Weddings may make for great ratings, but how do you keep the audience engaged afterwards? Our guest blogger, curatorial assistant James Sheridan, addresses the issue in a look back at the highs and lows of Rhoda:

It was 30 years ago last month that the popular sitcom Rhoda left primetime television. The series, a spin-off of Mary Tyler Moore, had the distinction of being the first television program to debut at number one for the week in the Nielsen ratings. However, it is now known for being one of only two television programs to ever be ranked first in the weekly ratings and later in last place. Coincidently, the only other program to achieve this distinction was another spin-off from Mary Tyler Moore, Lou Grant.

Rhoda Morgenstern began as Mary Richard's upstairs neighbor, an overweight, self-deprecating New Yorker looking for a husband. However, by the third season, Rhoda had lost twenty pounds, was going out on lots of dates (even though they were mostly losers), and was more self confident. The producers of Mary Tyler Moore later claimed they knew from the first episode that they would one day do a spin-off series centered on Rhoda. In 1974, Valerie Harper left the popular show and began work on her own new situation comedy, once again playing Rhoda, the role that had won her three consecutive Emmy Awards on the previous series. In the first episode of the new show, Rhoda, on a trip back to her hometown of New York, meets recently divorced Joe Gerard. Rhoda and Joe begin dating and Rhoda, now in love, eventually decides not to return to Minneapolis. The series premiere, which aired on September 9, 1974, was the highest rated show of the week in the Nielsen ratings. At the time, TV Guide and The New York Times described Rhoda as the most immediately successful spin off in the history of television.

Nancy Walker and Harold Gould, who had previously appeared on Mary Tyler Moore as Rhoda's parents, were also on the new series. Julie Kavner had auditioned for a bit part in an episode of Mary Tyler Moore in 1973, but did not get the job. However, Kavner was not forgotten by the show's producers when it was time to cast Rhoda's sister on the spin off. Kavner was working as a typist at UCLA when she was selected for the role of Brenda Morgenstern. Brenda was briefly mentioned on Mary Tyler Moore, along with a Morgenstern brother named Arnold. In one episode, Rhoda and Mary go to New York for the wedding of Rhoda's younger sister, Debbie. No reference to Brenda was made in the episode. In turn, Debbie and Arnold were never mentioned on Rhoda. David Groh beat out 150 other actors, including Harper's then-husband Richard Schaal, for the role of Joe. Groh was chosen the day before rehearsals were set to begin. In the beginning of the first season, Rhoda and Joe soon get engaged and in the eighth episode, which first aired on October 28, 1974, Rhoda finally gets married. Rhoda's wedding became the television event of the 1974-1975 season.

Rhoda's friends from Minneapolis, Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore), Lou Grant (Ed Asner), Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod), Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel), and Rhoda's usual adversary, Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman), appeared in the hour-long episode. Two days before "The Wedding" on Rhoda, the subplot of the Mary Tyler Moore episode "The New Sue Ann" featured Mary preparing for Rhoda's wedding. The final scene involved Lou and Murray about to take Mary to the airport. "The Wedding" reveals to the audience that Mary's plane was delayed, so Murray and Lou, who had a bit too much to drink at the airport bar, decided to fly to New York with Mary to attend Rhoda's wedding. "The Wedding" also features Mary and Rhoda reminiscing about some of their most disastrous dates, with clips from Mary Tyler Moore shown. The episode was one of the most publicized in television history, with Valerie Harper and Mary Tyler Moore appearing on the cover of Time magazine the week "The Wedding" aired. After seeing Rhoda constantly search of a husband for four years, about 50 million viewers tuned in to see her finally get married.

At the end of the first season, Rhoda was number six in the Nielsen ratings, higher than Mary Tyler Moore ever was. Valerie Harper also won her fourth Emmy Award for playing Rhoda Morgenstern, this time in the Lead Actress category. The show ended its second season in eighth place, with Cloris Leachman's spin off series Phyllis, which featured Harper's husband Richard Schaal, taking sixth place. Even though the series was still a major hit with viewers, the writers were unhappy, claiming they had great difficulty thinking of humorous plotlines for a happily married Rhoda. The writers thought that they were putting too much focus on Brenda, who, like Rhoda in the early days of Mary Tyler Moore, was overweight, insecure, and looking for a husband. Writer/producer Charlotte Brown said in the December 11, 1976 issue of TV Guide, "Everything was so nice for our Rhoda. She had no vulnerability; she wasn't the underdog anymore." Brown and the other executives believed they made a major mistake by marrying Rhoda off so soon. The writers came up with a surprising solution to their problem: at the beginning of the third season, Rhoda and Joe would separate. This decision was met with mixed response from viewers; however, Valerie Harper and David Groh liked the plotline and thought it gave their characters more depth. Joe was subtly phased out from the series and, by the start of the fourth season, Rhoda and Joe had divorced. Although it was not planned for Rhoda and Joe to split up at the time, in their marriage vows Rhoda and Joe make the unusual promise to stay married "as long you both shall love." The series' ratings were never as stable after the separation and Rhoda was cancelled midway through its fifth season after reportedly falling to the bottom of the Nielsen ratings. Despite what later happened to the characters of Rhoda and Joe, "The Wedding" remains one of the most watched—and funniest—episodes in sitcom history.

—James Sheridan, Curatorial Assistant