.....that there isn't more interest in this funny 70's classic. Loved it as a kid, but haven't seen much of it since, partly because it's so RARELY been reran. Like many things, it probably looks better in hindsight, but I'd still like to see it again.
shareI agree. This show is right up there with "I Love Lucy" and "Friends" in greatness. It, really, was unbelievably good. Valerie Harper did not miss a beat. Julie Kavner became a star, and everybody found more reason to like the physical and emotional antics of Nancy Walker. They were the first "Golden Girls."
share"I agree. This show is right up there with "I Love Lucy"
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hmm
While I love "Rhoda" as much as anyone, I don't know if I would rank it on a par with "I Love Lucy" in terms of television greatness. Not that I personally would not prefer to watch an episode of "Rhoda", because I have never been a huge Lucy fan and I love Valerie Harper, but aside from her, Julie Kavner, and Nancy Walker, who really made the show, IMHO, the supporting characters were just not all that likable or well written. Benny Goodwin, Gary Levy, Susan Alborn, Myrna Morgenstein, etc., etc. were just mediocre, both in writing and in acting. Mention the names Murray Slaughter or Florence the Maid to anyone who was around and watched TV in the '70s and there is instant recognition. Mention Gary Levy or Benny Goodwin and, meh, not so much. It's a credit to Valerie, Julie, and Nancy that this show lasted as long as it did and became so memorable for so many of us.
shareI think what the show was going after was having a cast of quirky characters. This was New York after and the people who lived there had a reputation of being offbeat. That is why I think the characters weren't memorable they just had too many quirky qualities to make them likeable.
shareLovetvshows, I agree with your assessment. I'm not sure if the characters were poorly developed, or poorly cast, or both. With all due respect to Ray Buktenica as an actor, I thought that Benny was one of the weakest characters on the show. He wasn't funny, just kind of whiny and blah. Julie Kavner was hilarious, and her boyfriend/fiance', if written and cast better, could have been a scream too. Sally Gallagher was another character that wasn't especially memorable or likable, and even though Ann Meara is fantastic, this was not a good role for her. I also never liked Jack Doyle. I guess he was supposed to be to Rhoda as Lou Grant was to Mary Richards, but he just wasn't on the same level with Ed Asner as an actor or something. He just came across as rude and short-temepered in his scenes, and not like the lovable, old curmudgeon thing that they were going for.
shareI think it's a simple case of the spin-off/sequel
not fully living up to hte reputation of the parent series it came from.
Rhoda is a "good' show, but even in the 70s,it wasn't groundbreaking. It did what a lot of CBS shows were doing then,taking on real life topcis in a humorus way.
As for the shows re-run history,i can only speak for Phoenix,AZ here. Mary & Rhoda were re-run here in the afternoon until 1981. Then local channel 12 pulled Mary but kept Rhoda.
Rhoda finally was taken off by summer of '82. Simply sain (unless one had cable) Mary Tyler Moore & Rhoda were not shown here until Me-TV brought them back. Mary in 2011 and Rhoda this year.
Before ME-TV came on (and the now defunct RTV),
the only reruns on (On local TV) were shows from the 90s,& early 2000s.
BOR-ING!
MAN! One dream's come true,ready for another.
(MR.) happipuppi13 *arf,man!*!