James L. Brooks Shares the Most Surprising Thing About Working with Mary Tyler Moore on Her Titular Sitcom (Exclusive)

Victoria Edel, Amanda Champagne-MeadowsMon, June 1, 2026 at 8:12 PM UTC

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James L. Brooks on May 31 (left); Mary Tyler Moore on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' (right)
Credit: Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty; CBS Photo Archive/Getty -

James L. Brooks remembered the most surprising thing about working with Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Brooks co-created the series, which saw Moore star as Mary Richards, a producer at a Minneapolis TV station

Brooks received the Industry Icon Award at the Peabody Awards on May 31

Mary Tyler Moore starred in the sitcom that bore her name, but she didn't let it go to her head.

James L. Brooks, who co-created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, spoke to PEOPLE on the red carpet at the Peabody Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., about the most surprising thing about working with Moore, who died in 2017 at 80. Brooks, who also created sitcoms like Taxi and The Simpsons and directed 1983's Terms of Endearmentand 1987's Broadcast News, became the first person to receive the Industry Icon Award at the Peabodys.

The thing that stunned Brooks, 86, was “That she never pulled rank. Ever. Ever,” he says. He praised her for never setting herself apart as the star of the show, saying she always acted as “a member of the cast.”

From left: Valerie Harper, Harold Gould, James L. Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore and Nancy Walker on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
Credit: CBS via Getty

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also created by Allan Burns and ran from 1970 to 1977. Moore starred as Mary Richards, an unmarried, independent woman who focuses on her career working at a fictional Minneapolis news station. The cast also included Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Georgia Engel and, later, Betty White. The wildly successful comedy series won 29 Emmy Awards (including three for Moore) and launched three spin-offs: Rhoda, Phyllis and Lou Grant.

Brooks recalls the one time Moore was upset, during the very last episode, “The Last Show.” He remembers, “We did a whole bunch of things with people saying their goodbyes, and we forgot her.” The episode started with the new manager at the station firing everyone who works there, except for Knight's Ted Baxter. The episode ended with every person in the newsroom saying goodbye to each other, but they forgot to write Moore's goodbyes.

“I don't know what happened to us. We were just working so hard.” Brooks says, it was “the only time she came to the office.”

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Figuring out how Mary would say goodbye was “a hard thing to come up with,” but eventually they “got it just right,” Brooks says.

Mary Tyler Moore on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'
Credit: CBS via Getty

Brooks also says that despite his resume, he doesn't think he's an icon. “No, come on,” he said. “I don't think icons can write a joke.”

Asked about what his legacy was, he says, “I think we've been blessed never getting a note from anybody but ourselves,” referring to the “notes” writers often get from network executives to change something in the show. “I think for writers to win, that is just the best thing there is.”

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, who was also speaking to PEOPLE with Brooks, jokes, “If you read through the lines, what he's not saying is that he has so much power and so much clout that no one would dare tell him what to do. He gets to do whatever he wants to do.”

During his storied career, Brooks has won 21 Emmys. He's won three Oscars and been nominated an additional five times. He won one Peabody for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two for The Simpsons. Peabody wrote that they chose to honor him with the Industry Icon Award “for both his visionary works that pulled us into what was next and his lasting drive to mentor new talent.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”