Phyllis (TV series) character of Mother Dexter also joined the household. Aired between two popular shows – "Rhoda" and "All in the Family" – on Monday nights, Phyllis instantly became a top ten hit. Cloris Leachman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The sitcom was the sixth highest-rated television series for the 1975–76 television season (at the time ranking higher than both "Rhoda" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"). The series premise was reworked somewhat for the second season. Erskine Photography
James L. Brooks the short-lived series "Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers" in 1974. He and Burns moved on to "Rhoda", a spin-off of "Mary Tyler Moore", taking Valerie Harper's character Rhoda Morgenstern into her own show. It was well received, lasting four years and earning Brooks several Emmys. The duo's next project came in 1977 in the shape of "Lou Grant", a second "Mary Tyler Moore" spin-off, which they created along with Tinker. Unlike its source however, the series was a drama starring Edward Asner as Grant. James Brown of the Museum of Broadcast Communications said it "explore[d] a knotty issue facing