1977

When President Carter proposes a tax rebate to stimulate the economy, administration economists agree that rebate should be $50. Susan Stamberg and Bob Edwards air a list of items one could buy with this rebate. The list includes six marriage licenses in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; a four-night stay at the Omaha YWCA; ten pounds of coffee; and a one-way ticket between Kansas City and Des Moines.

Robert Siegel is appointed public affairs editor. The Mary Tyler Moore Show airs its final episode after seven years on television.

On the March 18 show, Stamberg and Edwards bid adieu to the fictional Mary Richards and friends:

Stamberg: "What's the legacy? Mary was the first TV comedy heroine to be single, working, and an obvious nonvirgin, and she never got struck by lightning. Ted was the first to show the world that behind the TV anchorman's façade of pearly teeth and empty pomp lurked a core of pearly teeth and empty pomp... ."

Edwards: "And when all of us are gone, Ted Baxter will still be here."

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