It's anniversary time for Rhoda and Joe, but they are having difficulty in celebrating when they keep losing their tempers. Episode number: 2x4 Production Number: 5151 Airdate: Monday September 29th, 1975
Would have been great to see them have a solid marriage and kids. Dick Van Dyke show was wonderful with being happily married and parents of Richie. Enough already with flitting from one person to another, and making Rhoda's character the perpetual loser in love. 😖😢
The ratings for Rhoda in the first two seasons showed that we enjoyed seeing Rhoda married. The writers didn't anticipate them not wanting to see her separated and unhappy. Ratings plunged and never returned to where they were. I never realized why they had to be married so fast. If they had played out the dating portion of their relationship with marriage or a breakup in later seasons it would have been easier on the viewers. The show needed the "Joe" character as the reason for her to move back to NYC. If the powers that be, had mapped out the show better and not just married her off right away it had the potential to run a long time.
Martin... I totally agree with your comment. Once Joe and Rhoda separated I lost interest. I didn't enjoy the new characters they brought on board. It lost its magic. I think from reading other comments that many fans felt the same way. Looking back and watching now boy oh boy have times changed... Nothing politically correct about that episode! Best wishes to you and to all this holiday season. ⛄
@@nicolespiteri6273 thank you and back to you and your family. I have read the Fred Silverman told the producers to marry her off right away when the series started. He certainly was right about the wedding be a ratings winner. It's still holds the record of being one of the highest rated television episodes. That with little Ricky's birth, the Fugitive and Mash endings and who shot JR. But no thought was given to their happy marriage. And the 3rd season "separation" episode is still hard to watch. When Rhoda says to Joe about his leaving, "Don't do this to me." It's awful to see her desperation. Maybe it would have been easier on the audience if the season would have opened with them already separated.
@@nicolespiteri6273 I'm not sure it's about political correctness, as much as it is that the writers made Joe a total jerk. Were they planning his exit this far back?
Creepy Sonny would become only-slightly-less- creepy Gary Levy. He would evolve over time from sleazy, to being a good friend to Rhoda and Brenda Both guys played by the talented actor, Ron Silver.
@@RepentfollowJesus Yes, and in a much nicer role - he was a womanizer, but after he met Brenda I think he backed off of that. I was always sorry they didn't get together (much.) Instead, the writers foolishly had her get married to Benny, who was a complete lamebrain.
lol damn after going thru The Golden Girls and automatically eating whenever they ate cheesecake, now these two :) Thanks for uploading! You are too nice.
I love how real these episodes can get. Some men really don't understand where you're coming from until something similar happens to them. I've dated a many Joes, never married one tho lol
I just loved the show. I wish it would have ended better. Rhoda and Joe ending up in a divorce 😢. Why couldn't it end up better. R I P Rhoda I miss you very much 💔. You are such a beautiful woman. God has his angel 😇back in heaven. You will always be in my heart ❤. I miss you very much. 😥😥😢😢😭😭☹☹😪😪
@@lisapratt166 You folks must spend all your free time looking for videos, no matter how irrelevant, where you can foist your "Not like the Good Ole Days" trope onto the public. We get it...you never want to evolve. Fair enough?
i was about 4 years old when this show happened. I was more mature than these characters on it. If someone hits on you and you are with your husband - you say thank you for the compliment and I am married and then move along. If your husband sees it they act mature, sure they can be jealous but they would not fight, heck some of the men would like that because it tells the world that your wife is beautiful.
ya. Why didt she just say my husband is coming its our annerversary Second. Joe didnt eve. see or hear anything. just the guy walking away and a big guy too
I do find it interesting the way she hates being hit on. I like the attention, especially now that I'm married, knowing that people still find me attractive. Lol
@@davidreed7496 He was a creep back then and has not improved with this re-watch. He yelled at Rhoda's best friend Mary Tyler Moore at their first meeting. His character went downhill from there, in my opinion.
I think one of the problems is that the couple start rowing early in their marriage, so it doesn't look good. Of course couples row and its possilbe to have them fighting in a sit com and keep it funny.. but they seem to be already blazing at each other, so audiences problaby felt nervous that they were ready to break up.. and it was tense to watch rather than funny
Exactly I watched this from a 11 year child's experience and thought why they couldn't they be together now the woman wonders why they stayed together for this time . In marriage therapy he said he only reason he married her was because she forced him. Really Joe?
