January 1977, right before his 93rd birthday. He was the third cast member of the series to die in its relatively short run.
• Craig Wasson as Mark Valenti (1977), Dan's college-aged nephew who has dreams of becoming a successful musician. He and Bess fall in love toward the end of season two and quickly get married. Bess announces she is pregnant with their child in the series finale.

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Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded performer in Emmy history. She won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award.

Henry Jones (actor)

Henry Jones (actor)

Henry Burk Jones was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

Jane Rose

Jane Rose

Jane Prim Rose was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Phyllis Lindstrom on the CBS sitcom Phyllis (1975–1977).

Lisa Gerritsen

Lisa Gerritsen

Lisa Gerritsen is an American former child actress. She is most famous for her role as Bess, the independent-minded daughter of Phyllis Lindstrom on the 1970s television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Phyllis.

Judith Lowry

Judith Lowry

Judith Carter Lowry was an American actress. She had nearly 30 film and television roles and appeared on stage, most notably in the Off-Broadway production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds and on Broadway in Archibald MacLeish's J.B. She became well-known for her role as Mother Dexter on the CBS show Phyllis during the last year of her life, but died midway through the show's second season.

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, western, and war films; initially as a supporting player and later a leading man. A quintessential cinematic "tough guy", Bronson was cast in various roles where the plot line hinged on the authenticity of the character's toughness and brawn. At the height of his fame in the early 1970s, he was the world's No. 1 box office attraction, commanding $1 million per film.

Barbara Colby

Barbara Colby

Barbara Colby was an American actress. She appeared in episodes of numerous television series before a 1974 appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show led to a main cast role on the new series Phyllis; after filming three episodes, she and a colleague were murdered outside an acting class, in an unsolved shooting.

Carmine Caridi

Carmine Caridi

Carmine Caridi was an American film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles in the films The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990).

John Lawlor (actor)

John Lawlor (actor)

John Lawlor is an American actor and assistant director.

Garn Stephens

Garn Stephens

Garn Stephens is a retired American film, television and theatre actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the television series Phyllis and the 1982 horror film Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Burt Mustin

Burt Mustin

Burton Hill Mustin was an American character actor. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared in stage productions.

Craig Wasson

Craig Wasson

Craig Wasson is an American actor. He made his film debut in Rollercoaster (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's Body Double (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). For his role as Danilo Prozor in Arthur Penn's Four Friends (1981), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

• During the 1990s, Phyllis was aired on Nick at Nite alongside Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Eventually, all three shows were moved to sister-network TV Land for a short while before simply disappearing altogether. Also in the early 1990's, the series was aired on HA! before it merged with The Comedy Channel and became Comedy Central.
• In January 2010, AmericanLife Network (ALN) began airing the series and is again shown alongside Rhoda in syndication. However, this time, the network stopped showing The Mary Tyler Moore Show when it added Rhoda and Phyllis to its lineup. The series was removed from the lineup in September 2010.

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Nick at Nite

Nick at Nite

Nick at Nite is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. ET/PT, Friday and Saturday nights from 9 p.m. - 6 a.m. ET/PT, and Sunday nights from 8 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. ET/PT. The channel is similar to Adult Swim, the channel that shares channel space with Nick rival Cartoon Network.

TV Land

TV Land

TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and classic television series, original scripted series and limited theatrically released movies. The network is headquartered at One Astor Plaza in New York City.

Ha! (TV channel)

Ha! (TV channel)

Ha!: TV Comedy Network was a short-lived American pay television channel owned by Viacom; it was one of the first American all-comedy channels available in basic-tier television offers. Launched on April 1, 1990, at 7 p.m. ET, it competed with another startup comedy-oriented cable channel, HBO-owned The Comedy Channel. In 1991, the two channels merged to form Comedy Central.

Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American adult-oriented basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming in the form of both original, licensed, and syndicated series, stand-up comedy specials, and feature films. It is available to approximately 86.723 million households in the United States as of September 2018.

In July 1992, a VHS titled Phyllis—Volume 1 containing the first two episodes was released by MTM Home Video; however, a second volume was never released.