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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 417746" data-attributes="member: 23">RhodaSeason FiveMartin Doesn’t Live Here Anymore / In Search Of Martin / Rhoda vs. Ida / Brenda Gets Engaged / Meet The Goodwins / Ida’s Roommate / Martin Comes Home / Jack’s New Image / Martin Swallows His Heart / The Date In The Iron MaskAs predicted, the short season count goes in its favour. Season Five is a definite step up from the previous one in terms of watchability anyway and I suspect the season’s brevity is a factor in this as there’s less room for filler. Because of this, the changes for Season Five feel mostly like improvements. I really like the jazzy new arrangement of the theme with its abundant sax (with my only reservation being that it’s spliced onto the opening bars of the Season Four theme, which means the key changes slightly right after Valerie’s credit). The tone of the season overall is good enough. Ida’s increased presence means more of an emphasis on the family which is no bad thing, and Martin’s absence has become a plot point this year with him running off to Florida (and Ida telling her neighbours he’s in prison to avoid the disgrace of them knowing he’d willingly gone without her). There’s no sight or mention of Johnny Venture this year, which is a gift in itself. Gary hasn’t been missed as much as I’d feared and, while I’d have preferred the apparently-forgotten Ramone to be floating about the costume hire shop instead of silly one-joke Tina, at least her character has remained somewhat in check and without too much screen time. Even Valerie Harper’s tight perm is an improvement over the distractingly unflattering aesthetics of Season Four.Once again it seems the playlist doesn’t have the episodes in strict air order. The Total Brenda should have come after Jack’s New Image, but will instead be the next episode I’ll watch.The airdates have piqued my interest since the second half appears to have been shown quite sporadically, with a gap of four months between the ninth and tenth episodes. I can only guess that the new Saturday evening slot meant there were more occasional special events which interrupted regular programming, but… four months? It raises so many questions: Was Rhoda in trouble and pulled after the ninth, with the remaining episodes burning off after its mid-season replacement had run? Or was it always planned for some to be transmitted with a gap for some inexplicable reason? With just three episodes remaining, I’m curious to see how Rhoda wraps, even if I have a feeling the ending is going to be more Phyllis than Mary Tyler Moore. Yes. The changing tones can almost be summed up by the wildly different variations of the opening titles and the theme tune arrangement over just five seasons. Right up to the end, it feels they were still looking for  the right fit. Rhoda's the series that could have got away with this. Compared with MTM and Phyllis, it just feels more drab and kitchen sink to me (probably in large part due to the apartment sets leaning into murk a little more). New York is (probably)  more naturally gritty than Minneapolis or San Francisco, as well, so it's a natural fit.</blockquote>

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