"God'll get you for that, Walter": Watching 'Maude'

[Crimson]

I just tell myself that's the screen porch door. And that it's, y'know, a different door!

I considered that, although when they open the door there's no indication there's another one.

It's just such a small, easy detail to get right and curiously sloppy that they didn't!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I considered that, although when they open the door there's no indication there's another one.

It's just such a small, easy detail to get right and curiously sloppy that they didn't!

View attachment 51609

Although the Bunkers' 704 Hauser exterior shot was also problematic.

They never tried to reconcile the Ewings' interior front door with its exterior appearance (until nuDALLAS, where the front door suddenly became the only thing that was accurate) but we rarely saw it on the original show.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Two
Walter’s Problem Pt. I & II / Walter’s Holiday​

The morning after is a great way to open a new season of a series… even more so because we hadn’t seen the night before. Arthur being in the bed with Maude was somewhere in my consciousness from reading up on the series so it wasn’t a complete surprise, all the same it was very nicely executed.

A bigger surprise for me was that this moment was the beginning of an arc that led to the line between social drinking and alcoholism being crossed.

Walter’s Problem is another of those stories I was semi-aware of from reading a little about the series over the years. For whatever reason I’d assumed these episodes came much later in the run, so their placement at the very beginning of Season Two was what surprised me.

Like Maude’s Dilemma, mileage may vary depending how one feels about social issues being tackled by a sitcom. I was prepared for this episode and still found it uncomfortable at times: partly because the topic is meant to be uncomfortable, but also largely because earnest awareness raising and sitcoms make strange bedfellows.

I appreciated the boldness of humour about domestic violence, such as Maude’s quips about jumping rope without a bra, or her refusal to use steak to treat her black eye because of the cost (“I’d rather take up Christian Science”). My view is that if a sitcom is going to address issues, there should be no sacred cows. My partner didn’t enjoy the episodes at all, though, feeling that they made light of serious subjects. I fully see that point of view, too. Incidentally, it did stretch credulity that Maude would sport a black eye from a light slap on the cheek with an open hand.

I thought it a nice touch that the reverend who offered help was a recovering alcoholic.

Perhaps the most interesting responses throughout the episode were those of Carol. The way she quietly distanced herself from Walter before extricating herself and Phillip was probably the strongest thread.

It’s great to see Rue back in Walter’s Holiday, which even teased a possible relationship between she and Arthur before going in another direction. I see that the black salesman who sassed Florida was played by an actor who was soon to be a regular in Good Times. The chemistry was good so I can understand why.

It never fails to slightly irritate me that the house in the opening credits does not match to the door Maude opens!

Same here. It's even hinged on the opposite side.

I just tell myself that's the screen porch door. And that it's, y'know, a different door!

I might try and push this into my head canon... for sanity's sake.

As amusing as Florida is on MAUDE, she has been, since her introduction episode, criminally under utilized. She's not peripheral to the plots, she's peripheral to the periphery of the plots! She enters a scene, drops a quip or two, and exits not to be seen again. Not to jump ahead, but this is exactly why the actress who plays the next maid left the series.

While I don't disagree, I've also found myself appreciating the restraint and the fact I'm left wanting more.

There are some characters who steal scenes so well that less is more. They function so well that they become "breakout" characters and the writers begin giving them more and more to do, which undermines the thing that made them work so well in the first place. There's Fonzie, of course. And Sophia on The Golden Girls who was originally meant to be a more peripheral character than she quickly became. I don't know that Florida falls firmly into this category because I haven't got to see her do "more", but much as I love her there's part of me that doesn't want to tempt providence by actually seeing her presence increased.

MARY TYLER MOORE would be my recommendation for you if you were inclined to watch another classic American sitcom.

Thanks. I've made a mental post-it note to myself.

 

[Crimson]

There are some characters who steal scenes so well that less is more.

Probably true, since breakout characters often become annoying. That said, surely there was a middle ground between letting the character steal the show and the character being under-utilized.

There might be some irony in Florida, the (potential) breakout character of MAUDE being used so sparingly and then, when given her own show, completely upstaged by one of the most annoying breakout characters of all time.

