This 70s series was way ahead of its time, with its braless heroine dating, divorcing and setting up her own business
It may have been made four decades ago, but this show – with its braless, spunky heroine dating, divorcing and setting up her own business – was way ahead of its time. The writing, particularly the girl talk, is so sharp and true, sometimes it feels like only the lapels have dated. "Ma," says Rhoda's sister Brenda in Chest Pains, the very first episode, "my secret is about sex.""Brenda," their mother Ida calmly responds, "all of our secrets are about sex."
The series, a spin-off from the Mary Tyler Moore Show which it went on to eclipse, starts with Rhoda, played by Valerie Harper, showing up at her sister's apartment in New York. She's visiting from Minneapolis but ends up staying. Over the course of five seasons, Rhoda meets, dates and marries a man, launches her own window-dressing company, and cements herself as both a pop culture and feminist icon. Not bad for a character who was once merely known as Mary Tyler Moore's best friend.
Instead of navigating the murky waters of the dating world, though, Rhoda plunges quickly into wedded bliss, leaving Brenda to wade through a sea of questionable beaux (including her first cousin and his infamous foot fetish). Women's lib was gaining momentum and Rhoda captured the changing times perfectly. Not only does Ida greet Rhoda in the pilot with a comment about her lack of bra, the show also tackles issues such as split finances (Rhoda gives $2,000 of her "own" money to her husband Joe to save his failing business), changing your surname (Rhoda keeps hers for work) and divorce (the couple seek counselling – although the eventual split doesn't exactly come as a surprise, given that their wedding vows were: "As long as we both shall love").
Sadly, the series didn't always sustain the playfulness of its first two seasons, particularly when Joe reveals, in season three, that he never actually wanted to marry Rhoda in the first place. However, while its ratings did drop as the 70s progressed, its plot developments were still quite telling. Not only was Rhoda one of the only female divorcees on TV, her mother and father also separated. This was a nice touch: the show seemed to be saying that women of all ages, not just young ones like Rhoda and Brenda, no longer had to be just somebody's wife.
Rhoda may not have ended with a bang (it was unceremoniously cancelled in December 1978), but its ability to address social themes through humour and loveable characters still stands as an example to sitcom-writers today. Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and, in March this year, said she'd been given three months to live. So there has never been a better time to revisit Rhoda, the series that proved that all you need to get through life's ups and downs is a sense of humour, a bit of hard work – and a fabulous collection of scarves. Reported by guardian.co.uk 20 hours ago.
It may have been made four decades ago, but this show – with its braless, spunky heroine dating, divorcing and setting up her own business – was way ahead of its time. The writing, particularly the girl talk, is so sharp and true, sometimes it feels like only the lapels have dated. "Ma," says Rhoda's sister Brenda in Chest Pains, the very first episode, "my secret is about sex.""Brenda," their mother Ida calmly responds, "all of our secrets are about sex."
The series, a spin-off from the Mary Tyler Moore Show which it went on to eclipse, starts with Rhoda, played by Valerie Harper, showing up at her sister's apartment in New York. She's visiting from Minneapolis but ends up staying. Over the course of five seasons, Rhoda meets, dates and marries a man, launches her own window-dressing company, and cements herself as both a pop culture and feminist icon. Not bad for a character who was once merely known as Mary Tyler Moore's best friend.
Instead of navigating the murky waters of the dating world, though, Rhoda plunges quickly into wedded bliss, leaving Brenda to wade through a sea of questionable beaux (including her first cousin and his infamous foot fetish). Women's lib was gaining momentum and Rhoda captured the changing times perfectly. Not only does Ida greet Rhoda in the pilot with a comment about her lack of bra, the show also tackles issues such as split finances (Rhoda gives $2,000 of her "own" money to her husband Joe to save his failing business), changing your surname (Rhoda keeps hers for work) and divorce (the couple seek counselling – although the eventual split doesn't exactly come as a surprise, given that their wedding vows were: "As long as we both shall love").
Sadly, the series didn't always sustain the playfulness of its first two seasons, particularly when Joe reveals, in season three, that he never actually wanted to marry Rhoda in the first place. However, while its ratings did drop as the 70s progressed, its plot developments were still quite telling. Not only was Rhoda one of the only female divorcees on TV, her mother and father also separated. This was a nice touch: the show seemed to be saying that women of all ages, not just young ones like Rhoda and Brenda, no longer had to be just somebody's wife.
Rhoda may not have ended with a bang (it was unceremoniously cancelled in December 1978), but its ability to address social themes through humour and loveable characters still stands as an example to sitcom-writers today. Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and, in March this year, said she'd been given three months to live. So there has never been a better time to revisit Rhoda, the series that proved that all you need to get through life's ups and downs is a sense of humour, a bit of hard work – and a fabulous collection of scarves. Reported by guardian.co.uk 20 hours ago.