Volume 23, Number 20 · December 9, 1976
Elegy for 'Mary Hartman'
By Robert Craft
Formal sociological studies of the once phenomenal popularity of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman[1] will undoubtedly appear in the professional journals, but, until then, perhaps an amateur fieldworker may hazard a few observations. The first of these, from admittedly limited samplings, is that the program provoked instant partisanship. While some viewers found it to be no more than a puerile comedy in bad taste and recoiled from its assaults on their cherished ideals and modes of behavior, devotees would rush home of an evening in time for the latest encounter between the staff psychiatrist of Fernwood Receiving Hospital's mental ward and its celebrated inmate, 'The Number One Typical American Consumer Housewife.'
Feature, 3221 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |