Underneath that harsh exterior beat the heart of a pussycat. Murray Slaughter was the head newswriter at the station. Ted Baxter was the anchorman, not too bright, prone to put his foot in his mouth both on and off the air, and possessor of such a misplaced sense of his own wonderfulness that he was the butt of everyone's jokes. Mary's closest friend was one of her neighbors, Rhoda Morgenstern, a window dresser for a local department store who, like Mary, was still single though in her 30s. The other neighbor seen frequently in Mary's apartment Phyllis Lindstrom. Phyllis was the building's resident busybody, and though it took quite a while to find out, also its landlady. Phyllis was oblivious to everyone elses feelings and had an extremely flaky personality. Other regulars included: Bess, Phyllis' mature-beyond-her-years daughter; Sue Ann Nivens, "The Happy Homemaker" on WJM-TV; Gordy Howard, WJM-TV's weatherman; and Georgette Franklin, Ted Baxter's empty-headed girlfriend. (Tim's TV Showcase)