Rhoda - S01E17 - Whattaya Think It's There For

At Ida's insistence, Rhoda talks Joe into asking her father for the money he needs to save his business, but then is surprised to learn things about her dad's financial state that are news to even her mother.
Air Date: January 6, 1975

[@StrongnBeautiful]

Man oh man. The things we could learn from our grandparents. Thank God for our WISE elders who SHOW US the way.

[@mimosasmagnolias7206]

So wonderful to go back in time to my childhood ~ makes me laugh & cry ~ I guess its a little bittersweet... so when the world today makes me frown ~ all it takes is Rhoda or Ida to make me smile and and find my joy!!! ;)

[@Mar-iy8il]

So true!! I love how family helps family in this episode. Just adore Rhoda.

[@MrMenefrego1]

awww

[@JasonMovieGuy]

Nancy Walker's best performance - true genius in every sense. Her final scene is comic gold.

[@Kate-fi8oh]

JasonMovieGuy - did she die right after this?

[@lorraineb.4698]

@@Kate-fi8ohNo

[@shelleynobleart]

The electric blanket temp setting moment between Ida and Martin was so marvelous.

[@QueenAmethyst55]

Love, love, love the episodes that Ida is in! She's absolutely brilliant. Loved her in Murder by Death too. ❤️

[@paintedbird]

Ida is THE all-time MASTER of guilt. Love this show!

[@yolandagrady7232]

paintedbird This show is 1 of my favorites. Don't mess with Ida!

[@Hunnie_B]

Totally!

[@RepentfollowJesus]

I had parents that made her look like the least guilt giver ever. They have been gone for 2 and 3 decades and I still feel guilty. Ida is a peach. Narcissists. One worse than the other.

[@Dr.JudeAEMasonMD]

Incredible. Back when a season was a proper 24 episodes.

[@Vejur9000]

Ida was a force of nature. An all-time great TV mom.

[@rebeccahopkins9522]

COMIC GOLD. Ida is the antithesis of the guilt tripping, yenta Jewish mother, but also the one you can always count on and who loves you to pieces. Believe me, I know from experience 🤣 God this show was so deftly written and acted with prowess and expert comic timing by all these ladies, but especially between Rhoda and her Mom Ida. I wasn’t even born yet when this episode originally aired. But as a kid I would sometimes catch the re-runs of this show and the MTM show👍 Such a joy to find and watch this show on here. Also watching it now as a grown up, there are so many more nuanced references I get now that I didn’t get then, and they have a much deeper meaning. And this show, miraculously, is still FUNNY, even after all these years. And I have a huge appreciation for just how good these ladies were. RIP dear, sweat Valerie Harper. What a talent. What a beauty. What a a real life fighter and survivor. You will forever be in my heart, you will forever be Rhoda to me❤️

[@nickpelz4373]

We're yentas as Jewish when you were around? I'm not Jewish just curious.

[@emandawatts06]

Ladies pay attention to what Ida said about putting something up for a rainy day.

[@Mar-iy8il]

YES!! So true. Always keep a little money just for yourself.

[@michaelmitchell5098]

...and not just money...a little piece of your heart😉

[@thesilentdiva]

Cuz I just started watching this and Lord knows Joe didn't have money

[@EFaulkner17]

Was Ida the best? Perfect casting! Love Nancy Walker - Genius!!!

[@juannunez5767]

Nancy Walker's comedic timing is great. Dat guilt trip. lol

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

She wasn't wrong though.

[@jodymann5993]

I really really miss watching these old shows a whole whole lot

[@leesas_classics1722]

Nancy Walker is brilliant in this episode.

[@christophermiller159]

Terrance Moss I Can't believe ida never got an Emmy!. That is a crime man

[@jan-margaret6970]

I thought Nancy Walker did receive 2-3 Emmys. Terrific actress & entertainer. 🇨🇦🌹🪶

[@meirwise1107]

RIP Nancy Walker, one of the greatest "Jewish" mothers of all time!

[@justsayin3390]

IN REAL LIFE, NANY WAKER AND VALERIE HARPER WERE NOT JEWISH, BUT JULIE WAS.

[@greatmusicfan57]

@@justsayin3390 On the Show Joe wasn't, but in real life is. Back then Italians played Jews and Jews played Italians on the screen. If a show was set in NYC, They sounded like New Yorkers as opposed to today when they sound like they are from Iowa:) I guess that's authentic though because many people in NYC ARE from Iowa!

[@randilevson9547]

Surprising to tell you that Nancy Walker, who played Ida Morgenstern, was not Jewish in real life. Neither was Valerie Harper. Big shock---get ready---David Groh (the gentile Joe Gerrard) was Jewish in real life. Did I blow your mind??

[@randilevson9547]

Does any actor's religion have anything to do with their acting skills, or the roles they choose to play. A ridiculous assumption.

