Rhoda
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| Rhoda | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Starring | Valerie Harper David Groh Nancy Walker Harold Gould Julie Kavner Lorenzo Music Ron Silver |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 110 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 9, 1974 – December 9, 1978 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Rhoda was an American situation comedy and a television spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Valerie Harper played the lead role of Rhoda Morgenstern Gerard, Mary Richards' best friend. The show ran on CBS from 1974 to 1978.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Rhoda Morgenstern, recently departed from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, moves back home to New York City from Minneapolis after meeting her soon-to-be husband, Joe Gerard (David Groh). They get married in an hour-long special, "Rhoda's Wedding", that was one of the highest rated television episodes of the 1974-75 season. In a classic sequence, Rhoda (who is not picked up for the wedding by the forgetful Phyllis Lindstrom), takes the subway wearing her bridal gown to get to the ceremony at the Bronx apartment of her parents, Ida and Martin (Nancy Walker and Harold Gould).
The marriage does not last long, however. Realizing that the character's charm and humor came from her status as an insecure single woman, the producers had her and Joe separate toward the middle of the second season, with their divorce following by season's end. The show then centers on Rhoda's role as a 30-something divorcée and independent business owner ("Windows by Rhoda").
In the final season, Rhoda is employed at the Doyle Costume Company, working for gruff Lou Grant-ish boss, Jack Doyle (Kenneth McMillan). Also in the final season, Rhoda's sister Brenda (Julie Kavner) prepares for her wedding to boyfriend Benny Goodwin (though, as the show was abruptly canceled mid-season in December 1978, Brenda and Benny's wedding was never seen by viewers), while her parents deal with a marital separation.
Recurring jokes on Rhoda include commentary on the crime and grime of 70s Manhattan, dieting woes, self-esteem issues, and aggravations from overbearing mother Ida.
[edit] Other recurring characters
Carlton, the doorman in Rhoda's building, was played by Lorenzo Music. He was often heard on the intercom, but never seen.
Rhoda launched the career of actor Ron Silver. Silver played Rhoda's neighbor Gary Levy (who owned a jeans store), He swapped apartments with Rhoda following her split with Joe, and dated Brenda for a time.
Brenda's on-again, off-again boyfriend in early episodes was accordionist Nick Lobo (Richard Masur).
Rhoda's girlfriends over the years included: Alice Barth (Candice Azzara), Myrna Morgenstein (whom Rhoda had sat behind in high school, when in alphabetical order in home room) (Barbara Sharma), Suzie Alborn (Beverly Sanders) and Sally Gallagher (Anne Meara).
Joe's friend Charlie Burke (whom Rhoda found annoying) was played by Valerie Harper's then-husband, actor Richard Schaal.
[edit] Quotes
"My name is Rhoda Morgenstern. I was born in the Bronx, New York in December, 1941. I've always felt responsible for World War II. The first thing I remember liking that liked me back was food. I had a bad puberty; it lasted 17 years. I'm a high school graduate. I went to art school. My entrance exam was on a book of matches. I decided to move out of the house when I was 24; my mother still refers to this as the time I ran away from home. Eventually I ran to Minneapolis, where it's cold, and I figured I'd keep better. Now I'm back in Manhattan. New York, this is your last chance!"
-- From the program opener, during the first season. (MP3 file: [1])
"And the best part about being a bank teller is - your legs don't show!"
-- Brenda to Rhoda (episode one)
"I have never experienced Ma and jet lag at the same time."
-- Rhoda to Brenda (episode one)
[edit] Awards
Valerie Harper received an Emmy award in 1975, to go with the three she won while playing the same role on the The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Julie Kavner also received an Emmy, in 1978.
Rhoda also received two Golden Globe Awards (one for Valerie and the other for the show itself) in 1975. Collectively "Rhoda" garnered a total of 17 Emmy nominations and 7 Golden Globe nominations.
[edit] Mary Tyler Moore Show tie-ins
During the first season, the closing credits showed Rhoda crossing Broadway and Seventh Avenue in Times Square and attempting to emulate her friend Mary Richards by tossing her hat in the air, only to drop it. She then picks up the hat, pulls it down onto her head, and dejectedly slinks away.
The 2000 TV film Mary and Rhoda finds a recently-divorced Rhoda (with her adult daughter, Meredith) reunited with her old friend recently-widowed Mary Richards (with her grownup daughter, Rose).
[edit] Trivia
- Rhoda had a sister named "Debbie" on a 1973 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show entitled Rhoda's Sister Gets Married. Debbie was never mentioned on Rhoda however. She was played by actress Liberty Williams who starred as "Tabatha" in a 1976 pilot about the (now) adult witch daughter from the sitcom Bewitched, and was the voice of Wonder Twin Jayna on the Superfriends animated series.
- Joe Gerard's ex-wife is named Marian (Joan Van Ark) and their son is named Donny.
- Rhoda and Brenda both shared the middle name, Faye. Once Rhoda asked her mother Ida why she didn't just name one of them Faye? Her mother replied: "I didn't like (the name) that much."
- Ida Morgenstern's maiden name is Nessel.
- Nancy Walker was not seen during the 1976-1977 season as she was starring in her own series. After Walker's two sitcoms, Blansky's Beauties and The Nancy Walker Show, were cancelled, Ida returned from an extended cruise vacation.
- In episode #57 ("Rhoda Questions Her Life and Flies to Paris") Brenda and Rhoda both do impulsive things they've always dreamt of doing. Rhoda travels to Paris for the weekend and Brenda calls her idol Woody Allen to say hello (after getting his phone number from her bank's files). Julie Kavner would later star in four Woody Allen films: Radio Days, Hannah and Her Sisters, Alice (1990 film) and Deconstructing Harry.
- Kavner supplies the voice for Marge Simpson on the long-running animated series The Simpsons.