 

[Crimson]

more problematic for me is the “resolution” of them offloading the property to someone with less of a conscience in such matters, and then joyfully telling the poor protesting tenant that all’s well because they are no longer slumlords.

I just passed this episode and it's the first of the series that I've actually disliked. I might almost give the episode a pass that it was intentionally making a point about the self-serving complacency of White Liberals, if the treatment of the Black protestor wasn't so demeaning. One can almost imagine the casting director: "We need a Black protestor but he has to be as unthreatening to White audiences as possible!"

On the other hand, the episode did confirm the Findlays did in fact have a screened in porch (not obvious in earlier episodes) although it still doesn't match the door seen in the opening credits.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Perhaps karma caught up to Maude via Dorothy in a later episode of The Golden Girls. Dorothy and Stan had bought a run-down apartment building while they were married, and though they later divorced, they were both sued by the tenants over the poor condition of the building. The judge threw the book at the "slumlords". As part of their punishment, Stan and Dorothy had to spend a night in one of the apartments to give them a taste of what the tenants had been living in.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Two
Maude’s Facelift Pt. I & II / Florida’s Affair / Maude Takes A Job / The Double Standard / Vivian’s Problem / Maude’s Musical / The Will / Carol’s Problem / Music Hath Chimes / The Office Party / The Love Birds / Maude’s Guest / The Wallet / Maude’s Revolt / The Commuter Station / Florida’s Goodbye / The Tax Audit / The Investment / Phillip’s Problem / The Runaway​

Despite the huge wedge of episodes, there’s little to say about these episodes specifically. For me this series is mainly just sitting back and enjoying.

One thing I have appreciated is that this series doesn’t appear to have any sacred cows it its subject matter. While many of the situations are sitcom standards (certainly from a 21st Century perspective, at least), there are also some that could raise a few eyebrows, and also some that I suspect would simply horrify Gens Y and Z. Following on from abortion, alcoholism and domestic violence, this run has episodes featuring gags about cosmetic surgery, corporal punishment of children and even rape.

I’m still not quite sure how to feel about the latter, in which Maude recognises Walter’s tax auditor as the man who attempted to assault her some thirty years earlier in which they end up on good terms, but I do know that the gag which made me laugh hardest during the episode was a direct result of the situation. When Maude gravely announced to Walter that the man in the next room had tried to rape her, bewildered Walter commented that he’d only turned his back on them long enough to hang up the man’s coat.

Arthur and Vivian’s romance has been a key arc this season, going from them getting together to their courting period; Arthur overcoming his nerves long enough to marry Vivian while the group were stuck in a railway station during a blizzard; and their early marital problems from comparisons with dead spouses to secrets being kept.

Rue McClanahan is a great addition to the series and has fleshed out the ensemble nicely. According to Wikipedia, she became a series regular with an addition in the opening credits with The Tax Audit (the episode after Florida’s Goodbye), but I’m fairly sure the ones I’ve watched have kept Esther Rolle’s credit and there’s no sign of Rue just yet. It’s possible the DVD features syndicated versions, but equally possible that I just haven’t spotted it.

Florida left the series a few episodes earlier than I’d expected. It’s nice that she got a proper closure on this series and the fact that there’s no hint of Good Times means I can carry on watching without the urge to explore the loose spinoff. I will certainly miss Florida, though.

In that final episode, Florida interviewed her replacement, Rita Valdez, who got the housekeeper job by switching her American accent for a Mexican one to appeal to Maude’s liberalism. Curiously, there’s been no sign of her in the final four episodes of the series, and Wikipedia suggests Florida’s Goodbye to be her one and only appearance. Rita was played by Conchata Ferrell (mis-credited here as Conchata Farrell), and this appears to have been her TV debut. Perhaps even more curious than her sudden absence was that Conchata went on to appear opposite Esther Rolle’s Florida in Good Times… but in a different role.

That's two full seasons down, which means I'm a third of the way through the entire series.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Perhaps even more curious than her sudden absence was that Conchata went on to appear opposite Esther Rolle’s Florida in Good Times… but in a different role

I think she played a store manager for only one episode that gave Wilona a security job or something to that effect, but yes it was a totally different character and unrelated to her appearance on Maude previously. I’m trying to remember if Esther Rolle was still on Good Times at this point. I think she was gone by then but don’t hold me to that one. She did return for the final season though.