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

Martin is a handsome Devil!

[@zulfiali9318]

My mother got me out of a few scrapes. Those who still have your parents and grandparents treasure them for once the are gone you will only then realise how much you missed them and thank God they were there for you.

[@CF1975]

Too bad Ida and Martin were not seen as much on the show anymore after the wedding, but I love Brenda. calalilygirl: I agree that Rhoda's character was somewhat different on her own show than om the MTM-show. I particularly miss the scenes between Rhoda and Phyllis.Phyllis was very annoying, but hilarious and the chemistry between her and Rhoda was great.

[@mthivier]

Not sure about Harold Gould, but Nancy Walker was also playing the housekeeper on “McMillan and Wife” at this time, and so she was probably appearing less because she was spreading herself between the two shows. During later seasons of “Rhoda”, she appeared much more often.

[@neenanorto3399]

I hate Phyllis.

[@glen7318]

@@mthivier I seem to remember that her father wasn't in the show much and that he had split up from her mother... so I assume that Har Gould had other commitments.. It was well before his time in the Golden Girls though

[@FigaroHey]

Seriously, does 'Ida' steal EVERY scene she's in? I loved her as Rhoda's mother in MTM and could not get enough of her in this series (Joe, I could do without - it would be so much better if Ida had more play, as well as Martin - they had great chemistry). The writers did so well by Nancy Walker, apart from not writing her more lines, though even when she's only being talked about, she still manages to walk away with the scene.

[@RuiOliveiraTV]

That final argument...WOW!!

[@givememore4free]

How did Rhoda get from the 9th floor to the 2nd so fast right after the phone call from her sister? Even if she took the elevator providing it was actually there it would still take time to get down all 7 floors to get to her sister's apartment. She was literally their 13 seconds after the call. And at the time they didn't have cell phones. I guess it is the magic of television there. As a matter of fact it took me longer to write this whole comment out then it was for Rhoda to actually come to her sister's apartment.

[@debrahelmlinger6256]

It's tv

[@ChucksCherubs]

"She's putting checks in my clothes." LOL!

[@hometohenry2011]

My mother still does that.

[@stanochocki8984]

The Check Scene and at 20:40 IS, one of the most priceless moments of TV Comedy History. Ida was the modern definitive Jewish Mother...

[@sherryhook9066]

The colour of Brenda's gown looks good on her. I love her cape also.

[@anissavespasiano5768]

Great show

[@randilevson9547]

A black rotary dial phone, with a curly cord, in Joe's office. Seems like a million years ago.

[@JasonMovieGuy]

Rhoda jumped the shark after season 2- when Rhoda and Joe split. But notice some similar characters as those to MTM: Rhoda was Mary Richards, Brenda became Rhoda, the guy Rhoda goes to work for in the final 2 seasons was very much a Lou Grant; in fact it was Rhoda's parents, Martin and Ida, that brought the show a little more originality. Even the two clowns that tried to be a Ted/Murray combo with Brenda dating a Ted, didn't work out very well. Still, Rhoda is a lot better then many TV shows today- and reminds us of a time when true storytelling was at it's highlight.

[@yolandagrady7232]

JasonMovieGuy I agree that Rhoda is a lot better than many current shows. I don't care for many of the shows that are on tv nowadays. I much prefer these older shows and am grateful we can watch them on KZbin.

[@FigaroHey]

You nailed that, but now go back a little further. The Mary Tyler Moore show was just the Dick van Dyke show reworked with slightly different characters: DVD worked on a TV show - Mary Richards worked on a TV show. Buddy Sorrell (wise-cracking co-worker) - Murray Slaughter Mel Cooley (incompetent stooge who earns more than he's worth) - Ted Baxter Sally (the great gal who is desperate for a date) - Rhoda Lou Grant (demanding boss) - a crustier version of Alan Brady DVD's son was named Ritchie (as was MTM's real-life son); Mary's surname is Richards (and if you look carefully, you'll see pictures of her son on tables in the background in her flat). DVD's kitchen had a pass-through wall; MTM''s kitchen has a pass-through wall. DVD had a sunken living room; MTM had a sunken living room. There are more similarities in plots. In one DVD episode, Laura decides to dye her hair blonde; in MTM, she wears a blond wig to work, pretending she dyed her hair blond. In DVD, Laura accidentally reveals on national TV that Alan Brady wears a toupe. In MTM, Mary accidentally reveals in an interview that Lou Grant drinks too much. On the DVD show, Laura is afraid to stay home alone one night and keeps hearing strange noises and panicking. Same plot on MTM when she has to work on Christmas Eve in an empty building.

[@barbaradavis8372]

@@FigaroHey You did a great job with comparing the two shows! Weren't these shows just great?! Great writing and acting and all without violence, cursing or overt sex. You did a wonderful analogy! Thanks!

