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RHODA |
September 9, 1974 - December 9, 1978
CBS Situation Comedy - 110 Episodes
Cast:
| Rhoda Morgenstern Gerard: | Valerie Harper |
| Brenda Morgenstern: | Julie Kavner |
| Joe Gerard: | David Groh |
| Ida Morgenstern: | Nancy Walker |
| Martin Morgenstern: | Harold J. Gould |
| Carlton the Doorman: | Lorenzo Music |
| Mae: | Cara Williams |
| Alice Barth: | Candy Azzara |
| Donny Gerard: | Todd Turquand |
| Myrna Morgenstein: | Barbara Sharma |
| Justin Culp: | Scoey Mitchell |
| Gary Levy: | Ron Silver |
| Sally Gallagher: | Anne Meara |
| Johnny Venture: | Michael Delano |
| Benny Goodwin: | Ray Buktenica |
| Jack Doyle: | Ken McMillan |
| Ramon Diaz, Jr.: | Rafael Campos |
| Tina Molinari: | Nancy Lane |
| Nick Lobo: | Richard Masur |
| Lenny Fielder: | Wes Stern |
Program opener:
"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 that I remember liking
that liked me back was food. I had a bad puberty, it
lasted seventeen 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
twenty-four. 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."
As Mary Richard's friend and neighbor on The Mary Tyler
Moore Show, Rhoda had been somewhat overweight, insecure
in her relationships with men, and jealous of the trim
Mary. Over the years, however, she had slimmed down, and
when she returned home to New York City for a visit in the
fall of 1974, she was a more attractive and self-confident
person. The visit turned into a permanent change of
residence when she met and fell in love with Joe Gerard.
Joe was the owner of the New York Wrecking Company,
divorced, and the father of a ten-year-old son. Rhoda
moved in with her sister Brenda, since living with her
parents Ida and Martin was not working out, and got
a job as a window dresser for a department store.
The romance blossomed and, in a special full-hour
telecast on October 28, 1974, Rhoda Morgenstern
the husband hunter became Rhoda Gerard.
The newlyweds moved into the same building in which Brenda
and Rhoda had been living. Joe went off everyday to the
office to deal with his partner Justin while Rhoda was a
relatively unoccupied housewife. Boredom precipitated her
decision to start her own window-dressing business with
a high school friend, shy Myrna, as a partner. With Rhoda
happily married, the comedy shifted to her chubby sister,
Brenda, a bank teller with constant problems
trying to get a boyfriend.
After two years of stories about wedded bliss the producers
decided that a happily married couple was just not as funny
as two single people trying to cope with the world. In order
to create more flexability in Rhoda's role, she and Joe
separated soon after the start of the 1976-1977 season. Joe
was gradually phased out of the show, preparatory to the
inevitable divorce. She found a new friend in 39-year-old
divorced airline stewardess Sally Gallagher, and both she
and Brenda were frequently escorted by platonic friend Gary
Levy. In the middle of that season Rhoda began an off-again,
on-again romance with egocentric Las Vegas
entertainer Johnny Venture.
The 1977-1978 season brought another raft of changes. Rhoda
found a new job at the Doyle Costume Company, a run-down
business struggling to survive. Brenda had a new boyfriend
in Benny Goodwin to replace the infrequently seen musician
Nick Lobo, and mother Ida had just returned from a year's
traveling around the country. By the start of the last season
Ida too was single, having been deserted by Martin.
Click HERE to download theme song.
(Theme song provided by Todd Fuller's Sitcoms Online.)
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By Jack Yan & Associates
Rhoda
From TV.com
Rhoda Message Board
From Todd Fuller's Sitcoms Online
Valerie Harper
An Official Website
Valerie Harper Biography
By Dragon and the Pearl
These links were last tested August 2004.
Check out these classic TV Guide covers...
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