VIVIAN & VALERIE: When "Ethel" Met RHODA

[Neil]

On 5/27/2020 at 10:35 PM, Freddie2 said:

It’s interesting that Ken pointed out Viv’s Rhoda appearance as an example, because her entrance in that episode has been stuck in my mind ever since I first saw it. She does get entrance applause in the episode, but it’s very brief and not especially warm, which surprised me. Now it makes sense that the audience had already seen her, so this second round was more subdued. That, or maybe the applause was edited in; I’d have to rewatch. 
Contrary to what he says, I remember MTM shows having a standard level of applause, at least for guest stars. Let’s not forget the ridiculous hoopla that would greet “Hi, I’m Larry...” every week. Frasier is the one show that always comes to mind for a “No Applause” rule. The only time I remember it happening was for Ted Danson’s guest appearance in the show’s second season. 

In earlier Seinfeld episodes, Kramer would get the same "Hi I'm Larry" applause.  Subsequently, they either warned the audience not to or cut it out.  Because of set/costume changes, there would be instances where enough time had gone by between scenes that Lucy and/or Gale would get entrance applause in each scene.