 

[Crimson]

there’s little to say about these episodes specifically. For me this series is mainly just sitting back and enjoying

I'm much less far along than you, only coming up on the end of S1. Likewise, I don't find much to say about individual episodes. I enjoy the the show, some episodes more than others, but they tend to quickly blur in my mind. So, just a few random thoughts ...

Although it was nothing more than a throwaway gag, I had a chuckle when Maude turned on the TV, realized it was a cheesy gameshow with Betty White, and turned it off in disgust. Betty had said she and Bea had a chilly working relationship on GOLDEN GIRLS, with Bea famously disliking Betty. This little gag made me wonder if Bea's dislike of Betty predated their time as co-stars.

I find it odd how little Carol's son is seen. I'm not sure he's even been on screen for a combined 5 minutes out of the 20 episodes I've watched. Mind you, I have no particular interest in seeing episodes built around a kid, I'm just not sure why they bothered to make Carol a mother if it was going to be a narrative dead end.

There have been a few episodes where I have found Arthur less irksome and, at least once, rather likable; this was notably an episode in which Arthur and Maude were chummy rather than at odds. When he's not portrayed as an arch-conservative boob, he's a pleasant enough character. In his default role, he's tied to my least favorite aspect of MAUDE: the yelling. The ear drum shaking, headache inducing yelling. Every time Arthur says something "conservative" I grit my teeth because it means Maude is about to bellow.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Bea called Betty "a c**t." Reportedly.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I had a chuckle when Maude turned on the TV, realized it was a cheesy gameshow with Betty White, and turned it off in disgust.

Oh yes. I completely forgot to mention this, but it's certainly interesting in hindsight. Like you, it made me wonder about the background of the difficult working relationship they were said to have had, and the scene does imply that there was something going on way before The Golden Girls.

I find it odd how little Carol's son is seen. I'm not sure he's even been on screen for a combined 5 minutes out of the 20 episodes I've watched. Mind you, I have no particular interest in seeing episodes built around a kid, I'm just not sure why they bothered to make Carol a mother if it was going to be a narrative dead end.

This has been somewhat fixed in some Season Two episodes, and he's an integral part of the penultimate S2 episode in particular.

When he's not portrayed as an arch-conservative boob, he's a pleasant enough character.

Perhaps it's approaching this off the back of watching Alf Garnett, but I'm actually a little surprised how little focus has been given to Arthur's political views. To me, most of the time, he comes off as more goofy and bumbling than overtly conservative.

the yelling. The ear drum shaking, headache inducing yelling.

I think I've become acclimatised to this. For which I suppose I should count my blessings.

 

[ClassyCo]

Dorothy & Maude -- opposite sides of the same cloth?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Three
Maude Meets The Duke / The Kiss / Walter’s Heart Attack / The New Housekeeper / Speed Trap / Lovers In Common / Walter’s Dream / A Night To Remember / Last Tango In Tuckahoe / Vivian’s Party / Maude The Boss / Maude’s New Friend / Walter’s Ex / Nostalgia Party / All Psyched Out
​

Finally - that swinging kitchen door came into its own when Maude entered the room cowboy style to glare at John Wayne. As someone whose real-world outlook is so opposed to Maude’s fictitious one, The Duke is in many ways a perfectly logical choice for a guest star. Perhaps the more eyebrow-raising aspect is that he would choose to do this series where he was cast in a somewhat unflattering light. Perhaps the attraction was seeing this knee-jerk liberal even more exposed than he was. And perhaps he took the chance that his sportsmanship would outweigh any negativity. If so, he may have been right. It was rather endearing seeing him trying not to corpse when Bea Arthur came bursting through that saloon door.

A less significant guest at the time would have been Herb Edelman, playing Maude’s disgruntled colleague who had lost out his promotion to her. With hindsight, it’s great fun to watch Bea sparring with her (sort of) future ex-husband. The sparks are flying here and it’s easy to see why he was chosen to play The Golden Girls’ Stan.

