As I recall, she only got that gig because Valerie Harper was holding out for more money and the network replaced her with Sandy.
Before then, the show was called "Valerie's Family", because Valerie Harper's character was also named Valerie. After she was dropped, IIRC Valerie Harper sued the network to make them change the name, because she claimed that the show was named after her, not after her character.
Which is the last time you ever saw an actor or actress use his real name on television, as near as I can tell.