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{{short description|Fictional character from The Mary Tyler Moore Show}}
{{essay-entry|article}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Ted Baxter
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| first = "[[List of The Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes|Love Is All Around]]"<br />September 19, 1970
| last = "[[The Last Show (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)|The Last Show]]"<br />March 19, 1977
| gender = Male
| occupation = [[News presenter|Anchorman]] at WJM-TV Station
| family = Robert Baxter (father)<br />Hal Baxter (brother)
| spouse = [[List of minor characters on The Mary Tyler Moore Show|Georgette Franklin Baxter]]
| children = David (son)<br />Mary Lou (daughter)
| relatives =
| portrayer = [[Ted Knight]]
| creator = [[James L. Brooks]] and [[Allan Burns]]
}}


'''Ted Baxter''' is a fictional character on the [[sitcom]] ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' (1970–1977). Portrayed by [[Ted Knight]], the Baxter character is a broad parody of a vain, shallow, buffoonish, vacuous TV personality. Knight's comedic model was actor [[William Powell]], and he also drew on [[Los Angeles]] [[News presenter|newscasters]], including [[George Putnam (newsman)|George Putnam]], to shape the character.<ref>{{Cite news
| last=O'Halloren
| first=Bill
| title=Ted Knight...Too Close for Comfort
| magazine=TV Guide
| date= January 3, 1981 | url=http://www.mtmshow.com/tvgknightart1.html
| archivedate = November 18, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118200602/http://www.mtmshow.com/tvgknightart1.html
| accessdate=2008-07-09
}}.</ref> The role was originally conceived for [[Jack Cassidy]], but Cassidy turned it down; he later appears in the season two episode "Cover Boy" as Ted's equally egocentric brother Hal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cassidy |first1=David |last2=Deffaa |first2=Chip|title=C'mon, Get Happy ... Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus |year=1994|publisher=Warner Books |location=New York |isbn=0-446-39531-5 |page=50}}</ref>
Ted Baxter has become a symbolic figure often referenced when criticizing media figures, particularly news anchors hired for style and appearance rather than journalistic ability.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boyle |first=Frank T. |date=October 1993 |title=IBM, Talking Heads, and Our Classrooms |journal=[[College English]] |volume=55 |issue=6 |pages=618–626 |issn=0010-0994 |id=[[ERIC]] EJ470266 |doi=10.2307/378698 |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |jstor=378698}}</ref>


== Character ==
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Tedbaxter.jpg|thumb|250px|"This is Ted Baxter saying, good night and good news."]] -->
[[File:Ted Baxter groom 1975.JPG|thumb|200px|Ted and friends prepare for his wedding in Mary's kitchen, 1975.]]
'''Ted Baxter''' was a fictional character on the situation comedy ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show|Mary Tyler Moore]]''. He was played by [[Ted Knight]].
Ted Baxter is the pompous and [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]] nitwit [[News presenter|anchorman]] at fictitious station [[The Mary Tyler Moore Show|WJM-TV]] in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. Satirizing the affectations of news anchormen, the character speaks in a [[vocal fry register]] parody of the narrator of the [[Movietone News]] film reels shown in [[Movie theater|movie houses]] before the television era. While his [[narcissism]] fuels his [[Grandiose delusions|delusions of grandeur]], Baxter's onscreen performance is buffoonish. The character's incompetence is a running joke on ''Mary Tyler Moore'', characterized by a steady stream of [[mispronunciation]]s, [[malapropism]]s, and miscues. In constant fear of being fired, Baxter is, ironically, the only survivor of massive station [[layoff]]s in the series' final episode.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Dalton |editor1-first=Mary M. |editor2-last=Linder |editor2-first=Laura R. |last=Kohl |first=Paul R |title=The sitcom reader: America viewed and skewed |chapter="Who's in Charge Here?": Views of Media Ownership in Situation Comedies |publisher=SUNY Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ez9_tKpjXFgC |year=2005 |isbn= 0-7914-6569-1 |pages=232–234}}</ref>


In the show's early seasons, Knight plays the character broadly for comic effect; he's a simpleton who mispronounces even the easiest words on camera. Knight gradually grew concerned that the show's writers were abusing the character and considered leaving the ''MTM'' cast. In response, the writers rounded out Knight's character, pairing him with love interest and eventual wife [[List of The Mary Tyler Moore Show characters|Georgette]], played by [[Georgia Engel]], who brings out some of Baxter's more lovable characteristics.
== "It all started at a 5000-watt radio station in Fresno, California..." ==
<ref>{{cite web |author= Andrew Szym |title= Georgia Engel: Georgette Franklin Baxter |work=Mary Tyler Moore Show |url=http://www.mtmshow.com/castgeorgiafact.html |accessdate=July 5, 2009 |year=2000}}</ref>
Ted was the overbearing and somewhat pompous anchorman for the fictitious WJM-TV in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. He was certainly not one of the best newscasters in the [[Minneapolis-Saint Paul|Twin Cities]] metropolitan area, because his station was always at the bottom of the news ratings, usually because of him. He would garble things on air, and read stories of practically no interest to anyone. He would read a story about a strike, and when he was through with the newscast, whenever anyone asked about it, he wouldn't know what they were asking him about. He gave new meaning to the word incompetence.
{{clear|right}}