The most notable cast addition this year has been Hermione Baddeley as Mrs Naugatuck. I do enjoy her blowsiness and the less-than-subtle hints about her seedy sex life (especially since this is paired with her being a kind of fantasist so it’s difficult to pinpoint just how much is true). Still, I can find her a little too broad and caricatured, certainly compared with Florida who is is a hard act to follow. Incidentally, I had to do some online searching to remind myself that Hermione was indeed Angela Baddeley’s younger sister. Heaven knows what Mrs Bridges would have made of Mrs Naugatuck’s antics.

The credits for Vivian’s Party grabbed my attention as I spotted the Barbaras Avedon and Corday credited for the story. Since I associate their names with Cagney & Lacey, this only raised Maude in my estimations. Vivian, by the way, is truly blossoming as a character this season. There’s a bit of competitiveness and even some bitchy wordplay between her and Maude, but I also believe there’s genuine friendship there.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Three
The Telethon / And Then There Were None / The Emergence Of Vivian / Mrs Naugatuck In Love / Walter’s Pride / Walter Gets Religion / The Cabin / Maude’s Mother

Season Four
The Split / Consenting Adults​

There’s a comforting rhythm to the structure of the seasons. The Telethon, for example, feels analogous with the previous year’s Maude’s Musical. Each of them is a slightly random mid-season episode with a slender excuse to allow the cast to show off a range of performance skills we don’t usually see. Season Two’s example took a while to take with me because it felt tonally so different from the surrounding episodes. With The Telethon, I was able to take it on face value and enjoy it beginning to end.

Likewise, it seems to have become tradition for early season episodes to have some kind of crisis for Walter and Maude’s relationship. Season Two opened with Walter’s alcohol dependence, while early Season Three episodes saw Walter kiss Vivian and lie to Maude about supporting a young female employee at her apartment. Season Four has taken this a step further and seen the couple separate with intentions to divorce over Maude’s decision to run for a State Senate seat. The performances have been wonderful and convincing, but I couldn’t help feeling that Walter’s unsupportive reaction felt like a convenient device rather than truthful to his character. Maude’s stubborn defiance was perfectly in character, but it was ultimately a reaction to Walter’s black and white viewpoint around it which didn’t seem like so good a fit.

Mrs Naugatuck grew on me in the latter part of Season Three, but subtle she’s not. I do get it, though. Her broadly eccentric style harks back to music hall and can be found in any number of British traditions from Donald McGill postcards to Carry On films to Beryl Cook postcards: in none of which she’d seem out of place. I still miss Florida, though.

Mrs Naugatuck is not the only example of the show becoming a little more caricatured. One tradition that always comes across as particularly awkward in American sitcoms is this thing of sustained applause when a character makes their entrance. Maude has more or less avoided this until the latter part of Season Three. Maude’s mother got one of these appreciative applauses. In this context - presumably orchestrated to appeal to a veteran actress’s ego - it was tolerable enough as a one-off. The most jarring example, though, had come an episode or two earlier when Bert arrived at the Findlays’. This felt particularly odd since it wasn’t J. Pat O’Malley’s first appearance on the series, and this filled me with dread that we were going to have a Fonzie situation where an actor simply walks into the room and gets applause for doing nothing (which in turn fosters further lazy, cheap gimmickry). It’s clear from the quality of episodes that this is far from the case with Maude, but I do hope these examples aren’t the beginning of something.


In exciting news, as I pass the midway point the opening credits have had their first revamp, which has freshened things up while still retaining the familiarity of the journey out from New York to Tuckahoe. I'm not sure about the new credits which use what appears to be the same font as before but much bolder and with thick black telescoping. I suppose they may have looked fine on Seventies TVs, but on a 55 inch flatscreen they're now overwhelming and too uncomfortably large to read properly. Especially pleasing, though, is the timing of the music and images. It's been bothering me that the frozen pictures in the “uncompromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquillisin'” section were slightly ahead of the beat, but this has been fixed with the new take on this.

 

[Crimson]

My partner didn’t enjoy the episodes at all, though, feeling that they made light of serious subjects.

Having watched the first episode, I didn't care much for it either; I'm not even particularly enthusiastic about moving onto the second part. Sitcoms rarely handle serious matters well, not even Lear's shows for all their fame in handling hot topics. All too often, sitcoms have characters handle "problems" that were never indicated previously and will probably never be referred to again. This feels contrived and isolated.

