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Maude (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Maude was an American television
sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS
network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.
Maude starred Beatrice Arthur
as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York
with her fourth husband, household appliance store owner Walter Findlay (Bill Macy
). Maude embraced the tenets of women's liberation
, always voted for Democratic Party candidates, strongly supported legal abortion
, and advocated for civil rights
and racial and gender equality. However, her overbearing and sometimes domineering personality often got her into trouble when speaking out on these issues.
The program was a spin-off of All in the Family
, on which Beatrice Arthur had first played the character of Maude, Edith Bunker
's cousin; like All in the Family, Maude was a sitcom with topical storylines created by producer Norman Lear
.
Unusual for a U.S. sitcom, several episodes (such as "Maude's Night Out" and "The Convention") featured only the characters of Maude and Walter, in what amounted to half-hour "two-hander
" teleplays. Season 4's "The Analyst" was a solo episode for Bea Arthur, who delivered a soul-searching, episode-length monologue to an unseen psychiatrist
.
). Her current husband, Walter Findlay (played by Bill Macy
), owned an appliance store called Findlay's Friendly Appliances; he was said to be a Maytag
dealer in the first episode. Maude and Walter met just before the 1968 presidential election
. Maude sometimes got in the last word during their many arguments with her hallmark catchphrase, "God'll getcha for that, Walter."
Maude's divorced daughter, Carol Traynor (from her first marriage, played by Adrienne Barbeau
; in the Maude pilot, an episode of All in the Family
, Carol was played by Marcia Rodd
), and Carol's son, Phillip (played by Brian Morrison and later by Kraig Metzinger
), also lived with the Findlays. Though single, Carol maintained her reputation of dating many men, as evidenced by her weekend "business trips" with various boyfriends. She dated various men throughout early seasons, eventually forming a serious (but brief) relationship with a man named Chris (played by Fred Grandy
) in the later seasons. Like her mother, Carol was an outspoken liberal feminist who was not afraid to speak her mind, though they often clashed. After the fourth season, and with ratings dropped, Barbeau's appearances were reduced.
The Findlays' next-door neighbors were Dr. Arthur Harmon (a stuffy, sardonic Republican
whose views clashed with those of Maude; in lieu of Archie Bunker, Arthur was Maude's foil), played by Conrad Bain
and his sweet but scatterbrained wife Vivian (played by Rue McClanahan
, who confirmed in an interview with the Archive of American Television
that she was approached by Norman Lear
during the taping of an All in the Family
episode (The Bunkers and the Swingers (1972) as "Ruth Rempley"). She and Arthur would reunite in 1985 as cast members on The Golden Girls
, as a late replacement for Doris Roberts
, who was originally intended for the part. Arthur had been Walter's best friend since the two men served together in World War II
; he was the one who brought Walter and Maude together in 1968 and "affectionately" called Maude "Maudie." Vivian had been Maude's best friend since they both attended college together. When the series began, Arthur was a widow
er and Vivian was a soon-to-be divorcée
(her previous last name was Cavender); in a late first-season episode, Vivian and her husband Chuck were getting a divorce after 21 years of marriage. Arthur and Vivian began dating at the beginning of the second season and were married during the middle of it.
When the series began, the Findlays' maid was Florida Evans
, a no-nonsense black woman who often had the last laugh at Maude's expense. Maude would often make a point of conspicuously and awkwardly demonstrating how open-minded and liberal she was (Florida almost quit working for Maude because of this). Despite Florida's status as a maid, Maude emphasized to Florida she felt that they were "equals," and insisted she enter and exit the Findlay house via the front door (even though the back door was more convenient).
As portrayed by Esther Rolle
, the character of Florida proved so popular that, in 1974, she became the star of her own spin-off series entitled Good Times
. In the storyline of Maude, Florida's husband, Henry (later James), received a raise at his job, and she quit to be a full-time housewife and mother. Good Times is based on the childhood of its creator, Mike Evans
, who starred as Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family and The Jeffersons
. Whereas Maude
took place in New York, the setting for Good Times
was Chicago
.
