It was watched by more than 52 million Americans, over half of the US viewing audience. At the conclusion of the episode, "Monday Night Football" host Howard Cosell joked on ABC that he had not been invited to the wedding, and welcomed viewers back to the game. Hundreds of "wedding parties" were held by fans across the United States on the night of the episode to celebrate the television wedding, and within days the CBS-TV studios were inundated with wedding gifts sent in by fans for the fictional Joe and Rhoda Gerard. The episode was overwhelmingly praised by critics, widely touted as a "television phenomenon", "unlike anything that had happened on television for nearly twenty years", and garnered Harper her fourth Emmy award in 1975. "Vogue" magazine reported that people across the country had pulled off the road checking into motels, and friends canceled out on dinner invitations (feigning illness), just to watch Rhoda's wedding.