Article originally appeared in Seth’s column at the New York Observer.

In 1970s America, the initials MTM meant three things: actress Mary Tyler Moore; the show she starred in; and the company she and her husband Grant Tinker founded.

All three changed American life, but the third did so for decades, reinventing popular culture and turning the small screen into the dominant art form of its time.

In syndication, The Mary Tyler Moore Show inspired of a new generation of performers and writers....