After Florida's departure in 1974, Mrs. Nell Naugatuck (played by Hermione Baddeley
), an elderly (and vulgar) British woman who drank excessively and lied compulsively, took over. Unlike Florida, who commuted, Mrs. Naugatuck was a live-in maid. She met and began dating Bert Beasley (an elderly security guard at a cemetery, played by J. Pat O'Malley
) in 1975. They married in 1977 and moved to Ireland
to care for Bert's mother. Mrs. Naugatuck's frequent sparring with Maude was, it can be argued, just as comedically popular as Florida's sparring. The difference in the two relationships was that Mrs. Naugatuck often came off as if she despised Maude Findlay, whereas Florida seemed only periodically frustrated by her boss.
Lear said the last name 'Naugatuck' was directly taken from the town of Naugatuck, Connecticut
, which he found amusing. Due to the popularity of the program, Baddeley even visited the town in the late 1970s and was given a warm, official ceremony at the town green.
Maude then hired Victoria Butterfield (played by Marlene Warfield
), a native of Norman Island
in the British Virgin Islands
, whom Maude initially accused of stealing her wallet. Victoria remained until the end of the series in 1978. However, Warfield's character was never as popular as her two predecessors, and she was never given a credit as a series regular.
begins with an aerial shot of New York City
, including the Chrysler Building
. It then showcases a drive from the city to Maude's house in Tuckahoe
, where Maude answers her door to greet the viewing audience. Although the sequence supposedly shows the trip in the then-present day (1970s), most of the cars in one part of the sequence appear to be from the 1950s (due likely to the footage used being additional film shot during the filming of All in the Family 's title sequence, filmed for that show's pilot, in 1968, when there would have been a number of ten-year-old cars still on the road).
One shot in the title sequence takes the viewer over the George Washington Bridge
. In reality, this bridge connects New York City with New Jersey
to the west, whereas Westchester County, where Maude lives, lies to the north of Manhattan. However, from Manhattan, and the other boroughs of New York City, Northern New Jersey is a commonly-used route to get to final destinations in upstate New York (but not Tuckahoe, in Westchester County, which would require recrossing the Hudson River). The most obvious and direct route would be to drive through Bronx, New York.
The show's theme song, "And Then There's Maude
", was written by Marilyn
and Alan Bergman
and Dave Grusin
, and performed by Donny Hathaway
.
. She first appeared on two episodes of All in the Family as Edith Bunker's cousin. Maude represented everything Archie Bunker
did not: She was a liberal, a feminist, and upper-middle class, whereas Archie was conservative, sexist, and in the working class
.
Maude's political beliefs were closer to those of the series creators than Archie Bunker's, but the series often lampooned Maude as a naive "limousine liberal
" and did not show her beliefs and attitudes in an entirely complimentary light. Just before the show's premiere in September 1972, TV Guide
described the character of Maude as "a caricature of the knee-jerk liberal."
While the show was conceived as a comedy, scripts also incorporated much darker humor and drama. Maude took Miltown, a mild tranquilizer, and also Valium; she and her husband Walter began drinking in the evening. Maude had an abortion in November 1972
, two months before the Roe v. Wade
decision made abortion legal nationwide, and the episodes that dealt with the situation are probably the series' most famous and most controversial. Maude, at age 47, was dismayed to find herself unexpectedly pregnant. Her daughter Carol brought to her attention that abortion was now legal in New York State. After some soul-searching (and discussions with Walter, who agreed that raising a baby at their stage of life was not what they wanted to do), Maude tearfully decided at the end of the two-parter that abortion was probably the best choice for their lives and their marriage. Noticing the controversy around the episode, CBS decided to rerun the episodes in August 1973
, and members of the country's clergy reacted strongly to the decision. At least 30 stations pre-empted the episode. Future Golden Girls creator Susan Harris
was a writer on the episode.
The producers and the writers of the show tackled other controversies. In a story arc that opened the 1973-74 season, Walter came to grips with his alcoholism
and subsequently had a nervous breakdown
. The beginning of the story arc had Maude, Walter, and Arthur enjoying a night of revelry. However, Maude panicked when she woke up the following morning to find Arthur in her bed. This alarmed her to the point that both of them swore off alcohol entirely. Walter could not do it ("Dean Martin
gets a million dollars for his buzz") and became so aggravated during his attempts to stop that he struck Maude. Afterward, he suffered a breakdown as a result of his alcoholism and guilt over the domestic violence
incident. The arc, which played out in two parts, was typically controversial for the show but gained praise for highlighting how social drinking can lead to alcoholism.
