This month we are looking back at one-named sitcoms, and we can’t forget Phyllis. A spinoff from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, it aired in the fall of 1975 and ran for two seasons. James Brooks, The MTM producer, was involved slightly as a consultant but Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels were in charge.

In this series, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman) and her daughter Bess (Lisa Gerritsen) leave Minneapolis and move to San Francisco after Phyllis’ husband passes away. Her in-laws still live out west in the area where she and Lars lived as newlyweds. Even though Lars was a doctor, his death left his family broke. Life is interesting with three generations under one roof. Lars’ father Judge Jonathan Dexter (Henry Jones), Lars’ mother Audrey (Jane Rose), and Phyllis and her daughter navigate life with their grief, new surroundings, and complicated life situations.

Phyllis applies for an assistant in a photography studio. Her first boss is Julie (Barbara Colby). After Colby was murdered, Liz Torres took on the role and Valerie Harper’s (who played Rhoda on the MTM show) ex-husband Richard Schall plays Leo, a photographer at the studio who doesn’t make life easy for anyone. Phyllis is not only used to being pampered and not working, she also never was shy about sharing her opinions with anyone around her.

The network scheduled the show on Monday nights after Rhoda and before All in the Family, so it became an instant top ten hit. Leachman was nominated for lead actress in a comedy but lost the Emmy to Mary Tyler Moore. In addition to Moore, Leachman’s competition included her previous coworker Valerie Harper for Rhoda, Lee Grant for Fay, and Bea Arthur for Maude.

Once again, as we’ve seen a few times this month, when ratings began to slip a bit, the network turned the show upside down. For season two, the photography studio was sold, and Phyllis was without a job again. She then goes to work for the San Francisco City Supervisor and is put into the middle of political chaos. Rhoda was also having some trouble with ratings and was rehabbed. Their competition was Little House on the Prairie which continued to rake in lots of viewers.

By 1976, Rhoda had regained many of its viewers, but Phyllis was continuing to decline. It was dropped for the next season. At one point, Mother Dexter (Judith Lowry), the judge’s mother, has a boyfriend Arthur Lanson played by Burt Mustin who later becomes her husband. Henry Jones and Burt Mustin’s scenes are probably the highlights of the shows.

Alan Burns discussed casting the role of Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He said Leachman’s instincts were terrific, and she made the role amazing. James Brook said that Marlin Brando called Leachman the best actor he ever saw come out of The Actor’s Studio. Obviously, the character of Phyllis was a successful and popular one. I think that The Mary Tyler Moore Show was so well loved for the ensemble cast. Pulling Phyllis out of that “family,” and placing her across the country probably wasn’t the formula for a successful spinoff.  They would have been better off to give her a brand new show of her own which could feature her highly rated acting ability.