== Reception ==
Yet, he still thought he was destined for greater things, and it showed in his massive ego. He often stated that his career started in [[Fresno, California]], and he met his idol [[Walter Cronkite]]-although when he actually does meet Cronkite it is to the latter's dismay! Also, he had fictitious headlines on his dressing room door, thinking that he would win the Emmy. His main obsession was winning the "Teddy" Award, for news anchoring. He did win a Teddy, unbelievably. (In reality, Ted Knight won a [[Emmy Award]] for playing the role of "Ted Baxter", twice.) Ted also had tapes that he would play, chronicling his allegedly successful career.
[[File:Georgia Engel Ted Knight Mary Tyler Moore Show Wedding 1975.JPG|thumb|150px|The wedding of Ted and Georgette, 1975.]]
Knight earned two [[Primetime Emmy Award]]s for his portrayal of Ted Baxter. [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine wrote that "Knight embodied a wonderful comic oaf: vain, inept and hilarious."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924522-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106014653/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924522-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |first=Richard |last=Corliss |title=Television: The Bodies in Question |date=1980-11-03 |accessdate=2010-09-02 |magazine=Time}}</ref> [[Bravo (US TV channel)|Bravo]] ranked Ted Baxter 48th on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters//index.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015070449/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters/index.shtml| archivedate=2007-10-15|title=The 100 Greatest TV Characters|publisher=Bravo|accessdate=2010-09-01}}</ref>


== Allusions ==
The one person he got along with somewhat well was [[Gordy Howard]], the weatherman (played by [[John Amos]]). However, his ego came to the fore when Gordy left for New York to host a talk show, and Ted tried to angle his way into the job. Gordy gently told him no.


=== In popular culture ===
He often incurred the wrath of news producer (and later news director), [[Lou Grant (fictional character)|Lou Grant]] on numerous occasions, for just as many reasons. Little things like savaging words on the live newscast (which news writer [[Murray Slaughter]] would give to Lou every day after the show) to throwing a temper tantrum about not being able to participate in a circus parade. (The kiddie show host, [[Chuckles the Clown]], marched in the parade, and was "shelled" to death by a rogue elephant, as he was dressed as one of his show's characters, Peter Peanut.)
Recurring anchorman character [[Kent Brockman]] on animated TV series ''[[The Simpsons]]'' is an homage to Ted Baxter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ijpc.org/uploads/files/IJPC%20Student%20Journal%20Stephanie%20Woo.pdf |title=The Scoop on The Simpsons: Journalism in U.S. Television's Longest Running Prime-Time Animated Series |newspaper=Ijpc.org |date=December 2004 |author=Stephanie Woo |accessdate= June 6, 2016}}</ref> In ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'', [[Will Ferrell]]'s newsman character has a dog named Baxter, one of the movie's many explicit and implicit references to the character.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/16/entertainment/et-kaltenbach16 |title=The legend of Ted Baxter - latimes |newspaper=Articles.latimes.com |date=July 16, 2004 |author=Chris Kaltenbach |accessdate= June 6, 2016}}</ref> Popular [[Superman]] supporting character [[Steve Lombard]] is inspired by Ted Baxter.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wells|first=John |title=Bullies and Blowhards of the DC Bronze Age |journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=91|pages=16–18 |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=September 2016|location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> In the ''[[The West Wing|West Wing]]'' episode "18th and Potomac", [[C. J. Cregg]] evokes Ted Baxter to represent the epitome of a bad reporter. A character in the comedy-horror film ''[[Return of the Killer Tomatoes]]'' has a diploma from "The Ted Baxter School of Journalism". [[Steve Carell]] portrays smarmy, self-impressed anchorman Evan Baxter in ''[[Bruce Almighty]]''. [[PBS]] children's program ''[[The Electric Company]]'' spoofs Ted Baxter with "Fred Baxter", a dimwitted news anchorman portrayed by [[Jim Boyd (actor)|Jim Boyd]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} A character in the "5/1" episode of ''[[The Newsroom (U.S. TV series)|The Newsroom]]'' is asked, "When did you turn into Ted Baxter?" in response to the character being high, missing an [[email]] from [[Joe Biden|Vice President Joe Biden]], and remaining nonchalant about it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Virtel|first=Louis|title=5 Things I Loved (!) About Last Night's "The Newsroom"|url=http://www.afterelton.com/tv/recaps/newsroom-episode-7?page=1,0|publisher=Afterelton}}</ref>