With Walter's drinking problem, there was at least some precedent as the Findlays, and Walter in particular, were shown in S1 to be frequent drinkers. Yet even still, the "problem" felt abrupt with no previous hint his drinking was problematic. This storyline would have needed more than 2 episodes to be convincing. The only sitcom to really handle serious issues well was ROSEANNE, at its peak, which ran narrative and character arcs that would stretch over entire season(s).

I also didn't care for the mix of humor to seriousness. Not that comedy and serious issues can't work together, just not in this manner. I've been around drunk people a lot in my life and yet I have never encountered a drunk person who acts like Hollywood thinks drunk people behave. Walter's funny drunk routine felt vaudevillian, and the switch to seriousness less believable.

One tradition that always comes across as particularly awkward in American sitcoms is this thing of sustained applause when a character makes their entrance.

Stay away from 90s American sitcoms, where audience hooting became a thing.

 

[Daniel Avery]

If watching Good Times seems like too much of a time-drain, I find this Saturday Night Live skit serves as a "condensed version" of the show.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Sitcoms rarely handle serious matters well, not even Lear's shows for all their fame in handling hot topics. All too often, sitcoms have characters handle "problems" that were never indicated previously and will probably never be referred to again. This feels contrived and isolated.

Just this week I've watched the Season Four episodes where Walter relapses. While not as on the nose, there were aspects that didn't sit well with me which I'm sure I'll have more to say about when I get round to writing about the episodes.

Not that comedy and serious issues can't work together, just not in this manner.

On a related note, last night I watched an episode where Viv's beloved dog died while in Maude and Walter's charge. I'm an animal lover and know how heartbreaking the death of a pet can be, but it was still a really funny episode and it got me thinking how topics like bereavement are a sitcom staple and often very funny (depending, as you've observed, on how it's done), while there are other subjects that feel like a bad fit and are generally no-go zones.

If watching Good Times seems like too much of a time-drain, I find this Saturday Night Live skit serves as a "condensed version" of the show.

Even without watching Good Times I enjoyed and appreciated this. "Malcolm Ten" really made me chuckle.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Season Four
Rumpus In The Rumpus Room / Maude’s Big Decision / The Election / Viv’s Dog / For The Love Of Bert / The Fling​

The continuity in this series is quite impressive. The first five episodes of Season Four are more or less serialised; with the ongoing plots of Maude’s campaign; Walter and Maude’s separation; Walter’s alcoholic relapse; and dalliances (and perceived infidelity) with new partners. The ongoing story feels like a bold move for a genre in which syndication is the aim. Maude’s Big Decision goes so far as to include a creative summary of the previous episode to mitigate this, with flashbacks narrated by Mrs Naugatuck.

Walter’s response to Maude’s decision to run for Senate feels disappointing in more ways than one. It’s quite easy to argue that this perfectly in character, citing Walter’s chauvinistic reaction in Season Two’s Maude Takes A Job. This story hits a number of the same beats, right down to Maude giving up her dream to please her husband, before he has a change of heart. There’s a lot of water under the bridge since then, though, and it feels Maude and especially Walter have grown. Which serves to make Walter’s tantrum seem - as commented in my previous post - like a plot device.

Likewise, Walter’s relapse into alcoholism (to “punish” Maude) felt less convincing since it stemmed from a righteous anger I didn’t fully believe and was conveniently “fixed” by the end of the fourth episode to give a happy ending. It’s the nature of the beast with a sitcom that’s primarily episodic, though, so it’s to the series’ credit that it worked at all.

Helping to sell this romp through the same territory is bigger stakes. This isn’t just Maude going out during the day, but being in another state for weeks at a time: not an easy prospect for any relationship. Walter’s reaction might have been there for some sturm und drang, but he was a relatively newly-sober alcoholic facing a significant life change so it’s far from implausible.

The big surprise for me was that Conrad Bain had the standout moment, with Arthur’s observation that he didn’t like Walter giving one of the most impactful moments, even more so because it was quite unexpected coming from Arthur of all people.

