A SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF “THE BEST OF RHODA”
MeTV Network pays tribute to the career of beloved actress Valerie Harper with a special presentation of select episodes from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Rhoda,” airing on MeTV September 8 beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET/PT through 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. (Episodes listed below).
Harper will forever be remembered as Rhoda Morgenstern, the wisecracking and lovelorn best friend to Mary Richards on the Primetime Emmy award-winning series, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
With her signature charm and snark, Harper made Rhoda one of the most memorable feminist icons of television in the 1970s, and earned three Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance, before landing her own spin-off series “Rhoda” in 1974.
“Rhoda” is the first and only television series to earn the top spot in Nielsen ratings for its premiere episode, where Rhoda leaves Minneapolis to return home to New York City and fires up a whirlwind romance with divorcee Joe Gerard, played by David Groh.
At the time, the iconic New York wedding between Rhoda and Joe was the most watched television episode of the 1970s, with a whopping 52 million Americans tuning in.
Airing from 1974-1978, the series earned 17 Primetime Emmy nominations, and seven Golden Globe nominations.
Harper herself earned her fourth Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, as well as the Golden Globe for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy.
Harper went on to appear in a handful of television series, including “The Love Boat,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Melrose Place,” “Sex and the City,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “2 Broke Girls.”
In 2000, Harper reunited with Mary Tyler Moore for the made-for-TV movie “Mary and Rhoda.”
In 2013, Harper revealed that she had been diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of brain cancer, but continued to work, appearing in short films, on stage and even voicing characters on animated series, “The Simpsons” and “American Dad.”
Throughout her career, Harper earned four Primetime Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe, and one Tony nomination.
Outside of show business, Harper was a longtime representative for the Hunger Project, an organization that supports rural women in developing countries, and co-founded L.I.F.E. (Love Is Feeding Everyone) in 1983, a charity dedicated to preventing hunger in Los Angeles.
Harper is survived by her husband of 32 years, Tony Cacciotti.
The complete schedule for MeTV’s Tribute to Valerie Harper includes: September 8 (All Times are Eastern/Pacific)
The complete schedule for MeTV’s Tribute to Valerie Harper includes: September 8 (All Times are Eastern/Pacific)
- 5:00pm-5:30pm: The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Rhoda, The Beautiful.” Rhoda enters a beauty contest but continues to put herself down.
- 5:30pm-6:00pm: The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Is a Friend in Need.” Rhoda loses her job, but Mary doesn't tell her about an opening at WJM.
- 6:00pm-6:30pm: The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “A Girl’s Best Mother Is Not Her Friend.” Rhoda's mother visits with the intention of being her daughter's best friend.
- 6:30pm-7:00pm: The Mary Tyler Moore Show – “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Rhoda.” Mary and Rhoda are best friends, but can they be roommates too?
- 7:00pm-7:30pm: Rhoda – “Rhoda’s Wedding Part 1.” Rhoda's wedding day has finally arrived and is filled with mishaps.
- 7:30pm-8:00pm: Rhoda – “Rhoda’s Wedding Part 2.” Complications may ruin Rhoda's wedding day.
About Weigel Broadcasting Co.
Weigel Broadcasting Co. is a family-owned media company based in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to producing the new series Collector’s Call, the company owns and operates national television networks, as well as local broadcast stations throughout the country. Weigel is the leader in the multicast television network space with "MeTV," Memorable Entertainment Television, the number-one rated and distributed multicast network, as well as the "Movies!" Network in cooperation with the Fox Television Stations, the "DECADES" Network, the "H&I" Network and the “Start TV” Network in association with the CBS Television Stations. Weigel's local stations include CBS, ABC, The CW, MyNet and Telemundo network affiliates. Weigel and its affiliate companies broadcast network and independent television stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Cedar City-St. George, Milwaukee, South Bend and Rockford. Weigel is also the creator of the nationally syndicated music format “MeTV FM”. For more information on Weigel, visit: weigelbroadcasting.com/
