Poor Mary; she accepts Rhoda's offer to go to New York for the weekend. That sounds exciting at first, but then you can see the motive: to attend Rhoda's sister's wedding. That's still okay but the worst is yet to come: living for several days with Rhoda's parents!
Is "brutal" the right word? Maybe just "strange" would be better. IMDb describes them as "overbearing," which is a better word.
While Mary is forced into staying at their house and sleeping on the couch instead of the nice hotel she had booked overlooking Central Park, Rhoda and her young sister have to contend mainly with "Ma (Ida)," played wonderfully by Nancy Walker.
Walker is perfect as the Jewish mom and Harold Gould's good as her dad, "Martin." In her twisted logic, "Ma" tries to downplay the marriage at every turn, thinking Rhoda is miserable because her sister's getting married, and she isn't. That's not true but there is no changing Ma's mind and the jokes in here come fast-and-furious. In what could be some uncomfortable scenes, the dialog is so good you can't help but laugh at the situation while at the same time feeling sorry for Mary and the two Morgenstern sisters.
The opening bit was funny with Ted trying to do a promo for his job. He screws it up so bad, Lou winds up giving up on the idea. There is no way Ted is going to look professional, even trying to fake it! However, at the end, they give it another shot and just know Ted is going to mess it up somehow.
Is "brutal" the right word? Maybe just "strange" would be better. IMDb describes them as "overbearing," which is a better word.
While Mary is forced into staying at their house and sleeping on the couch instead of the nice hotel she had booked overlooking Central Park, Rhoda and her young sister have to contend mainly with "Ma (Ida)," played wonderfully by Nancy Walker.
Walker is perfect as the Jewish mom and Harold Gould's good as her dad, "Martin." In her twisted logic, "Ma" tries to downplay the marriage at every turn, thinking Rhoda is miserable because her sister's getting married, and she isn't. That's not true but there is no changing Ma's mind and the jokes in here come fast-and-furious. In what could be some uncomfortable scenes, the dialog is so good you can't help but laugh at the situation while at the same time feeling sorry for Mary and the two Morgenstern sisters.
The opening bit was funny with Ted trying to do a promo for his job. He screws it up so bad, Lou winds up giving up on the idea. There is no way Ted is going to look professional, even trying to fake it! However, at the end, they give it another shot and just know Ted is going to mess it up somehow.