⚫
== See also ==
Whenever anything awful happened with the news, which was often, Ted was certain to be blamed for it. His signature closing was ''"This is Ted Baxter saying Good Night and Good news!"''
* [[Les Nessman]]
* [[News presenter]]


== References ==
Ted also had a dreadful insecurity that whenever he was forced to take a vacation, he would be replaced, because ''anyone'' who took over for him would be better than he was. This was often the case, since whenever Ted was gone, the usually dismal news ratings soared. Ironically enough, three episodes showed that Ted could actually be a competent TV personality-when he was ''not a newsman'': when he tried out as a [[game show]] host; when he was a [[talk show]] host; when he did a commercial as "Farmer Ted". Another [[running gag]] is that Ted Baxter would usually say or do something stupid every time he was seen; occasionly this is not always so -- one episode showed Ted once making a remark about how insecure people try to assume [[copycat]] personalites -- the joke however is that [[Sue Ann Nivens]] comes into the scene, and actually confirms Baxter's "Words of Wisdom". Another episode has Ted reading news items about the Queen of England having a feast and of how pigs are feeding at a trough -- unknown to Ted, the "news clips" for these news items have been accidentally switched around by Mary and Murray.
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}


⚫
{{The Mary Tyler Moore Show}}
He had softened somewhat when he met [[Georgette Franklin Baxter|Georgette Franklin]], a window dresser at the fictitious Hempel's department store, where [[Rhoda Morgenstern (fictional character)|Rhoda Morgenstern]] had worked before she moved to New York. They eventually married in an impromptu wedding in [[Mary Richards]]'s new apartment by a tennis playing pastor (played by [[John Ritter]]). The Baxters ultimately adopted a son, [[David Baxter|David]]; and then gave birth to a daughter, Mary Lou, named after Mary and Lou. The birth, like their wedding, occurred in Mary's apartment.

Despite his often rocky relationship with some of the other people in the newsroom, Ted did like Mary a lot, and she liked him, too. In fact, she probably got along with Ted the best of everyone in the newsroom.

At the end of the series, in a highly unlikely scenario, Ted, in spite of his being the main reason why the news ratings were so awful, was told to stay. Everyone else, including Mary, Lou, Murray and [[Sue Ann Nivens]], were fired. In fact, while everyone else was disheartened by their unexpected firing, Ted sauntered in as smug as ever, and felt he wasn't sad enough that he was staying and the others lost their jobs.

⚫
== Trivia ==
On the children's show ''[[The Electric Company]]'', the character of "Fred Baxter" (an obvious spoof of Ted Baxter) was featured in a "The Director" sketch. Fred (played by Jim Boyd), who was obviously much more incompetent than the person he was spoofing, attempted to read the cue card, "And Now, The News", but failed miserably, sending [[Otto The Director|Otto]], the very short-tempered director ([[Rita Moreno]]) into a fury. She threatened him with a knuckle sandwich (after he had flubbed the line by saying "And now, the knuckles!") before eventually firing him, forcing her to read the news herself.

On the [[MSNBC]] news program ''[[Countdown with Keith Olbermann|Countdown]]'', [[Keith Olbermann]] refers to [[commentator]] [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] as "Ted Baxter" and reads quotes from O'Reilly in a Ted Baxter voice.

In the comedy ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'', Will Ferrell's protagonist anchorman's beloved dog is named Baxter, after Ted Baxter.

⚫
{{Mary Tyler Moore}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Ted}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Ted}}
[[Category:Mary Tyler Moore Show characters]]
[[Category:The Mary Tyler Moore Show characters]]
[[Category:Fictional reporters]]
[[Category:Fictional reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:Fictional television personalities]]
[[Category:Fictional characters from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1970]]
[[Category:Television shows about narcissism]]
[[Category:American male characters in television]]

Latest revision as of 23:44, 29 December 2023

Ted Baxter
First appearance"Love Is All Around"
September 19, 1970
Last appearance"The Last Show"
March 19, 1977
Created byJames L. Brooks and Allan Burns
Portrayed byTed Knight
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationAnchorman at WJM-TV Station
FamilyRobert Baxter (father)
Hal Baxter (brother)
SpouseGeorgette Franklin Baxter
ChildrenDavid (son)
Mary Lou (daughter)

Ted Baxter is a fictional character on the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977). Portrayed by Ted Knight, the Baxter character is a broad parody of a vain, shallow, buffoonish, vacuous TV personality. Knight's comedic model was actor William Powell, and he also drew on Los Angeles newscasters, including George Putnam, to shape the character.[1] The role was originally conceived for Jack Cassidy, but Cassidy turned it down; he later appears in the season two episode "Cover Boy" as Ted's equally egocentric brother Hal.[2] Ted Baxter has become a symbolic figure often referenced when criticizing media figures, particularly news anchors hired for style and appearance rather than journalistic ability.[3]

Character[edit]

Ted and friends prepare for his wedding in Mary's kitchen, 1975.

