Maude

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider...

And when the country was falling apart, Betsy Ross had it all sewn up...and then there's Maude (repeat,) right on Maude.

That was part of the opening theme song of this very popular show of the 1970s brought about by Beatrice Arthur visiting Archie and Edith Bunker's home on "All in the Family." Go know that Edith and Maude were cousins. The hilarity broke loose when Maude's liberal views were tested with Archie's ultra-conservative leanings. Arthur was such a success on the show that she was given her own show "Maude."

While Maude is very liberal, the film showed that her home was anything but functional. I guess that the same can be said about any liberal or conservative.

The show was highlighted by another great supporting cast with Bill Macy and Adrienne Barbeau as husband and daughter to Maude, respectively.

"Maude" was a chance for the people of "All in the Family" to tackle the female side of the issues... by creating a powerful, subtle and humorous woman that had just as strong views as Archie Bunker.

Bea Arthur has since become well known for her humor and the looks at the camera... she was the perfect choice for Maude... noone else could have pulled it off.

Throughout the years "Maude" tackled many issues and caused controversial uproars, just as it's parent show "All in the Family" did.

When naming a list of the most memorable shows, "Maude" should be listed at the top... although it hasn't earned the respect as it should have now.

If you get a chance to watch this series... do it...

Unfortunately, I never saw Maude until I got the DVD first season of her show. It appeared nowhere in syndication maybe because it was too controversial and might offend too many people. Compared to other shows today, Maude is quite mainstream and ahead of it's time. I loved Beatrice Arthur in this role of Maude, forget Dorothy Zbornak. Bea plays a terrific Maude Findlay, the cousin of dimwitted Edith Bunker, from All in the Family. Anyway, the casting of Bill Macy as Maude's fourth husband is genius. They work so well together. Adrienne Barbeau is terrific as her divorced daughter, Carol. Of course, we never see Philip, the eight year old dimwitted grandson. Then there is the supporting cast which is stellar like Conrad Bain as the conservative Republican right wing doctor neighbor and friend to Walter's character and Esther Rolle who plays the African American maid, Florida Evans who is fawned over by Maude's character in the beginning that she doesn't get much work done. Don't forget Rue McClanahan as dimwitted Vivian and friend of Maude. I can't help but like Maude. For all things that she gets wrong, she gets a lot of it right. Today's television writers and developers should learn from the sitcom master, Norman Lear, that a great show like Maude's can be both controversial and funny and genius too. Most sitcoms today lack the balance between left and right. Lear's sitcoms provided both sets of opinions without winning the battle. I'm sure if the sitcom people today would watch, they might learn something about developing quality sitcoms. Remember it's not quantity but quality and it's a shame. They think we want to see beautiful people like Friends in sitcoms with minor problems and the same point of view.

I love Bea Arthur and this show is the only one that tops "The Golden Girls." The show was controversial, but greatly written, and carried it off with fantastic acting! Norman Lear is a television dynasty within himself. I wish I could have been old enough in the seventies to appreciate the first run of these episodes...however, I can deal with the re-runs just fine!

The controversy of "All in the Family" continued with this original spin-off. The titled character (Beatrice Arthur), Archie Bunker's (Carroll O'Connor) cousin, was everything that the aforementioned was not. She was a wildly independent feminist who was on her fourth marriage (with appliance store owner Bill Macy) and cut others with a dry wit that was quietly malicious, but admittedly hilarious at the same time. Adrienne Barbeau was a dominant fixture as Arthur's daughter and neighbors Rue McClanahan and Conrad Bain just added to the overall adequacy the show had. "Maude" was in constant scrutiny. One episode dealt with the freedom of choice issue (a woman's right to have an abortion) and that definitely remains the most fiery and politically-incorrect (especially for the time period) episode of the series' seven-year run from 1972 to 1978. Never did reach as high as "All in the Family", but was a legitimate envelope-pusher that still strikes a nerve in many conservative circles. Good series overall. 4 stars out of 5.