I appreciated reading all three of these comments. I've been watching this series and MTM on RU-vid this month while sick and all the commenters just adore Joe and pine over the marriage ending. I personally just wish the Joe character fell off a high cliff on the honeymoon, that would provide years and years of great storylines for Rhoda.
"Mucho, Macho" is the 4th episode of Season 2 of Rhoda. Written by Coleman Mitchell and Geoffrey Neigher, and directed by Robert Moore. It originally aired on CBS in the United States on September 29, 1975. Ron Silver makes his "Rhoda" debut in this episode, playing Sonny Michaels. He did not want to join the cast as Gary Levy until Season 3 (1976-1977).
That was a really great episode - I really enjoyed that one. Rhoda is so funny but also so fair. Realized that I don’t like the Joe character now I’m a middle aged adult watching this and not a kid like way back when and didn’t have life experiences to gauge jerky behaviours by. I love when her and her sister go to commiserate over frozen brownies and she pauses and tosses a full tray over to Brenda. That was classic and something I would do. And I love love love her clothes. The bell bottom jeans look so comfy. I remember have a pair of bell bottom pants with Eiffel Tower motifs embroidered on the hem and there’s a photo of me at the top of the CN tower the first year it opened wearing them. I got a pair of wide leg jeans last year and they are so nice to wear with my classy black cashmere sweater. I’ll pretend I’m Rhoda next time I wear that outfit. I miss Valerie Harper - what a lady!
Even back when the series first aired I thought that they broadcast the separation too quickly after the marriage by making Joe into a Jekyll/Hyde rather than easing into it. Maybe they were trying to avoid the “couple getting together” curse but it just felt rushed
There was an episode on the Jeffersons when the Willises brought those same swords to the Jefferson's house so they could work out their frustrations. Funny
Interesting how they brought Ron Silver back the next season as a completely different character. Looking back, Joe was such an angry character. I wonder if he was written that way intentionally, or if they went with the actor.
PavedParadise typical guy thinks he should handle everything! Seriously, as a woman, I have been single longer than I have been married and I have taken care of crapbags like Mr. Clamdip for a very long time! Keys in the dip, what a classic move!😂😂😂😂😂😂
I think they intentionally wrote the entire marriage to Joe arc on the series to get Rhoda to be ultimately divorced. It was written during the absolute peak of women's lib and I imagine they wanted to break ground with a divorced female lead character in a tv sitcom. Divorce and being a working woman were totally new at the time in such broad numbers and I think they wanted to both reflect and be a clarion for what was happening in the culture at large.
@@shelleynobleart Interesting theory! That was not how it was marketed at the time, nor in the late Valerie Harper’s recollections. She gave several interviews in the 1990s and 2000s saying that the writers were ahead of their time and were trying to write realistically for a marriage, à la “Mad About You” but there wasn’t support for it.
I believe so - since she should have been happy that at least he protected her honor while I had a husband that allowed a man to touch my backside and that really upset me worse yet I was pregnant? If I were Rhoda I would have thanked him for being her husband and being her man! However, the end of the relationship was coming to an end.
@@angelacarleton9575women can usually settle these things much better without letting their husband possibly be killed in a fight. It was handled. Joe had too big of an ego. The guy never touched her nor got openly vulgar.
''You know, you guys keep trying to celebrate your anniversary and you're gonna wreck your marriage!'' hahahaha I love his speech about how he's honest with people about being black. ''I could walk around pretending I was white.. and I might fool a few people!'' ROFL
Hey does anyone remember Scoey from that Taxi episode when he holds up Bobby in his cab and they have an all night stand-off in the cab? One of the best Taxi episodes ever. I know Scoey's voice anywhere.
Joe was such a hothead - who had a weakness for sleazy women (like his first wife Marian!) I think he was better off with them than with an amazing, wonderful woman like Rhoda whom he did NOT deserve. Sadly, this all was just a way to slowly bring their marriage to a close. Rhoda was just not as good married. She thrived as a hip, single woman just like Mary Richards. BUT...eventually they did have good marriages that produced daughters, although we wouldn't learn about whatever happened to them for another 22 years after "Rhoda" ended!
