Debuting in 1974 (it ran for five years), Rhoda is an interesting reflection of its times. Harper’s character is a feminist ("Thank you, Ms. Magazine," she says when Brenda congratulates her for taking the initiative with Joe), but still old-fashioned enough to balk at moving in with a man before they’re married. Sexual revolution notwithstanding, references to sex are chaste and fleeting. And in this pre-PC era, the show is unabashedly, old-school ethnic, with its broad Bronx accents and Rhoda’s stereotypically hovering, meddling, hard-to-please Jewish mother (hilariously portrayed by Nancy Walker). But if it seems a little out of date, Rhoda makes up for that simply by being funny and likable; the hour-long "Rhoda’s Wedding," one of the highest-rated TV episodes of its time, is a riot, featuring Harper’s former Mary Tyler Moore mates (Moore, Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Georgia Engel, and the inspired Cloris Leachman) having an absolute field day. And let’s not forget show producer Lorenzo Music as the drunken Carlton the Doorman, never seen but often heard via intercom. The sole bonus item is a paltry reminiscence with Brooks and Burns but none of the actors. --Sam Graham
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