RIP Rhoda Morgenstern

I grew up in the 1960's and 70's. To say I was a TV kid would be an understatement. I can remember always watching cartoons on Saturday mornings sitting right up on the television set, ignoring the warnings from my grandmother that I was going to "ruin my eyes." I didn't, by the way. Cartoons were not my only fare. Color TV was introduced in 1965. I was 2. I remember sitting in the living room to get dressed for school so I could watch Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. My mom even let me eat in there most mornings. I watched The Jackie Gleason Show – I can still hear my grandmother (I spent most weekends with my grandparents) yelling from the back door that Jackie Gleason was on, and I would stop whatever outside play I was engaged in and plant myself in front of the set. I watched the Carol Burnette Show every week, and all of the yearly events. There were no VCR’s or DVD or Blu Ray players back then. You could not watch anything any time you wished. I would wait in anticipation of the yearly broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Lesley Ann Warren or Rankin and Bass’ clay animated Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, the Peanut’s Charlie Brown Christmas at the Holidays and my pièce de résistance, The Wizard of Oz. I never missed it! In fact, I was extremely up set in my senior year of high school that I had to compete in a forensics competition and would miss the yearly broadcast. In short, I love television! I still do! Television has changed over the years. You can now watch anything, anytime, or almost anytime you want. We are in the age of streaming. We can be anywhere and watch TV if we have a phone or now, a watch. As with any improvements, there comes cost. When I was propped up in front of my TV set as a child, it was free. In my tweens something came along called cable television, and you had to pay a monthly fee. The free channels were still there, but cable gave you many more channels to watch. My family got on the Cable train, and I continued that as I moved out on my own until about 2 years ago. We cut the cable chord, and we are streaming only with digital services and Wi-Fi and have a digital antenna to still get those FREE channels. This has its benefits, no commercials, and we do something now called binge watching. When we moved into our present home I decided to start binge watching the TV shows I loved as a child. The short ½ hour comedies. I wanted to watch from start to finish. I chose That Girl first. I then moved on to The Dick Van Dyke show, and then Mary Tyler Moore. These shows were so rich with the characterizations of the cast members. Their mission was originally to bring us into their lives each week and follow their journey, feeling like we were part of their family, their world, and we did. We cared about those characters. When I started watching Mary Tyler Moore, I had forgotten how much I loved Rhoda. Rhoda was Mary’s best friend who lived in the very tiny 1 room apartment upstairs from Mary or “M­ar” as she called her. Rhoda didn’t even have a closet or a kitchen, but she did have those cool beads that hung at the entrance to her apartment, and it was painted a deep pink. Valerie Harper played Rhoda Morgenstern. She was the queen of sarcastic humor and so witty. She was quick with a comeback, and her timing was impeccable! You could always count on Rhoda to tell it like it was, something I identify greatly with. As a kid, I always thought Rhoda was cool with her wild clothes and neat apartment, but re-watching the show as an adult, I just love her!! She was my favorite. She left the show to do a spin-off, something the networks did in those days. If a character was popular enough, they gave them their own show. Rhoda moved back to New York, and I didn’t enjoy the Mary Tyler Moore show as much after that. It was still good, I just really felt Rhoda’s absence. Valerie Harper passed away this week, after a long battle with cancer. She was 80. It’s hard to watch the icons of your childhood pass on. It means that I am getting older, but it also means more and more of my childhood is leaving me. I am so glad I can see my old friend any time I want. Rest in Peace, Rhoda Morgenstern.