The first season episode "The Grass Story" tackled the then-recent Rockefeller Drug Laws
, as Maude and her well-meaning housewife friends try to arrange to get arrested in protest over a grocery boy's tough conviction for marijuana possession. The severity of the marijuana laws was contrasted with the characters' own lax attitudes toward drinking and prescription pill abuse.
In season four, Maude had a session with an analyst, in which she revealed insecurities about her life and marriage and talked through memories from her childhood. The episode was a solo performance by Beatrice Arthur.
During the fifth season, Walter suffered another nervous breakdown
, this time even attempting suicide, when he saw his business go bankrupt.
The Nielsen ratings
for Maude were high, in particular, during the first seasons of the program (during the heyday of topical sitcoms, which its presence helped to create), when it was regularly one of the top-ten highest-rated American television programs in any given week.
In Great Britain
, Maude was not shown nationally, although it was shown in the ITV
regions of Westward
, Border
, Tyne Tees
, Anglia
, Yorkshire
, Granada
and Channel
. Satellite station Sky One
ran the series in the early/mid 1990s.
during the 1978 U.S. midterm elections
(she helped campaign for a congresswoman who unexpectedly died in her house). With this change, Maude and husband Walter would move to Washington, D.C.
, and the rest of the regular cast written out of the series. In the story, the Harmons moved to Idaho
, where Arthur accepted a job offer, while Carol also got a new job offer and she and Phillip moved to Denver.
Those plans changed after just three episodes in the new format, when Bea Arthur decided she no longer wanted to continue the role of Maude. Thus, the Maude series ended. Lear still liked the idea of a member of a minority group in Congress, and it evolved into the pilot Mr. Dugan
, about a black congressman. Mr. Dugan was judged below standard, and, in 1979
, the same premise was reworked as the short-lived CBS sitcom Hanging In
starring Bill Macy and several cast members from Mr. Dugan.
released the first season of Maude on DVD
in Region 1 on March 20, 2007. It is currently unknown as to whether the remaining five seasons will be released.
in the United States in 2001. Reruns of Maude are occasionally shown on Canwest's digital specialty channel, DejaView
in Canada
. As of September 2010, Maude is being rerun in Chicago, on WWME-CA
's Me-TV. Beginning January 1, 2011, Maude began airing on Antenna TV
, a new digital broadcast network.
for 333 episodes.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.
Maude starred Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice "Bea" Arthur was an American actress, comedienne and singer whose career spanned seven decades. Arthur achieved fame as the character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family and Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls, winning Emmy Awards for both...
as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York
Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York
Tuckahoe is a village in the town of Eastchester in Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village's population was 6,486....
with her fourth husband, household appliance store owner Walter Findlay (Bill Macy
Bill Macy
Bill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
). Maude embraced the tenets of women's liberation
Second-wave feminism
The Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the early 1990s....
, always voted for Democratic Party candidates, strongly supported legal abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, and advocated for civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and racial and gender equality. However, her overbearing and sometimes domineering personality often got her into trouble when speaking out on these issues.
The program was a spin-off of All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, on which Beatrice Arthur had first played the character of Maude, Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on All in the Family , played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker , mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and, after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic...
's cousin; like All in the Family, Maude was a sitcom with topical storylines created by producer Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
.
Unusual for a U.S. sitcom, several episodes (such as "Maude's Night Out" and "The Convention") featured only the characters of Maude and Walter, in what amounted to half-hour "two-hander
Two-hander
Two-hander is a term for a play, movie, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as the story unfolds....
" teleplays. Season 4's "The Analyst" was a solo episode for Bea Arthur, who delivered a soul-searching, episode-length monologue to an unseen psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
.
