TV SERIES · 1974– · USA
Rhoda
21 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (21)
- #001
Producers tried to spin Carlton off into his own animated show. A pilot titled "Carlton Your Doorman (1980)" was produced but not picked up. It aired as a one-time special presentation and won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 1980.
- #002
Rhoda's wedding episode, which served as the crossover episode with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, broke ratings records when it aired.
- #003
CBS programming chief Fred Silverman was responsible for the famous Rhoda wedding episode. In hindsight, Silverman admitted in interviews that it was a complete mistake for the series. In his view, it helped the show in the short term by generating a great deal of publicity and therefore ratings, but in the long term it killed the series. He felt that with Rhoda's marriage, her underdog image that viewers rooted for disappeared, and that image had been responsible for making the character iconic. In addition, he felt there was no real focus on the series once they were married, something the show's writers agreed with. Silverman also felt that David Groh was miscast as Rhoda's husband Joe, because he was not the comic power source the character of Rhoda needed to play off.
- #004
Neither Valerie Harper nor Nancy Walker is Jewish (even though they played iconic and archetypal Jewish characters). But Julie Kavner and Harold Gould are.
- #005
There was originally another Morgenstern sister named Debbie. She appeared in one episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show but did not carry over to Rhoda.
- #006
Mary Tyler Moore (Mary Richards) and Cloris Leachman (Phyllis Lindstrom) are the only actors to play the same character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), Rhoda (1974) and Phyllis (1975).
- #007
Jon Lormer is the only actor to appear on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and all three of its spin-offs: Rhoda (1974), Phyllis (1975) and Lou Grant (1977).
- #008
According to Valerie Harper's autobiography "I Rhoda," Judd Hirsch, Carmine Caridi, Joseph Bologna and Michael Delano were the candidates for Joe Girard. Bologna was the favorite for the role, but he insisted that his wife, actress Renee Taylor, be given the role of Rhoda's boss. The series' early ideas involved Rhoda working for an eccentric boss. The producers rejected the idea because they did not want to work with a married couple, so Bologna turned the role down. Caridi turned the role down because of his part in The Godfather Part II, and Hirsch was unavailable due to stage work. Delano had great chemistry with Harper and was set to take the role of Joe, but actor David Groh came in to audition for the part at the last minute. He was ultimately cast because he was known for his roles in daytime soap operas. In the end, however, it turned out to be a mistake. Although he was liked by the cast and crew, Groh and Harper did not develop good chemistry, and it also became clear that Groh was not Rhoda's comic equal. Combined with the lack of focus on the series, this led to Groh being written out during the third season. Ironically, all of the actors named above, except Bologna, appeared on Rhoda as guest stars. In Delano's case, from the third season on he would play the singer and womanizer Johnny Venture, who constantly tried to date Rhoda.
- #009
Rhoda Faye Morgenstern and Brenda Faye Morgenstern share the same middle name. Their mother liked the name but not enough for it to be their first name.
- #010
Rhoda, Joe and Brenda live at 332 E. 64th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York. In reality, the exterior of the building shown on screen is at 332 E. 84th Street.
- #011
James L. Brooks, who served as executive producer of this series and of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, also served as executive producer of The Simpsons; and he cast Julie Kavner from Rhoda in the role of Marge Simpson.
- #012
Robert Moore (no relation to Mary Tyler Moore), who appeared as Phyllis's brother Ben in the Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Her Brother's Keeper" and who also dated Rhoda/Valerie Harper in that episode, would go on to direct Valerie on "Rhoda," the M.T.M. spin-off. Moore was the subject of Rhoda's famous "He's gay!" punchline, the first time it was said on television. Moore did not mind because he was gay in real life. Moore became Rhoda's main director.
- #013
The exterior of Rick's Cafe, the singles bar where many scenes take place throughout the series, is the facade of the famous Maxwell's Plum. No effort is made to hide this, since the name is clearly visible on the awning. Maxwell's was on the corner of 64th St & 1st Ave, while Rick's is said to be on 2nd Ave.
- #014
When the producers would not hire his wife, actress Renée Taylor, to play Rhoda's boss, Joe Bologna had to turn down the role of Joe Gerard.
- #015
It was the first sitcom to revolve around a Jewish character. Jews had appeared in comedy series before. (Morey Amsterdam had played a Jewish character on Dick Van Dyke a decade earlier.) But they were always supporting characters, never leads. That changed with Rhoda.
- #016
William Devane turned down the role of Joe Gerard.
- #017
Most of the recurring cast from the first and second seasons was dropped in the third season with the introduction of Ann Meara as Sally Gallagher, a divorced woman brought in to guide Rhoda through her own divorce. Unfortunately, audiences found Meara's character obnoxious and unlikable, which led to her being dropped at the end of the season.
- #018
It was the first series and sitcom to star a Jewish character. (Other shows had implied it, but Rhoda made it explicit. And the series was named after her — all firsts.)
- #019
In 1974 Joan Rivers appeared on the Carol Burnett show, where they did a Rhoda spoof. Rivers played Rhoda; who is the Jewish American icon of television history? Ironically, Joan is Jewish but Valerie Harper is not.
- #020
Because the show's creators could not settle on a fixed direction for the series, none of its recurring cast members lasted the entire run, with the exception of Lorenzo Music as Carlton the Doorman.
- #021
Valerie Harper was the only actor to appear in every episode of Rhoda.
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