Mary Tyler Moore M/F

[pac512]

Scene is from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, sitcom from the 70s. Mr. Grant, Mary's boss, is complaining that she hasn't smiled in two weeks but will get her to smile by tickling her. Mary claims she isn't ticklish, but he tries anyway by tickling her ribs. Mary seems to have no reaction though.

 

[Iwon'tgrowup]

Some people on this forum are truly stupendous. That's ANOTHER clip I've been wanting to see again for many years. I know the reaction is deadpan (and the tickling is horrible . . . on purpose . . .), but just to see MTM "tickled" . . . PRICELESS!

Thank you so much.

 

[SlaverTickler]

I know the reaction is deadpan (and the tickling is horrible . . . on purpose . . .)

Actualy after watching this, it looked to me like they may have had to do some fancy editing. For split second it looked lik MTM was going to crack up, and from the side shots I think she may have been fighting back a smile. I don't know I could be seeing something that isn't there but it looked that way to me. And wasn't Mary just beautiful back in the day.

 

[ovation]

Thanks for sharing. I didn't see any real tickling going on here though, his hands were just resting flat on her sides most of the time, but the concept of seeing MTM being tickled was very appealing. Perhaps she really is ticklish and therefore had to have his hands move like that? Does anyone know if she is ticklish in real life?

 

[dig dug dog]

Without having to look at the clip, I remember well that they also dressed Mary in very thick clothing that day...I wonder why...

ddd

 

[Mitchell]

Sorry to bump this years old thread. I was very young during the original run of the Mary Tyler Moore show, and never saw that scene. MTM was very cute back then. Unfortunately, it looks like she wasn;'t ticklish. Either that, they dressed her in heavy clothing so Ed Asner's tickling didn't affect her.. or she's a VERY good actress, and good at holding it back.

Would have been nice if she had a ticklish reaction. Would have made an excellent mainstream tickling scene. Alas, can't win em all.

Mitch

 

[SlaverTickler]

Unfortunately, it looks like she wasn;'t ticklish. Either that, they dressed her in heavy clothing so Ed Asner's tickling didn't affect her.. or she's a VERY good actress, and good at holding it back.

I would hope for the latter, and as such would like to see the out takes from when she slipped 😀

 

[Jack Sanfini]

Mary Tyler Moore M/F

Thanks for sharing. I didn't see any real tickling going on here though, his hands were just resting flat on her sides most of the time, but the concept of seeing MTM being tickled was very appealing. Perhaps she really is ticklish and therefore had to have his hands move like that? Does anyone know if she is ticklish in real life?

Yes she was wearing thick clothing and his hands were not tickling her folks which I think was done on purpose to hide the fact that she really is very ticklish. When someone is wearing thick clothing you can only tickle someone when you dig fingers in or prod, but his hands were flat just moving up and down. In another MTM episode, Ed Asner tickles his wife by poking her underarms and the reaction is a very natural ticklish one to go with a giggle. I bet if MTM was wearing lighter clothing and he went for her armpits or tickled the ribs she'd jump and giggle.

 

[Lilred1]

Actualy after watching this, it looked to me like they may have had to do some fancy editing. For split second it looked lik MTM was going to crack up, and from the side shots I think she may have been fighting back a smile. I don't know I could be seeing something that isn't there but it looked that way to me. And wasn't Mary just beautiful back in the day.

Some of her biggest and consistent "try-not-to-laugh tells" was super rapid blinking, pressing her lips together, looking up and to the right or left and letting out a sigh to release the building tension. She does all of those during this so I think you were right in what you were seeing. Also in another episode she was tickled in her side and burst out laughing.

 

[solarcharger]

Seems like I remember reading that she was Diabetic, and did injections on the soles of her feet. If that was the case, then I’d reason out that her feet were not ticklish, or if they ever had been, the nerve endings were probably destroyed by the needles. Any thoughts?

 

[Lilred1]

Seems like I remember reading that she was Diabetic, and did injections on the soles of her feet. If that was the case, then I’d reason out that her feet were not ticklish, or if they ever had been, the nerve endings were probably destroyed by the needles. Any thoughts?

I actually wrote a college ORP on this strange but adorable topic and this was part of it. So this is my view: She was diagnosed at 30. It's likely that sensation would be lowered over time especially at the site of injection however, it's unlikely she'd use the entire soles of her feet as she was an avid dancer and diabetics, on average, tend to use 3-4 different areas over time, usually staying away from sensitive areas like the feet or hands. Also diabetes, age, callous and injection sites are all reasonable factors to contribute to becoming less ticklish over time. So all in all, I don't think the nerve endings in her feet would've been destroyed but it is possible her feet were less ticklish than say, her sides, by the time she was older.

 

[solarcharger]

I actually wrote a college ORP on this strange but adorable topic and this was part of it. So this is my view: She was diagnosed at 30. It's likely that sensation would be lowered over time especially at the site of injection however, it's unlikely she'd use the entire soles of her feet as she was an avid dancer and diabetics, on average, tend to use 3-4 different areas over time, usually staying away from sensitive areas like the feet or hands. Also diabetes, age, callous and injection sites are all reasonable factors to contribute to becoming less ticklish over time. So all in all, I don't think the nerve endings in her feet would've been destroyed but it is possible her feet were less ticklish than say, her sides, by the time she was older.

Perfectly logical.