Another plus of the story was Bernadette Peters as the young woman on Walter’s arm. The woman with whom Maude later believes he’s had sex after she visits his swinging bachelor pad to find one woman’s shoe on the floor and four feet protruding from the bed (the other two feet belonging in reality to Arthur who was as drunk as Walter). I enjoyed how, despite her slightly antagonistic role (in her relation to the lead character at least), the character was quirky and rather adorable with a childlike innocence. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of the organic wine drinking Kathy, and I see Bernadette was no stranger to ongoing sitcom roles having played herself in a number of episodes of The Cathy Griffin Show.

Another familiar face came along with Teri Garr’s wonderful deadpanning as Mrs Carlson: the pet funeral director who took her role incredibly seriously. Mrs Carlson’s deadly serious personality was a wonderful foil for Maude’s quips, and some of her little digs at Maude about murdering “Charles” or for ordering the pauper’s funeral service (“there’ll be laughter”, she grimly warned) made me laugh out loud.

Meanwhile, the man after whom Chuckie was named - Viv’s first husband Chuck - returned, newly minted with facial fuzz and as a ladykiller. This gave some terrific moments with both Bea and Rue. I’d assumed it was a different actor to the one we’d seen back in Season One - he certainly looked very different from my memory of him - but it was pleasing to see it was a callback for the original actor, which was another nice bit of continuity.

 

[KayLloyd]

Maude And The Radical / The Ticket / Love And Marriage / Flashback / Maude’s Dilemma Pt. I & II
continued​

Happily, as the series progresses there isn’t a single character I don’t enjoy. The entire ensemble works for me.

As Florida, Esther Rolle has potential to steal scenes and she sometimes does, but the writing keeps her right sized and leaves me wanting more. I find myself looking forward to her scenes and I hope this continues.

Adrienne Barbeau works nicely with everyone and feels entirely believable. Every once in a while she’ll get a scene that shows how much she gets it. The close-up of her face at the end of Love & Marriage as our only clue she was about to make a life changing decision is one of the strongest so far.

Like Florida, Arthur is given just enough to do. Conrad Bain helps sell that he gets on with both Maude and Walter for very different reasons, and Arthur has actually proved a nice confidante for Walter during some key moments. His impression of The Little Engine That Could, by the way, got a big laugh from me.

Walter - the one I was least sure about to begin with - frequently gets unexpectedly big laughs. The one that did it in Flashback was his admission that his $200 suit was in fact only worth $75:


It’s the kind of line where delivery is everything, and Bill Macy makes it hilarious.

And then along comes Vivian. It’s wonderful to see Rue McClanahan, and very strange to me to hear her speak in something other than her Southern Belle accent. She had a great moment in one of her first scenes where she imitated how Carol spoke as a child while going round the houses to explain that Maude was pregnant.

All of which means I’ve reached that two-parter. The episodes for which the series is remembered and the only entry in the series to have its very own Wikipedia page.

Approaching it with some degree of awareness of its trajectory, there’s quite a lot riding on this story. As I mentioned yesterday, I felt a little excited about watching. This became a low key anxiety as the time came to sit down and watch. Just as I would feel when watching a classic film that’s renowned as a masterpiece. I felt I was about to meet a legend.

The premise of Maude’s Dilemma put me in mind of a couple of of 1980s dramas.

The mid-life pregnancy and the decision over whether or not to keep the baby evoked Karen’s similar situation in Knots Landing. As watchable and well-executed as the Knots episode was, I’ve always felt the miscarriage “resolution” too much of a cop-out on the writers’ part: a way to have their cake and eat it by exploring the subject and then resetting things, absolving both characters and writer of any responsibility (Donna’s Down’s pregnancy on Dallas was an even more blatant example of this. It seems almost bizarre that it was a half hour sitcom that didn’t take the easy way out for characters or writers.

Meanwhile, Walter’s non-vasectomy played out almost in reverse in 1985 episodes of Brookside I’ve been watching just this month.

In Maude, Walter couldn’t bring himself to tell his liberal wife who didn’t want another baby he hadn’t had the vasectomy.

Over in Brookside, socialist Bobby swallowed his pride and went private in order to have a vasectomy without his staunchly Roman Catholic wife Sheila finding out (Sheila had just had her own mid-life baby and was terrified of getting pregnant again but even more terrified of incurring the wrath of God for using contraception, which meant many months of sexual deprivation for them both). Then he didn’t tell his wife he’d had the vasectomy (until she accidentally whacked him in the groin with a stepladder and he kind of had to).

