Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (MH2) was a syndicated evening soap opera during the mid 1970's produced by Norman Lear.

Lear conceived MH2 as satire, however it was viewed as so controversial that many stations aired it well after their 11PM newscasts. The irony of this, was that MH2 dealt with many of the same topics that had been aired on daytime soap operas, however instead of hushed tones and euphemisms, the topics were called by their names (impotence, sexual perversion) all the while the cast had their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks; this made the series even more controversial than anyone could have imagined.

The story line followed Mary Hartman, played by Louise Lasser , and her family. Mary Hartman's husband Tom was played by Greg Mullavey. Her mother was played by Dody Goodman . Mary’s best friend and next door neighbor, Loretta Haggars was played by Mary Kay Place. The series took place in the mythical town of Fernwood, Ohio . In its first episode, MH2 addressed a family mass murdered (including the goats and chickens) and the “Fernwood Flasher”, who turned out to be Mary's grandfather.

Other cast members included Renee Taylor, Reva Rose, Martin Mull (as both Garth Gimble and Barth Gimble), Dabney Coleman, Marian Mercer and Doris Roberts.

While the series was cancelled in 1976, three other spin-offs lived on into the early 1980’s including that of Ferwood2Night .

References

• Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – TV TOME Web Site
• IMDb Web Page on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman