Let’s rewind the videotape and revisit a classic moment in The Dick Van Dyke Show. In the 1962 episode called “Hustling the Hustler,” Mary Tyler Moore (as Laura Petrie) plays pool and sinks three balls in a single shot. The original plan was to splice in footage of a professional pool player making the shot, but Moore surprised everyone, including herself, by nailing it on the first try. Watching Moore and Van Dyke recover from their astonishment and improvise through the scene is priceless—a perfect way to start your Monday.
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via Zaibatsu and Slash Film
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This was as far from accidental as can be. These balls were placed there beforehand. This is a classic trick shot that can be found in any pocket billiards instruction book. I was sinking this back in 60s.
So, what you’re saying is that if you can do it, then anybody can do it.
Nope! She actually nailed it!!
Yes, of course the shot was set up — for the pro they had hired to cut away to, not for MTM herself. But when Mary accidentally hit the shot herself, the pro was no longer needed.
It was very much accidental. They had a professional player on set to make the shot. The fact that they set it up a very specific way does nothing to change the fact that Mary Tyler Moore herself was not a great pool player. Nobody expected *her* to pull it off, including Moore herself. Hence why they had a pro on hand to do it, with the intent being to splice the footage so that it appeared she had done it.
So I don’t know why you’re playing the Well Ackshully game here. What was accidental was Moore successfully making the shot in her first attempt, not that they set the balls up a specific way.