WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR'S EVE?

Rhoda
Season 3 (1977)

While I grew up with the gospel of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, spinoff series Rhoda was virtually absent from our lives.  It wasn’t in syndication nor as popular as its predecessor so while I knew that Rhoda got married, moved back to NYC and got her own show I’d never seen any of it save for one depressing Christmas episode that was part of a Nick at Nite Christmas marathon.  Now four of Rhoda’s five seasons are available on DVD, allowing me to further explore the MTM universe (but still no DVD release of Rhoda’s last season or any of Phyllis).

Season 3 was something of a weird one for both Rhoda the show and Rhoda the character.  The showrunners had decided that marrying Rhoda off was a mistake (or at least marrying her off to the uninspired Joe was the mistake) so they spent this season splitting them up.  The character of Rhoda’s mom Ida, who originated on MTM, is also absent this season as Nancy Walker was off pursuing her own show (which failed, so she returned for the final season).  Divorce is depressing and Ida was one Rhoda’s best assets so Season 3 isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs.

I enjoyed this New Year’s Eve episode, however.  It follows in the grand tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s many disastrous party episodes, even if it doesn’t quite live up to them.  In this episode Rhoda plans on spending a low-key New Year’s Eve apart from her ex-husband.  Her efforts to avoid the holiday are waylaid when Joe reveals that he’s headed to a lavish party in Connecticut, so Rhoda decides to quickly throw together a party (at 5 PM on New Year’s Eve).

In this New Year's Eve party scenario I'm the old lady

Unsurprisingly the party doesn’t go well.  The only guests are Rhoda, her sister Brenda, a member of their weight loss group who brings his elderly mother, and two other friends (one of whom is played by always-welcome guest star Anne Meara).  Meara doesn't get all that much to do here save for wear a stewardess uniform and look glum.  Rhoda’s frantic attempts to keep the party going are pretty funny, especially a scene in which she does an enthusiastic, high-energy dance with an unmoving partner.  

Eventually Joe shows up, having ditched out on his party, and he and Rhoda quietly toast the new year together in the bedroom (keep it clean folks; nothing dirty happens).  One of the odder aspects of this episode is that in the final third the partygoers all don Halloween masks, which were the only things Brenda could find last-minute at the party store.  So you get scenes of Rhoda wearing a slightly terrifying clown mask and the infamous, never fully-glimpsed Carlton the Doorman wearing a Planet of the Apes mask, slow dancing with an elderly woman.

This picture probably satisfies at least one reader's weird fantasy

New Year’s Eve episodes are rather rare so I enjoyed this simply for its emphasis on the holiday.  While it never fully gels, there are some great one-liners and moments throughout, plus a dose of sheer weirdness.  And Valerie Harper, who had a rough year in 2013, is charming throughout.  Who wouldn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with Rhoda Morgenstern?

New Year’s Eve Quotient: 4

See It, Skip It, Own It?

This quirky episode is worth a watch, especially for fans of MTM & Rhoda.