Trivia / Rhoda

• Creator Backlash: This was the crux of Rhoda's problems. The writers hated having to write a happily married Rhoda, despite audiences seeming to eat it up. Rather than attempting to rise to the challenge of writing a successful marriage and make that funny or interesting (which is curious, as the show's co-creators also created The Bob Newhart Show, with the example of Bob and Emily Hartley), they decided to dissolve the marriage to turn Rhoda back into the kind of character they wanted to write once again. They were able to wring a lot of storylines out of their failing marriage, but audiences hated it and ratings collapsed. The show went from a Top 10 berth in its first two seasons (when Rhoda and Joe were happily married) to falling out of the Top 30 thereafter, barely limping to a fifth season before cancellation. Critical reviews have praised the writers for their audacity (see for example this A.V. Club write-up), but the fact remains that they were rebelling against what audiences wanted to see.
• The Danza:
  • Louise Latham as Louise Shattner in "The Lady in Red".
  • Linda Lavin as Linda Monroe in "The Shower".
  • Denise Nicholas as Denise Culp in "The Party".
• Descended Creator: Lorenzo Music, who developed and ran the show with his writing partner David Davis, found a new career as a voice actor after lending his voice to Carlton the Doorman.
• Edited for Syndication: In the pilot, a Cold Open that featured Mary seeing Rhoda off at the airport is missing in reruns.
• The Merch: Lorenzo Music recorded a song named "Who Is It?" in character as Carlton.
• Throw It In!: Co-Producer Lorenzo Music was reading Carlton's lines while actors were tested for other parts interacting with the doorman when it was decided he was the perfect Carlton.
• What Could Have Been: There was almost another Spin-Off in the form of Carlton Your Doorman, which finally gave a face to Carlton... in animated form. MTM's only full cartoon (The Duck Factory was part live-action and part animation), it never made it past the pilot, which aired as a one-off special in 1980.