Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is a very bizarre little piece of television history. Not available to the public for decades, the new release to DVD serves as a joy to those who remember the strange show and a great introduction to an experiment both of and ahead of its time for those that don't.
As a satire on the unrealistic soap operas that fueled house wife's dreams, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman deals with realistically controversial issues like impotence and masturbation as well as outlandishly inappropriate (for the time) plot lines like cults and mass murder.
If you are unaware of the formula and have not watched old soap operas before (like Jim) you'll find the humor even more difficult to grasp than the rest of us. The tone of the show seems to shift from moment to moment; at times it's goofy, then surreal, then suddenly poignant and a bit depressing.
It's an acquired taste and I'm not sure if I've got it yet, but I was intrigued enough to watch the first nine episodes fairly uninterrupted. Even if it didn't have me in stitches laughing, it kept me strangely fascinated.