Mary Richards - Creation

Creation

Mary Richards was initially intended to be a divorcée, but as divorce was still controversial at the time, and because CBS was afraid viewers might think that Mary had divorced Rob Petrie, Mary's fictional husband on The Dick Van Dyke Show (which also aired on CBS), the premise was changed to that of a single woman with a recently broken engagement. According to MTM Show co-creator Allan Burns, Minnesota was selected to be Mary's home after "one of the writers began talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the Vikings." A television newsroom was chosen for Mary's worksplace because of the supporting characters often found there, stated co-creator James Brooks.