As a fan of TMTMS it is harder to watch the later seasons without Rhoda in them. Granted, it is still a great show, just different. My question is, as a fan, do you wish she would've stayed in Minnesota or were you content with the spinoff?

I prefer Rhoda to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So I'm glad she left Mary when she did.

I loved Rhoda,my fav era being the first three seasons,the last two were

weak,storyline wise.

I loved the cross over from MTMS and Rhoda,I think MTMS was still good

without Rhoda,the presence of Betty White certainly did help,as without her

and Georgette, the show would have been then,too male dominated.

I thought that Rhoda got off to a good start, especially the wedding episode. But as the seasons went on, it became less and less interesting. when Rhoda and Joe divorced, the shark began to jump and it jumped to a major decline.

^ Agreed. The show became a complete mess.

I liked Rhoda better on TMTMS because her character was more clearly defined. As others have stated, she really became the "Mary" on Rhoda while Brenda became the "Rhoda" and that just seemed kind of repetitive.

I did like the spinoff, however. Was it worth it, ultimately? Maybe. Her departure did hurt TMTMS, but not fatally. And the first few years of Rhoda were good. But I do have to wonder how much BETTER TMTMS could have been the last three years if she had stayed. And I would have loved to have seen a kind of competition for Lou's attention between Rhoda and Sue Ann (though ultimately Ro and Lou were just friends). Rhoda could have put Sue Ann in her place!

I am glad that the spin off happened. It was a good thing to have even more of Rhoda. The show did kind of get off course after the divorce. It's interesting, I wonder what lead exactly to the shift of the quality of the scripts/production etc.? Still Rhoda is one of my all time favorite shows.

In my opinion Nancy Walker carried the show. When she wasn't around, the show suffered.

Rhoda failed one way, for not building a supporting cast right from the beginning. They went through so many trial characters, Myrna, Susie, Joe's co-workers, Sally Gallagher, Johnny Venture, Joe Lobo, etc. who all just disappeared with no explanation.

No Consistancy! What happened to brother Arnold, sister Debbie, whose wedding happened on TMTMS, Aunt Rose, Grandmother Morgenstern??? They all could have been re-occuring characters.

Also Myrna and Susie were good enough friends to be at Rhoda's bridal shower, yet where were they at the wedding??

Why didn't they have Rhoda and Brenda living closer to their parents instead of across town? Then it would have been more believable for Ida to "drop by" on a daily basis.

But if your asking me if I wish Rhoda became a series or not, I'm glad it did. At least the first year was good!

I liked Rhoda better on TMTMS because her character was more clearly defined. As others have stated, she really became the "Mary" on Rhoda while Brenda became the "Rhoda" and that just seemed kind of repetitive.

I did like the spinoff, however. Was it worth it, ultimately? Maybe. Her departure did hurt TMTMS, but not fatally. And the first few years of Rhoda were good. But I do have to wonder how much BETTER TMTMS could have been the last three years if she had stayed. And I would have loved to have seen a kind of competition for Lou's attention between Rhoda and Sue Ann (though ultimately Ro and Lou were just friends). Rhoda could have put Sue Ann in her place!

Very well said!!! I also would've like to see Rhoda and Sue Ann butt heads, since by then Phyllis was in San Francisco.

I was a sort of casual fan of TMTMS growing up (first-run episodes), but by the time I was most interested and watching every Saturday, Valerie had already left.

So my memories of Mary's series are mainly of the other characters, especially the newsroom cast. Valerie's departure didn't hit me hard at all. The newsroom group, in my opinion, was what separated the MTM series from several other single-woman shows that focused on dating.

I wish she had stayed on MTM because that would likely have meant less of Georgette and perhaps Sue Ann, two characters who were used too much.
Rhoda was a show I only watched for a short while, but I know that show has its fans as well. I liked Harper as Rhoda, but never really warmed much to her own show.

I liked her on TMTMS, and missed her being on the show. I did watch Rhoda because I liked the character. The Barones from ELR remind me of the Morgensterns. Rhoda is Ray, Brenda is Robert, and the mothers are both pushy and meddlesome.