Characters
Maude had been married three times before marrying her fourth and current husband. Her first husband, Barney, had died shortly after their marriage; she had divorced the next two, Albert and Chester. Albert was never portrayed on screen, but the episode "Poor Albert" revolved around his death, while Chester would appear on the show (played by Martin BalsamMartin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
). Her current husband, Walter Findlay (played by Bill Macy
Bill Macy
Bill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
), owned an appliance store called Findlay's Friendly Appliances; he was said to be a Maytag
Maytag
Maytag Corporation is an American home and commercial appliance company, headquartered in Newton, Iowa, that is a division of the Whirlpool Corporation.-Company history:...
dealer in the first episode. Maude and Walter met just before the 1968 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
. Maude sometimes got in the last word during their many arguments with her hallmark catchphrase, "God'll getcha for that, Walter."
Maude's divorced daughter, Carol Traynor (from her first marriage, played by Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Jo Barbeau is an American actress and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical Grease, and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findlay in the sitcom Maude...
; in the Maude pilot, an episode of All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, Carol was played by Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
), and Carol's son, Phillip (played by Brian Morrison and later by Kraig Metzinger
Kraig Metzinger
Kraig Metzinger is an American man who, as a teenaged actor, played the role of Maude Findlay's grandson Phillip Trainor on the sitcom Maude from 1977 until the program's cancellation in 1978....
), also lived with the Findlays. Though single, Carol maintained her reputation of dating many men, as evidenced by her weekend "business trips" with various boyfriends. She dated various men throughout early seasons, eventually forming a serious (but brief) relationship with a man named Chris (played by Fred Grandy
Fred Grandy
Fredrick Lawrence "Fred" Grandy is a former actor best known for his role as 'Gopher' on the sitcom The Love Boat and who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa...
) in the later seasons. Like her mother, Carol was an outspoken liberal feminist who was not afraid to speak her mind, though they often clashed. After the fourth season, and with ratings dropped, Barbeau's appearances were reduced.
The Findlays' next-door neighbors were Dr. Arthur Harmon (a stuffy, sardonic Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
whose views clashed with those of Maude; in lieu of Archie Bunker, Arthur was Maude's foil), played by Conrad Bain
Conrad Bain
Conrad Stafford Bain is a Canadian-American actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude.-Personal life:...
and his sweet but scatterbrained wife Vivian (played by Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
, who confirmed in an interview with the Archive of American Television
Archive of American Television
The Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....
that she was approached by Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
during the taping of an All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
episode (The Bunkers and the Swingers (1972) as "Ruth Rempley"). She and Arthur would reunite in 1985 as cast members on The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, as a late replacement for Doris Roberts
Doris Roberts
Doris Roberts is an American character actress of film, stage and television. She has received five Emmy Awards. She began her career in 1952, and may be best-known as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996–2005....
, who was originally intended for the part. Arthur had been Walter's best friend since the two men served together in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; he was the one who brought Walter and Maude together in 1968 and "affectionately" called Maude "Maudie." Vivian had been Maude's best friend since they both attended college together. When the series began, Arthur was a widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
er and Vivian was a soon-to-be divorcée
Divorcee
Divorcee, refers to a person whose marriage has ended in divorce, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse. The feminine form is "divorcée", and the masculine "divorcé". At one time the term had negative cultural and religious associations...
(her previous last name was Cavender); in a late first-season episode, Vivian and her husband Chuck were getting a divorce after 21 years of marriage. Arthur and Vivian began dating at the beginning of the second season and were married during the middle of it.
The housekeepers
For the entire run of the show, Maude also had a housekeeper, a fact that sometimes contradicted her earnest, liberal intentions.When the series began, the Findlays' maid was Florida Evans
Florida Evans
Florida Evans Dixon was the fictional supporting character on the sitcom Maude and the lead character in its spin-off, Good Times. She was the hard-working mother of the Evans family...
, a no-nonsense black woman who often had the last laugh at Maude's expense. Maude would often make a point of conspicuously and awkwardly demonstrating how open-minded and liberal she was (Florida almost quit working for Maude because of this). Despite Florida's status as a maid, Maude emphasized to Florida she felt that they were "equals," and insisted she enter and exit the Findlay house via the front door (even though the back door was more convenient).
As portrayed by Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle was an American actress. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times.-Biography:...
