I loved Louise Lasser in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I also saw the original airing of this episode. I thought like so many others Ms Hartman locking herself in her dressing room was a gag. Unfortunately, it was no gag. It seems Ms Lasser got stage fright and was refusing to do the show at the last minute. They did get her out to do the monologue and she did do one skit with Chevy Chase.
Ms Lasser doesn't appear with any other cast member for the rest of the show. She does a skit with her dog in which you can hear the dog is overheating because of the lights. The skit went on for too long and the poor dog is panting quite heavy. I'm surprised they allowed it to go on for as long as it did.
At the end of the show, Ms Lasser thanks the cast and tells the audience how wonderful they are. She smiles as they join her on stage. I would have loved to have been there after the cameras were turned off. The tension is thick on this one.
The reason I give it a 6 is the rest of the cast worked hard to fill in for Ms Lasser and do skits they were probably not prepared for. This also is a great example of how live television doesn't always work so well. If it were taped in advance, they would have aired a rerun instead.
Ms Lasser doesn't appear with any other cast member for the rest of the show. She does a skit with her dog in which you can hear the dog is overheating because of the lights. The skit went on for too long and the poor dog is panting quite heavy. I'm surprised they allowed it to go on for as long as it did.
At the end of the show, Ms Lasser thanks the cast and tells the audience how wonderful they are. She smiles as they join her on stage. I would have loved to have been there after the cameras were turned off. The tension is thick on this one.
The reason I give it a 6 is the rest of the cast worked hard to fill in for Ms Lasser and do skits they were probably not prepared for. This also is a great example of how live television doesn't always work so well. If it were taped in advance, they would have aired a rerun instead.