'Rhoda's Sister Gets Married' was actually the 'backdoor episode' for 'Rhoda'

[Durwood]

Some interesting trivia I came across on social media this week I'd like to share (there seems to be a lot of truth to this, comparing it to what Harper had said over the years about her getting her own series...)

At the end of the third season of TMTMS, the network was paying close attention to Harper, and the audience's reaction to her / her character. They were considering giving her a spin-off series, and wanted to try and see if audiences would be interested in her and her family back home in NYC. They told the producers to create a 'backdoor episode' on TMTMS centered around Harper, and see if she could carry the show. Except for the writer of the episode, the producer and MTM, no one else knew the reason behind the episode - not even Harper herself. Production began on the episode in the summer of 1973, for the fourth season. No one knew the true significance of the episode, believing it was just another episode written for the beginning of the fourth season.

Karyl Geld wrote the episode in which Rhoda's younger sister 'Debbie' was getting married, and Rhoda asks Mary to come with her to NYC as her guest to the wedding. The two friends put up with Rhoda's 'over-bearing' family for the weekend, including Rhoda's parents Ida and Martin, as well as her Aunt Rose (played by Brett Somers). The episode aired as the third episode of the fourth season (Sept 29, 1973) and was a hit with the audience, as it brought in solid ratings. The network wanted to proceed with the spin-off for Harper, and started putting the concept together: 'Rhoda' moves back to Manhattan surrounded by her family, though brother 'Arnold' was no longer mentioned. Liberty Williams, who played 21 year old 'Debbie' was actually 40 (older than Moore and Harper). It was decided to drop Williams, and replace her with a younger actress in the series more age-appropriate as Rhoda's younger sister, and rename her 'Brenda'. Brett Somers ('Aunt Rose') was also dropped from the proposed series (she was mentioned a few times during the series' five year run, but never seen).

As Harper recalled later in interviews, she was not told about this developing project until January, 1974 - months after the episode aired and the spin-off was taking shape. At first, she was reluctant to say 'yes', as she loved the job she had, surrounded by a cast she adored. She didn't want to take a chance headlining her own show, and was worried what would happen if it tanked in the ratings. MTM took her aside, and assured her if her show flopped she could move 'back to Minneapolis' to TMTMS. She still wasn't convinced it was worth taking the chance.

Then one day, actress Nancy Walker (Ida) invited her to dinner and told her if she passed on this opportunity to star in her own sitcom, she'd never get an offer again. She'd always be offered 'second-banana' characters even though she was now seen as a leading actress who could carry her own sitcom series. Harper decided at that meeting with Walker that she'd take the offer for her own spin-off. The rest is sitcom history.

[stevea]

Fascinating. Glad they ended up with Julie Kavner.

[CJMD03]

I didn’t care for that episode. Glad changes were made, though “Rhoda” crashed and burned badly, though, in the final two seasons.