Mary Worth is a newspaper comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate which debuted in 1940. The strip featured Mary Worth very little in its earliest years, as her role was limited to giving matronly advice to the vixens and ingenues featured heavily in the storylines. Since the 1990s, the focus has gravitated more towards Mary herself and her closest friends.
The strip's popularity was evident in the multiple parodies, homages, and allusions in various media, including a Carol Burnett Show satire entitled "Mary Worthless", and nods in other comics such as FoxTrot, Pearls Before Swine, and The Far Side (where one of its typical characters tells a character stylized in the manner of Mary Worth that they must be looking for "Apartment 3-G or one of those other serious cartoons.")
References[]
The strip was parodied in the Muppet Babies episode "Comic Capers", where Baby Piggy is looking at the Sunday funnies, namely "Apartment 3-B", which features the character Piggy Worthalot. Described by Piggy as "the nosiest of all", Worthalot eavesdrops on an argument between her next door neighbors, offering them some "words of wisdom."