I think it was a mistake to depress the show by Joe having financial problems. Not entertaining. Then they made the next mistake by their divorce. The show could have been great but was all wrong. Great cast should have had scripts as great as they were.
The thing is, they dated so briefly before they married.They barely knew each other. Joe should have told Rhoda he never wanted to marry again. Rhoda gets pissed over minor things...she should have just let it go, concerning Joe's behavior.
Actually, the producers decided to end the marriage because they thought it would make the show better. There were a lot of shows appearing at this time about divorce - "One Day at a Time," "Alice," and "Gloria" that they thought it would be more topical. Years later, they realized it did not improve the show. Actually, their marriage also dealt with contemporary issues and they had real chemistry.
@@Flojoe6274 The writers were covering for their lack of talent. They rushed Rhoda into marriage for quick ratings and then painted the charactor into a corner She was in nyc. that could have been very exciting..but they pinned her down with this grumpy dude with.no money and a young ex wife Lol. But Look at the Honeymooners or I Love Lucy. Now those married couple shows are funny. the writers were brilliant
@@shaharazon2449 I think they were afraid to let Rhoda be too much like Mary Tyler Moore being another single woman, so they married her off very early in the show. Correct nyc held possibilities
That was the real beginning of the end for Rhoda and Joe, especially in retrospect. He was totally wrong for her. She just wanted a man and he was a sexy piece, if you liked that type.
He was Aries she was Leo both fiery perfect match you just had to hear him say Rhoda. They should have worked from them two. They got it wrong. Joe was the security she needed.
Ya she liked his looks at first. he had zero charm. barging in and using the phone. not really noticing Rhoda. and then her hitting on him ..he never romanced her or chased. Then when Rhoda gets another week in ny. he is mean to her .He shoukd have said. oh im so sorry. . well figure our a way even if i have to come see you Thank you for changing your plans. i am so flattered I mean he shoulda been excited this woman likes him so much that she took a week off of work. but it goes wirh her charactor that shes a bit of a pleaser with men and has hidden low self esteem at times. like the sister Picking a man like that is part of the syndrome and the writers know that
why do they do that in shows where a person who made a guest appearance like Ron Silver he plays Sonny in this episode and then later joined the show as Gary.. like do they think we wouldn't notice that, same with on Roseanne who played David he was in an episode before he became David Marks brother, he was Kevin Mark's brother.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz used actors the same way, making several appearances as different characters over the years, even in Lucy's later shows, the old actors returned many times in different roles.
LG cosby show did it with the guy that Denise married,,he first came as a date for Saundra years before,,,, Dewayne Wayne was a friend of Theo's in the Shirt episode before Different World
the mary tyler moore show made you happy no matter what !!! The rhoda series causes you anxiety no matter what !! this is way way way to much drama and screaming -packed in "comedy" for people to actually enjoy it ....A alkoholic Doorman a bitter unhappy Rhoda a overbearing mother a sweet Brenda who only dates garbage unsuccssesful jobs .money problems , a ( with exceptions) very disturbing cast...(benny , nick lobo...) what were they thinking ...that show should have been canceled much sooner than it was
I LIKED Rhoda. I THOUGHT THEY MADE A CUTE COUPLE . THEY FDID AT FIRST &THEN THEY DIDN'T WHEN HE USED THE WARDS POSSESSIVE & GUILTY & MANLITIVE IN A SRNTENCR DURING AN EARLIER EPISODE. AND NOW HIS QUICK TO ANGER SHOWS UP HERE.
Rhoda chose a Stanley Kowalski type for a mate. Granted, Joe isn't low class and slovenly like the Streetcar character, but he's in that category. Sexy doesn't always equal suitable or multi-faceted. The character of Joe might be good for a summer fling, but not a life partner. Plus, he is too one dimensional. The writers seemed to make him about as interesting as nursing home food. On the positive side: I've been enjoying these RU-vid episodes recently; have not seen these since Nick at Nite reruns (oops, showing my age there, LOL).
