Christmas And The Hard Luck Kid II

Christmas And The Hard Luck Kid II is the Christmas episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and part of its first season. It was first broadcast on CBS on Saturday, December 19th, 1970.

When Mary learns that a veteran staff member of WJM-TV has not been able to spend Christmas with his family in years, she volunteers to take his shift on Christmas Eve. A mix of loneliness and isolation starts to drive Mary out of her mind. Even a phone call from Rhoda only increases her loneliness and jumpiness at every sound. When the sound of several people approaching makes her believe the station is about to be robbed, she learns to her relief that it is Lou, Murray and Ted, come to cheer her up. They stay with her until Midnight, and exchange holiday hugs.

Trivia

 * The original Christmas And The Hard Luck Kid was an episode of That Girl also written by the writer and co-creator of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, James Brooks.
 * This was the only Christmas-themed episode of the entire series.
 * This episode is the origin of the iconic scene from the opening credits wherein Mary hugs Lou, Murray and Ted, crushing Ted's hat in the process.