Oprah and the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show captivated television audiences every Saturday night for seven seasons. No one had ever seen a character like Mary Richards on television before when the show hit the airwaves in 1970. She was a modern, independent, career-driven, 30-something single woman trying to make it on her own.

Mary Richards and her friends inspired Oprah to live the life she always imagined. "The show was a light in my life, and Mary was a trailblazer for my generation. She's the reason I wanted my own production company," Oprah said. "It's the reason there is a Harpo because that was the inspiration."

With help from a legendary cast of characters—Ed Asner, Valerie Harper, Gavin MacLeod, Betty White, Ted Knight, Cloris Leachman and Georgia Engel—television history was made. After seven award-winning seasons, the lights went out at WJM-TV.

Then, in May 2008, history was made once again when the hilarious cast reunited on Oprah's stage!