, the character of Florida proved so popular that, in 1974, she became the star of her own spin-off series entitled Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
. In the storyline of Maude, Florida's husband, Henry (later James), received a raise at his job, and she quit to be a full-time housewife and mother. Good Times is based on the childhood of its creator, Mike Evans
Mike Evans (actor)
Michael Jonas Evans , was an American actor and, with Eric Monte, was co-creator of the show Good Times. Ralph Carter's character Michael Evans was named after him....
, who starred as Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family and The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
. Whereas Maude
Maude
- Places :*Maude, New South Wales, a village on the lower Murrumbidgee River in Australia*Maude, Victoria, a town in Australia*Cape Maude, a high ice-covered cape forming the east end of Vaughan promontory in Antarctica...
took place in New York, the setting for Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
was Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
After Florida's departure in 1974, Mrs. Nell Naugatuck (played by Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Baddeley was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here...
), an elderly (and vulgar) British woman who drank excessively and lied compulsively, took over. Unlike Florida, who commuted, Mrs. Naugatuck was a live-in maid. She met and began dating Bert Beasley (an elderly security guard at a cemetery, played by J. Pat O'Malley
J. Pat O'Malley
James Patrick O'Malley was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programs during the 1940s–1970s, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley...
) in 1975. They married in 1977 and moved to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to care for Bert's mother. Mrs. Naugatuck's frequent sparring with Maude was, it can be argued, just as comedically popular as Florida's sparring. The difference in the two relationships was that Mrs. Naugatuck often came off as if she despised Maude Findlay, whereas Florida seemed only periodically frustrated by her boss.
Lear said the last name 'Naugatuck' was directly taken from the town of Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury, and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which has its own post office, Straitsville on the...
, which he found amusing. Due to the popularity of the program, Baddeley even visited the town in the late 1970s and was given a warm, official ceremony at the town green.
Maude then hired Victoria Butterfield (played by Marlene Warfield
Marlene Warfield
Marlene Warfield is an American actress.She has acted in films and American television. She portrayed the underground revolutionary Laureen Hobbs in the 1976 film Network and played the character of Victoria Butterfield on the television sitcom Maude...
), a native of Norman Island
Norman Island
Norman Island is located at the southern tip of the British Virgin Islands archipelago. It is reputed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate novel Treasure Island.-History:...
in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, whom Maude initially accused of stealing her wallet. Victoria remained until the end of the series in 1978. However, Warfield's character was never as popular as her two predecessors, and she was never given a credit as a series regular.
Title sequence
The opening title sequenceTitle sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
begins with an aerial shot of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, including the Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
. It then showcases a drive from the city to Maude's house in Tuckahoe
Tuckahoe
Tuckahoe may refer to Tuckahoe-Cohee, an early American cultural sub-group.It may also refer to:Buildings:*Tuckahoe , or the Leach Mansion, in Jensen Beach, Florida*Tuckahoe Plantation, boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson, in Virginia...
, where Maude answers her door to greet the viewing audience. Although the sequence supposedly shows the trip in the then-present day (1970s), most of the cars in one part of the sequence appear to be from the 1950s (due likely to the footage used being additional film shot during the filming of All in the Family 's title sequence, filmed for that show's pilot, in 1968, when there would have been a number of ten-year-old cars still on the road).
One shot in the title sequence takes the viewer over the George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 cross the river via the bridge. U.S...
. In reality, this bridge connects New York City with New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
to the west, whereas Westchester County, where Maude lives, lies to the north of Manhattan. However, from Manhattan, and the other boroughs of New York City, Northern New Jersey is a commonly-used route to get to final destinations in upstate New York (but not Tuckahoe, in Westchester County, which would require recrossing the Hudson River). The most obvious and direct route would be to drive through Bronx, New York.
The show's theme song, "And Then There's Maude
And Then There's Maude
"And Then There's Maude " is the theme song for the television series Maude , written by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin, and performed by Donny Hathaway....
", was written by Marilyn
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
and Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin
David Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
, and performed by Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
.
Series history and topicality
The character of Maude Findlay was said to be loosely based on creator Norman Lear's then-wife FrancesFrances Lear
Frances Lear was an activist, magazine publisher and writer. She was the wife of television producer Norman Lear. After her 1985 divorce, Lear used her $112 million settlement to start Lear's, a magazine targeting women over 35. The magazine folded six years later...
