While fans of
The Mary Tyler Moore Show are still waiting for Fox to
fulfill their commitment to release the rest of the original series, the folks at Shout! Factory aren't waiting to bring out the Emmy-winning spin-off series
Rhoda. Today our friends in the retail world received great news: Shout! is releasing
Rhoda on DVD this coming
April 21st.
Valerie Harper won 4 Emmy Awards for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern: three times as Supporting Actress in
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and then again as Outstanding Lead Actress in the first season of
Rhoda. Co-star Julie Kavner (who now voices "Marge" on
The Simpsons) would be nominated for a Supporting Actress Emmy during this season, and would go on to win one a few seasons later for the same role as Rhoda's sister Brenda Morgenstern. Nancy Walker (
McMillan & Wife) and Harold Gould (
The Golden Girls) played Rhoda's parents, Ida and Martin, and Broadway star David Groh played her love interest "Joe Gerard".
When Rhoda and Joe wanted to tie the knot, the guest cast included all of the main characters from
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Ted Knight, Gavin MacLeod, Georgia Engel and Cloris Leachman all appeared on the double-length (and Emmy-nominated) episode that would become the highest-rated one of the show's series. Other guest stars and cameos in the first season included Howard Hesseman, Robert Alda, James Burrows, James L. Brooks, Linda Lavin, Richard Masur, John Ritter and Norman Fell (both in the same
Rhoda episode over a year before
Three's Company debuted) and Frank Campanella. Lorenzo Music played the voice of the unseen doorman, Carlton.
Shout! brings home a 4-DVD set with 25 episodes, running 720 minutes long. The official title is
Rhoda - Season 1: 35th Anniversary Edition, and we've got a look at the front cover of the box for you. Stay tuned for further updates!