[@Martin48964]

Nancy Walker deserved an Emmy for playing Ida.

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

Always keep a stash under the mattress. That's not where I keep mine, in case anyone gets any funny ideas...

[@keithparkes4544]

I like L. Music who plays Carlton whose Rhoda's doorman. He's a barrel of laughs but sometimes he means it when he gets to the point on issues. But Rhoda's parents especially the mother she is funny in a good way!

[@beasleybrother1]

But this was close to reality. 1974 and 1975 was a really bad time economically for the country

[@barbaradavis8372]

So were the rest of the 70's! I was in college and jobs were scarce.

[@kidmack3556]

I don't remember them that way. One thing I do remember about the '70's is that it was the last decade that Americans had "Cradle to Grave" employment. Quite a few of my classmates, starting in middle school and later throughout high school, began their careers as after school part time and either retired from those jobs or became owners of those same businesses. No one in my family ever spent more than a week between full-time jobs in the '70s, and my mother, who became a stay at home housewife in 1974, had more offers to come back to work part time as a telephone receptionist than she could handle by the late '70s...

[@fintan3563]

I love Ida. 💜💜💜

[@m1k3ywestley7]

$7,000 in 1974 is worth $37,352.12 today, WOW!

[@Kate-fi8oh]

M1k3y Westley - just like $310 month rent in New York is at least $3k today.

[@100meterRacer]

No it's not. Since 1974 prices have risen about a thousand percent -- that seven grand then is seventy grand today. The Fed has devalued the dollar THAT much, and that's how much purchasing power it has lost.

[@randomasmr4045]

Epic guilt trip at the end. Go Ida!

[@neenanorto3399]

I wish I had a mother just like the character Ida

[@julienielsen4462]

I can’t believe I never watched Rhoda.

[@gayledimitri5887]

Me either! Binge watching it now. 😍😍😍. Awesome show & cast. RIP a Valerie Harper ❤️

[@julienielsen4462]

@@gayledimitri5887 yes Valerie played in the OC as well.

[@karenevanoff8586]

@@gayledimitri5887 Same!

[@jamesr1703]

When we see the skyline of NYC there is only one of the Twin Towers. The other one hadn't been built yet.

[@100meterRacer]

Yes it had -- in 1974 construction of the World Trade Center was complete. They were going up in tandem, starting in 1968. They were not constructed individually. You can even see the actual construction in the opening montague of the TV show, McCloud, shot in1970 from an aerial view of the city.

[@paintedbird]

Ida is the QUEEN of guilt trips!

[@MsSunshine610]

paintedbird

[@golumfrog7840]

A grown man with a child on the second marriage cannot keep his business in tact and Rhoda asking mommie and daddy for help how sad

[@thesilentdiva]

A lot of ppl's story now due to the economy

[@importantverbs]

Joe is so dreamy.

[@Alicetheamethyst]

I agree I only really watch the episodes he is in, they made him into an ah for the divorce storyline but he was a sweet cute guy

[@cathleensmith4717]

Rice and beans beans and rice kids.Oif they have every intention of paying it back with interest what difference does it make who they owe it to? Ida made a valid point about love and trust.

[@calalilygirl]

This was a great show and I loved it but the character of Rhoda lost a little something after she was not on MTM. Maybe it was the chemistry she and Mary Tyler Moore had. They made her a little more serious on her own show and made Brenda a little like her former character. Regardless, I loved the show and Rhoda was a beauty.

[@FigaroHey]

I think they were trying too hard to 'preach' the whole '70s 'free love' and 'feelings' tripe. Notice how it doesn't matter what anyone thinks - the late '60s threw out the brain as a useless organ. It was all about 'how do you FEEL' as though our feelings can tell us the objective truth about reality outside of ourselves. They were trying SO HARD to make propaganda for the 'new, modern relationship' (which was a no-demands, no-sacrifice, no-commitments relationship), that the chemistry wasn't there and the show jumped the shark when - inevitably - Joe proved to be the selfish jerk he obviously was from the moment he walked in (and dumped his son so he could 'go have a good time') and the phoney 'marriage' ended. ('As long as we both shall love' just means, 'Until you get on my nerves and I have to put up with you more than I feel like,' or someone hotter comes along.) That's the weakness: propaganda kills comedy, despite some clearly very talented writers and really solid characters like Ida and Martin. I really wish they had given Rhoda a truly great guy for her husband, someone who was rock-solid, Jewish, funny, smart, who really 'got' her so well that he was able to help her love herself and believe she could be loved. Someone as devoted to her and tolerant of her as Martin was with Ida. It would have been great to see her lose her neurosis because she had a guy who adored her. Imagine if she ended up falling in love with, and being totally loved by a guy that Ida approved of completely, and who totally adored Rhoda. It's harder to write 'good' characters than it is to write pompous '70s-cliche spouting jerks like Joe. But I think they could have had some great scenes of Rhoda with someone who could really match her sense of humor and her smarts while at the same time freeing her to be insecure, neurotic, driven half-mad by her mother. And she could have still been foil to Brenda's attempts to make her way in the world and find love and happiness and self-acceptance. Instead we get Joe who over-reacts to the slightest thing that annoys him, and we're supposed to believe that having no self-control or willingness to make a sacrifice for someone else is just the sexy 'spark' that makes a marriage work. I read somewhere that Valerie Harper wanted to pick her 'leading man' and basically wanted someone she thought looked hot in jeans. Unfortunately, the whole 'marriage' is based on Rhoda catching some guy that she thinks looks hot in jeans. They actually believed in the '70s that sex was all you need (sex was what they meant by 'love' in those days). Clearly it was not - look at the divorce rate. But that propaganda drove the show - right over the shark, in my opinion.