. She first appeared on two episodes of All in the Family as Edith Bunker's cousin. Maude represented everything Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
did not: She was a liberal, a feminist, and upper-middle class, whereas Archie was conservative, sexist, and in the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
.
Maude's political beliefs were closer to those of the series creators than Archie Bunker's, but the series often lampooned Maude as a naive "limousine liberal
Limousine liberal
Limousine liberal is a pejorative American political term used to illustrate perceived hypocrisy by a political liberal of upper class or upper middle class status; including calls for the use of mass transit while frequently using limousines or private jets, claiming environmental consciousness...
" and did not show her beliefs and attitudes in an entirely complimentary light. Just before the show's premiere in September 1972, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
described the character of Maude as "a caricature of the knee-jerk liberal."
While the show was conceived as a comedy, scripts also incorporated much darker humor and drama. Maude took Miltown, a mild tranquilizer, and also Valium; she and her husband Walter began drinking in the evening. Maude had an abortion in November 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, two months before the Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
decision made abortion legal nationwide, and the episodes that dealt with the situation are probably the series' most famous and most controversial. Maude, at age 47, was dismayed to find herself unexpectedly pregnant. Her daughter Carol brought to her attention that abortion was now legal in New York State. After some soul-searching (and discussions with Walter, who agreed that raising a baby at their stage of life was not what they wanted to do), Maude tearfully decided at the end of the two-parter that abortion was probably the best choice for their lives and their marriage. Noticing the controversy around the episode, CBS decided to rerun the episodes in August 1973
1973 in television
The year 1973 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1973.-Events:*January 4 – The record breaking, long-running comedy series in the UK and the world "Last of the Summer Wine" starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show....
, and members of the country's clergy reacted strongly to the decision. At least 30 stations pre-empted the episode. Future Golden Girls creator Susan Harris
Susan Harris
Susan Harris is an American television comedy writer and producer.Harris created numerous TV series: Soap, Benson, The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Nurses, and The Golden Palace....
was a writer on the episode.
The producers and the writers of the show tackled other controversies. In a story arc that opened the 1973-74 season, Walter came to grips with his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and subsequently had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
. The beginning of the story arc had Maude, Walter, and Arthur enjoying a night of revelry. However, Maude panicked when she woke up the following morning to find Arthur in her bed. This alarmed her to the point that both of them swore off alcohol entirely. Walter could not do it ("Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
gets a million dollars for his buzz") and became so aggravated during his attempts to stop that he struck Maude. Afterward, he suffered a breakdown as a result of his alcoholism and guilt over the domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
incident. The arc, which played out in two parts, was typically controversial for the show but gained praise for highlighting how social drinking can lead to alcoholism.
The first season episode "The Grass Story" tackled the then-recent Rockefeller Drug Laws
Rockefeller drug laws
The Rockefeller Drug Laws is the term used to denote the statutes dealing with the sale and possession of "narcotic" drugs in the New York State Penal Law. The laws are named after Nelson Rockefeller, who was the state's governor at the time the laws were adopted...
, as Maude and her well-meaning housewife friends try to arrange to get arrested in protest over a grocery boy's tough conviction for marijuana possession. The severity of the marijuana laws was contrasted with the characters' own lax attitudes toward drinking and prescription pill abuse.
In season four, Maude had a session with an analyst, in which she revealed insecurities about her life and marriage and talked through memories from her childhood. The episode was a solo performance by Beatrice Arthur.
During the fifth season, Walter suffered another nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
, this time even attempting suicide, when he saw his business go bankrupt.
The Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
for Maude were high, in particular, during the first seasons of the program (during the heyday of topical sitcoms, which its presence helped to create), when it was regularly one of the top-ten highest-rated American television programs in any given week.
In Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Maude was not shown nationally, although it was shown in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
regions of Westward
Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until public boardroom squabbles led to its franchise not...
, Border
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Tyne Tees
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
, Anglia
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
, Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
and Channel
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
. Satellite station Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
ran the series in the early/mid 1990s.
