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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 404121" data-attributes="member: 5079">Georgette&#039;s inclusion in the cast originally had an ulterior motive to humanize Ted.&nbsp; Ted Knight had been increasingly resentful about playing the buffoonish Ted Baxter and pushed the producers to add depth to the character.&nbsp; I&#039;m not sure why his first on screen girlfriend, Chuckle&#039;s daughter, fizzled.&nbsp; The episode ended with the two still together, but she was never seen again; not even in a later episode famously about Chuckles.&nbsp; (The actress turns up again, but playing a different character.)&nbsp; I find Georgette mildly irksome in her earliest episodes, but she toned down her ditzy performance eventually.I thought Nanette was particularly well cast.&nbsp; She was one of Mary&#039;s comedic inspirations and looked like she could have been Mary&#039;s mother.&nbsp; Odd that the character ws never seen again.I wouldn&#039;t go so far as to discourage you, but would suggest you go in with very low expectations.&nbsp; RHODA isn&#039;t necessarily a bad show, but it&#039;s not good either.&nbsp; It never found its identity or its focus.&nbsp; Even Rhoda herself lost much of the spark from MTM.I said earlier in the thread that MTM&#039;s handling of &#039;issues&#039; was more subtle than on Norman Lear&#039;s concurrent shows, but I think a better description is matter-of-fact.&nbsp; Rhoda being Jewish, Gordy being Black, Phyllis&#039; brother being gay, Mary being sexually active and on the pill -- these things simply were.&nbsp; On Lear&#039;s shows these would have been hot topics for the principals to argue over, but on MTM they just existed.&quot;As Mary Tyler Moore goes, so goes America&quot; -- Arthur Harmon on MAUDE, expressing his dismay over Mary being on the pill.Somehow it seems appropriate that a Norman Lear sitcom commented on the cultural impact of MTM, and that MTM never felt the need to reciprocate.&nbsp;&nbsp; The aforementioned book has a chapter exploring MTM&#039;s societal impact in the 70s and comparisons to Lear&#039;s shows.&nbsp; While MTM and AITF broke ground, in very different ways, in the same year, the author focused on the comparisons between MTM and MAUDE.&nbsp; Calling the two shows &quot;sisters in TV feminism&quot;, she also notes that Maude was the anti-Mary Richards: middle aged, married, non-working, and aggressive in her politics.&nbsp; The two shows even shared some female writers, but felt no need to match MAUDE&#039;s more strident approach to issues.One of MTM&#039;s few message episodes, the previously discussed &quot;Some of My Best Friends are Rhoda&quot;, was not well liked by the show&#039;s creators.&nbsp; Allan Burns, the co-creator and writer, called the episode &quot;a little preachy&quot; and &quot;not our MO&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp; They would deliberately avoid any further episodes that trod into Norman Lear territory.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 404121, member: 5079"] Georgette's inclusion in the cast originally had an ulterior motive to humanize Ted. Ted Knight had been increasingly resentful about playing the buffoonish Ted Baxter and pushed the producers to add depth to the character. I'm not sure why his first on screen girlfriend, Chuckle's daughter, fizzled. The episode ended with the two still together, but she was never seen again; not even in a later episode famously about Chuckles. (The actress turns up again, but playing a different character.) I find Georgette mildly irksome in her earliest episodes, but she toned down her ditzy performance eventually. I thought Nanette was particularly well cast. She was one of Mary's comedic inspirations and looked like she could have been Mary's mother. Odd that the character ws never seen again. I wouldn't go so far as to discourage you, but would suggest you go in with very low expectations. RHODA isn't necessarily a bad show, but it's not good either. It never found its identity or its focus. Even Rhoda herself lost much of the spark from MTM. I said earlier in the thread that MTM's handling of 'issues' was more subtle than on Norman Lear's concurrent shows, but I think a better description is matter-of-fact. Rhoda being Jewish, Gordy being Black, Phyllis' brother being gay, Mary being sexually active and on the pill -- these things simply [I]were[/I]. On Lear's shows these would have been hot topics for the principals to argue over, but on MTM they just existed. [I]"As Mary Tyler Moore goes, so goes America" [/I] -- Arthur Harmon on MAUDE, expressing his dismay over Mary being on the pill. Somehow it seems appropriate that a Norman Lear sitcom commented on the cultural impact of MTM, and that MTM never felt the need to reciprocate. The aforementioned book has a chapter exploring MTM's societal impact in the 70s and comparisons to Lear's shows. While MTM and AITF broke ground, in very different ways, in the same year, the author focused on the comparisons between MTM and MAUDE. Calling the two shows "sisters in TV feminism", she also notes that Maude was the anti-Mary Richards: middle aged, married, non-working, and aggressive in her politics. The two shows even shared some female writers, but felt no need to match MAUDE's more strident approach to issues. One of MTM's few message episodes, the previously discussed "Some of My Best Friends are Rhoda", was not well liked by the show's creators. Allan Burns, the co-creator and writer, called the episode "a little preachy" and "not our MO". They would deliberately avoid any further episodes that trod into Norman Lear territory. [/QUOTE]

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