[@rainbowbgood]

So where was Rhodas divorce settlement after all she and her mom did to help out with his business which was booming when they split?

[@barbaradavis8372]

The creep spent it on his next girlfriend!

[@draydayj1]

How many times did the change living room furniture?

[@zimjun7]

Brenda's outfit in the beginning ( for her date ) is a VERY pretty color but it looks like something you would wear at a 1950's prom! 12:55 I understand how Joe feels. NOW he says to Martin if you need a loan or something and here he is needing money. What a situation. Poor Joe! It's hard!15:44 God! I love Martin! "What is your blanket on? A 7 or an 8?" Ida: "What difference does it make?" Martin: "Well....I want us to be at the same temperature."

[@oldyellerschannel4676]

Brenda doesn't look "nice"...she looks gorgeous!! Rhoda could have made more of a fuss over that dress!!

[@eileenkung5839]

Nice mom.

[@moonlike19]

They shouldn’t have asked for the loan

[@mthivier]

$7,000 in 1975 dollars is the equivalent of $25 - $30,000 today.

[@nathelondon3719]

Ida the Great. RIP My Yiddishe Mama.

[@jmartin4204]

she is there even when things are good .Nancy Walker is such fine talent to play an interfering old bag had a mother like that be matricide . Less said the better .

[@thesilentdiva]

The further I get into the series the more it reminds me of Good Times, there is always some problem or issue. Its funny, but theres forever a cloud

[@alancorrea9161]

I hope I don't have to move my tent to another village , inflation 😨

[@RepentfollowJesus]

37,000 in 2022

[@precious4111]

Wander where are Joe's parents, never thought of that til now....

[@janetcampbell9286]

If my mother had been like this, I would have gotten an unlisted phone #, changed my address & told her that if she treated me like this, I was disowning her. This red headed mom drives ME nuts & I'm not even realated to her.

[@nathelondon3719]

Writing that you don’t deserve a mother at all!

[@johnny-becker]

Just give it a season and a half, Ida... then have "the talk". Getting rid of David Groh was a horrible idea how that's not to say that Ray Buktenica (Benny Goodwin), Kenneth McMillan (Jack Doyle, and arguably Ron Silver (Gary Levy) wasn't great additions.

[@dawnheistand912]

Elvin immatates Cliff ! thanks

[@lindacassell1979]

Rhoda and brenda never wore bras.. lol they looked like they had droopy pancakes under their sweaters

[@danacaro-herman3530]

@lindacassell979. So unbelievably unflattering isn't it?

[@penelopelambson9128]

The braless look isn’t too good....

[@patsyhodge9071]

Why didnt the wardrobe depart. ensured Rhoda wore a bra with that top?

[@shelleynobleart]

It was the fashion when the show was made for women to go without a bra. Strange to see now but back then it would have been weird for the cast to wear them.

[@leanaaymorejacob1211]

@@shelleynobleart , yeah! I'd say Madonna (in the 80's) was responsible for the comeback of bras 😉.

[@mariawelsh3190]

She was so overdramatic. Get over yourself woman. I'm sure you have money in checking. What Martin was talking about was stocks. She was unreal. Lord have mercy. Give me a break. Martin was a saint staying married to her. Lord.🙄

[@motheroftwo5551]

Did Joe ever pay Ida back after the divorce??

[@yolandagrady7232]

Very good question. I bet he didn't!

[@judithcornfield6610]

??

[@drnono3386]

Who'd have thought that in 2024 Jews would have to think of moving their "tent to another village"

[@farinshore8900]

Love this series until they got rid of joe. No comedy works without a straight man

[@IcarusLhooq-bc7uq]

Joe was obnoxious

[@ThatsJustMyBabyDaddy]

4:40 she broke character? 😂