End of program
In the fifth season, Maude unexpectedly plunged from a top-five program the previous season and out of the top 30 of all TV shows. In 1978, late in the sixth season, CBS revamped the series. The final few episodes paved the way for Maude to be appointed to Congress as a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
during the 1978 U.S. midterm elections
United States House elections, 1978
The U.S. House election, 1978 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1978 which occurred in the middle of President Jimmy Carter's term, when the country was going through an energy crisis and facing rapid inflation...
(she helped campaign for a congresswoman who unexpectedly died in her house). With this change, Maude and husband Walter would move to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and the rest of the regular cast written out of the series. In the story, the Harmons moved to Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, where Arthur accepted a job offer, while Carol also got a new job offer and she and Phillip moved to Denver.
Those plans changed after just three episodes in the new format, when Bea Arthur decided she no longer wanted to continue the role of Maude. Thus, the Maude series ended. Lear still liked the idea of a member of a minority group in Congress, and it evolved into the pilot Mr. Dugan
Mr. Dugan
Mr. Dugan is an American sitcom about a black Congressman that was scheduled to air in March 1979 on CBS, but never aired.-History:In early 1978, producer Norman Lear felt his long-running comedy Maude was getting stale, so he decided to enliven things by moving the show to Washington, D.C. and...
, about a black congressman. Mr. Dugan was judged below standard, and, in 1979
1979 in television
The year 1979 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1979.For the American TV schedule, see: 1979-80 American network television schedule.-Events:...
, the same premise was reworked as the short-lived CBS sitcom Hanging In
Hanging In
Hanging In is an American sitcom that aired on CBS in 1979, executive produced by Norman Lear.-Synopsis:After his failed attempt to launch the sitcom Mr. Dugan, Lear reworked the project, finally coming up with Hanging In, the story of Lou Harper, a former pro football star who becomes president of...
starring Bill Macy and several cast members from Mr. Dugan.
TV ratings
- Season 1: #4 1972–1973 16.0 m
- Season 2: #6 1973–1974 15.5 m
- Season 3: #9 1974–1975 17.0 m
- Season 4: #4 1975–1976 17.4 m
- Season 5: out of the top 30
- Season 6: out of the top 30
Broadcast History
- Sep 1972-Sep 1974: Tuesdays 8:00-8:30 PM
- Sep 1974-Sep 1975: Mondays 9:00-9:30 PM
- Sep 1975-Sep 1976: Mondays 9:30-10:00 PM
- Sep 1976-Sep 1977: Mondays 9:00-9:30 PM
- Sep 1977-Nov 1977: Mondays 9:30-10:00 PM
- Dec 1977-Jan 1978: Mondays 9:00-9:30 PM
- Jan 1978-Apr 1978: Saturdays 9:30-10:00 PM
Cultural References
- In the fifth-season SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
episode, "The Hamptons", Elaine BenesElaine BenesElaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...
comes outside wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, causing an amused Jerry SeinfeldJerry SeinfeldJerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
to ridicule her by singing a line from the theme song of Maude: "And then there's Maude". - The title sequence of Maude was spoofed on the Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode, "No Meals on WheelsNo Meals on Wheels"No Meals on Wheels" is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 25, 2007. The episode features the Griffin family opening a restaurant, and eventually become overwhelmed by Joe Swanson and his...
", when Peter and Lois sit through a really long version of the theme song, after which Peter declares, "That was an ordeal."
DVD release
Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
released the first season of Maude on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in Region 1 on March 20, 2007. It is currently unknown as to whether the remaining five seasons will be released.
Syndication
Maude was seen on TV LandTV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
in the United States in 2001. Reruns of Maude are occasionally shown on Canwest's digital specialty channel, DejaView
DejaView
DejaView is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. It airs television shows from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-History:In November 2000, Global Television Network Inc...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As of September 2010, Maude is being rerun in Chicago, on WWME-CA
WWME-CA
WWME-CA is a class A station in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting, which also owns sister stations WCIU-TV and WMEU-CA. This station is the flagship of the Me-TV network. Me-TV is also broadcast on WCIU's digital subchannel 26.3....
's Me-TV. Beginning January 1, 2011, Maude began airing on Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
, a new digital broadcast network.
Adaptation
Maude was adapted in France as Maguy. Maguy aired on Sundays at 19.30 from September 1985 to December 1994 on France 2France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
for 333 episodes.