Ted Baxter is the pompous and narcissistic nitwit anchorman at fictitious station WJM-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Satirizing the affectations of news anchormen, the character speaks in a vocal fry register parody of the narrator of the Movietone News film reels shown in movie houses before the television era. While his narcissism fuels his delusions of grandeur, Baxter's onscreen performance is buffoonish. The character's incompetence is a running joke on Mary Tyler Moore, characterized by a steady stream of mispronunciations, malapropisms, and miscues. In constant fear of being fired, Baxter is, ironically, the only survivor of massive station layoffs in the series' final episode.[4]

In the show's early seasons, Knight plays the character broadly for comic effect; he's a simpleton who mispronounces even the easiest words on camera. Knight gradually grew concerned that the show's writers were abusing the character and considered leaving the MTM cast. In response, the writers rounded out Knight's character, pairing him with love interest and eventual wife Georgette, played by Georgia Engel, who brings out some of Baxter's more lovable characteristics. [5]

Reception[edit]

The wedding of Ted and Georgette, 1975.

Knight earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Ted Baxter. Time magazine wrote that "Knight embodied a wonderful comic oaf: vain, inept and hilarious."[6] Bravo ranked Ted Baxter 48th on their list of the 100 greatest TV characters.[7]

Allusions[edit]

In popular culture[edit]

Recurring anchorman character Kent Brockman on animated TV series The Simpsons is an homage to Ted Baxter.[8] In Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Will Ferrell's newsman character has a dog named Baxter, one of the movie's many explicit and implicit references to the character.[9] Popular Superman supporting character Steve Lombard is inspired by Ted Baxter.[10] In the West Wing episode "18th and Potomac", C. J. Cregg evokes Ted Baxter to represent the epitome of a bad reporter. A character in the comedy-horror film Return of the Killer Tomatoes has a diploma from "The Ted Baxter School of Journalism". Steve Carell portrays smarmy, self-impressed anchorman Evan Baxter in Bruce Almighty. PBS children's program The Electric Company spoofs Ted Baxter with "Fred Baxter", a dimwitted news anchorman portrayed by Jim Boyd.[citation needed] A character in the "5/1" episode of The Newsroom is asked, "When did you turn into Ted Baxter?" in response to the character being high, missing an email from Vice President Joe Biden, and remaining nonchalant about it.[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ O'Halloren, Bill (January 3, 1981). "Ted Knight...Too Close for Comfort". TV Guide. Archived from the original on November 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-09..
  2. ^ Cassidy, David; Deffaa, Chip (1994). C'mon, Get Happy ... Fear and Loathing on the Partridge Family Bus. New York: Warner Books. p. 50. ISBN 0-446-39531-5.
  3. ^ Boyle, Frank T. (October 1993). "IBM, Talking Heads, and Our Classrooms". College English. 55 (6). National Council of Teachers of English: 618–626. doi:10.2307/378698. ISSN 0010-0994. JSTOR 378698. ERIC EJ470266.
  4. ^ Kohl, Paul R (2005). ""Who's in Charge Here?": Views of Media Ownership in Situation Comedies". In Dalton, Mary M.; Linder, Laura R. (eds.). The sitcom reader: America viewed and skewed. SUNY Press. pp. 232–234. ISBN 0-7914-6569-1.
  5. ^ Andrew Szym (2000). "Georgia Engel: Georgette Franklin Baxter". Mary Tyler Moore Show. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  6. ^ Corliss, Richard (1980-11-03). "Television: The Bodies in Question". Time. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  7. ^ "The 100 Greatest TV Characters". Bravo. Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
  8. ^ Stephanie Woo (December 2004). "The Scoop on The Simpsons: Journalism in U.S. Television's Longest Running Prime-Time Animated Series" (PDF). Ijpc.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  9. ^ Chris Kaltenbach (July 16, 2004). "The legend of Ted Baxter - latimes". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  10. ^ Wells, John (September 2016). "Bullies and Blowhards of the DC Bronze Age". Back Issue! (91). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 16–18.
  11. ^ Virtel, Louis. "5 Things I Loved (!) About Last Night's "The Newsroom"". Afterelton.
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