<Li> Gordon Howard, better known as Gordy, was played by actor John Amos . Gordy was the weather reporter on the nightly WJM - TV newscast . Affable, intelligent and professional, Gordy was the polar opposite of Ted . In 1973, Gordy left WJM, and eventually got a job as host of a talk show in New York City . Ted thought this would be a great chance for him to become a national name, and wheedled Gordy to allow him to join him; but Gordy, although his friend, was also wise to his ways, and gently told him no . After that, Gordy returned to New York and reaped success . </Li> <Dl> <Dd> The producers introduced Gordy as a weatherman because at the time they felt very few weathermen at the time were black . The original intention had been to make him a sportscaster, but they felt a weatherman would be funny . In several early episodes the character of Gordy remarks, "Why does everyone think I'm the sportscaster?" Amos left the show to do Good Times, but after being fired from Good Times in 1976 he returned for one last guest spot as Gordy in 1977 . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> The producers introduced Gordy as a weatherman because at the time they felt very few weathermen at the time were black . The original intention had been to make him a sportscaster, but they felt a weatherman would be funny . In several early episodes the character of Gordy remarks, "Why does everyone think I'm the sportscaster?" Amos left the show to do Good Times, but after being fired from Good Times in 1976 he returned for one last guest spot as Gordy in 1977 . </Dd> <Ul> <Li> Bess Lindstrom was portrayed on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Phyllis by actress Lisa Gerritsen . Bess is the daughter and only child of Phyllis Lindstrom and her late husband, Lars . Bess helped her mother decorate the new apartment that Mary Richards moved into . She bonded well with Rhoda Morgenstern, to her mother's horror, calling her "Aunt Rhoda" (to which her mother invariably replied, "She's not your aunt"). She also bonded with Mary, who was an old friend of her mother's . She only referred to Phyllis by her first name rather than with a motherly endearment . </Li> </Ul>

Who played on the mary tyler moore show