Each was fascinating in its own way. And perhaps Walter’s cop out allowed these episodes, too, to retain a sense of the traditional sitcom end-of-episode reset to comfort viewers. And that was about as comfortable as it got, because there’s no mistaking that here is where the series backs itself and says something important.

Interesting to me was the initial response of the “live audience” (as the voiceover at the end always comically calls them). Knowing where this story was going, it felt almost horrifying when Maude telling Vivian she was pregnant was met with gales of laughter from the audience that went on for some time. To me, that really gives an idea of how unexpected this arc would have been at the time. Sitcom audiences were conditioned for the setup/punchline/laugh/reset kind of storytelling.

I’m a non-American who wasn’t born at the time this episode aired, so I don’t have an experiential understanding of the time and place. However, I do know that abortion had only just been made legal in New York (as mentioned in the story) and that this came shortly before a landmark legal case that had an impact on the legalisation of termination in many other states (though it’s shocking that abortion is banned in thirteen states in 2024).

In practical terms, I suspect that it would have been considered that this subject had potential to affect revenue if sponsors were put off by the risk of (or actual) pearl clutching. It seems there was, predictably, a somewhat successful campaign from Catholic groups to bury repeat screenings, which makes the episode’s existence feel even more incredible.

The biggest surprise for me was how funny I found these episodes. For me, the gags seemed funnier than usual and I’m not sure whether this is because they were funnier lines or because they provided a necessary outlet to contrast with the gravity of the subject matter; or simply because that contrast gave a balance that highlighted how funny they were. Whichever combination of these (and other) possibilities, the bottom line is that it did what any good sitcom should do and kept me laughing.

Despite Maude and Walter clearly taking their difficult decisions seriously, the episode overall didn’t feel off-puttingly heavy or preachy (though I say this having watched knowing the outcome). I found it as watchable and re-watchable as any of the other episodes. The balance was perfect. It makes me wonder how many of those who cried to abort this inconvenient episode actually watched it. But perhaps its innocuous accessibility is exactly why the same people found it so threatening.

I can understand that it’s an emotive subject about which many hold strong views and mileage will vary on the episode’s efficacy based one’s viewpoint, but the facts that the storytelling was put first and that this went ahead in 1972 America are decisions I can only applaud.

Putting controversy and subject matter aside, this ultimately feels like a traditional sitcom about miscommunication causing problems for a couple. If there's any kind of message at all, it's probably that honest discussion with an open mind and heart usually helps. Which seems reasonable enough to me.

To give you perspective on our Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, it was inevitable because the original justices seriously overstepped their reach on what should have always been a state by state issue. It didn't happen sooner because their weren't enough conservative justices to send the issue back to where it belonged in the first place. It's not 1973 anymore, with the advancements in birth control and the majority of Americans believing that abortions should not be performed after 15 weeks except in the case of rape or endangerment to the mother's life, it was way past time that our states got their rights back.

 

[Crimson]

was still a really funny episode and it got me thinking how topics like bereavement are a sitcom staple and often very funny (depending, as you've observed, on how it's done), while there are other subjects that feel like a bad fit and are generally no-go zones.

I said above that sitcoms rarely handle serious issues well, but of course that's not really true. What I meant is that sitcoms are rarely willing to put main characters into unpleasant situations. Sitcoms can handle serious issues well when it's arguing about socio-political concepts or reacting to events that occurred to secondary characters, but when it comes to main characters facing serious issues that's when sitcoms -- American, at least -- become reticent. AITF had two episodes were the female leads were faced with attempted rape but, presumably, the writers didn't want to subject the characters and the audience to the trauma sexual assault. And we see it in these two episodes of MAUDE, which wanted to show the dark side of Walter's drinking without turning him into a hated character; so we end up with a weak slap and an unconvincing black eye. Boldness and skittishness are not good partners. This is particularly surprising coming from MAUDE which had, after all, marched right into the abortion controversy rather than copping out with a miscarriage.

And I absolutely hated the second episode. Except for Carol, none of the characters behaved in a consistent or believable manner. When Florida started making jokes about the black eye, I nearly turned it off.