And Then There's Maude

[DDM]

And Then There's Maude! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzqJ-cYHf80&mode=related&search=)

[Ontir]

LOL!

I LOVED that show. I'm probably the only 9 year-old who plotted and planned (in the pre-VCR days) to watch the ever-risque sitcom!

[drwho]

And Then There's Maude! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzqJ-cYHf80&mode=related&search=)

ok tht is too weird.

[Sean Whitmore]

LOL!

I LOVED that show. I'm probably the only 9 year-old who plotted and planned (in the pre-VCR days) to watch the ever-risque sitcom!


Maude was a show I only discovered during Nick & Nite's monthly marathons, where they introduced a new show by playing it nonstop for a week or a weekend or something. It was good, though never quite as funny as Norman Lear's other shows. Possibly because Maude herself was too likeable. :)


SEAN

[DDM]

ok tht is too weird.

They sing The Jeffersons theme too...

[Ontir]

& Fat Albert!

Sean,

Maude only seems so likeable now. At the time, she was a lightning rod of controversy. In, IIRC, the show's first season, she found out she was, to her great consternation, pregnant. Deciding she and Walter were too old, Maude became the first character, on the first show, to have an abortion. Many people who agreed with her politics in general, stopped watching the show at that point, while onthers, who disliked her politics, which were always more central, and left-leaning than All in the Family (which, while lampooning Archie's bigotries, also poked at Mike and Gloria's biases, as well), found one more reason to detest her, and the show in general. Then, Norman Lear set the country on fire again, by creating a sitcom about a newly divorced mother of two, One Day at a Time. While Carol Brady had been divorced, it was skirted around, and only briefly in the pilot ep, in which she married Mike.

Furthering the controversy, was the fact that Maude had been married, at least twice, that her daughter, played by the knock-out Adrienne Barbeau, was not only divorced, but regularly had sex with a number of men she dated for varying amounts of time. In short, Lear and Yorkin had the balls to show America as it was in the 70's, and that's something that's not well received by the general public! :p

[Jared]

And here I thought "and then there's Maude!" was just something Flanders said once on The Simpsons.

[Sean Whitmore]

And here I thought "and then there's Maude!" was just something Flanders said once on The Simpsons.


When you're old enough and geeky enough, you realize there's rarely anything said on Simpsons that doesn't have a double meaning. ;)


SEAN

[Aggie]

And Then There's Maude! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzqJ-cYHf80&mode=related&search=)


god's gonna getcha ddm...;)

this is hysterical...i like the guy who pops up to do the chorus...:D

[Ontir]

It really is one of the better TV themes! As much as I can remember:

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn't care if the whole world looked

Joan of Arc, with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked

Isadora* was the first bra burner
Ain't'cha glad she showed up?

And when the country was fallin' apart
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up

And then there's Maude
and then there's Maude

And then there's....

Enterprisin'
Compromisin'
Anything but Tranquilizin'
Right on Maude!

*Isadora, refers to Isadora Duncan, who was killed by accessory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

[tangentman]

& Fat Albert!

Sean,

Maude only seems so likeable now. At the time, she was a lightning rod of controversy. In, IIRC, the show's first season, she found out she was, to her great consternation, pregnant. Deciding she and Walter were too old, Maude became the first character, on the first show, to have an abortion. Many people who agreed with her politics in general, stopped watching the show at that point, while onthers, who disliked her politics, which were always more central, and left-leaning than All in the Family (which, while lampooning Archie's bigotries, also poked at Mike and Gloria's biases, as well), found one more reason to detest her, and the show in general. Then, Norman Lear set the country on fire again, by creating a sitcom about a newly divorced mother of two, One Day at a Time. While Carol Brady had been divorced, it was skirted around, and only briefly in the pilot ep, in which she married Mike.

One of the nifty qualities about MAUDE was the way the writers also poked fun at Maude's shortcomings. Maude talked a great deal about her liberal politics, but often showed how out-of-touch she was with some of her causes as an (occasionally, sheltered) upper-middle class woman. For example, she inevitably stuck her foot in her mouth when she opined on race. If Maude provided commentary on her less enlightened peers, then Florida Evans often returned the favor on Maude.

Furthering the controversy, was the fact that Maude had been married, at least twice, that her daughter, played by the knock-out Adrienne Barbeau, was not only divorced, but regularly had sex with a number of men she dated for varying amounts of time. In short, Lear and Yorkin had the balls to show America as it was in the 70's, and that's something that's not well received by the general public! :p

There was also a rather notorious storyline with Walter's alcoholism, which culminated in his slapping Maude and having a nervous breakdown. Norman Lear NEVER shied away from controversy. On a side note, he's publicly confessed to enjoying SOUTH PARK, and contributed to one of the episodes.

[Ontir]

I loved Florida Evans, and while I enjoyed Good Times and Mrs. Naugatuck, who replaced Evans, it wasn't the same dynamic without her as Maude's foil.

[Sean Whitmore]

Maude only seems so likeable now. At the time, she was a lightning rod of controversy.


I know what you mean, but it's harder to believe by today's standards that anyone could find that kind of stuff controversial. Whereas Archie Bunker, deacdes later, still shocks me with the stuff he says. :)


SEAN

[Ontir]

I think you'd be hard-pressed to have a woman in her 50's, deciding to have an abortion, past Standards & Pracitces. Despite personal beliefs and/or practices, the fear of backlash is too strong.

[dougputhoff]

I can't believe You Tube got rid of its Hoppity Hooper and George of the Jungle cartoons and kept these bums.

[Ontir]

There were probably copyright issues with the first two. The guys are an odd, but loving tribute. I'm hoping they do the theme from Wonder Woman next! :D

[C.O. Jones]

It really is one of the better TV themes! As much as I can remember:

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn't care if the whole world looked

Joan of Arc, with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked

Isadora* was the first bra burner
Ain't'cha glad she showed up?

And when the country was fallin' apart
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up

And then there's Maude
and then there's Maude

And then there's....

Enterprisin'
Compromisin'
Anything but Tranquilizin'
Right on Maude!

*Isadora, refers to Isadora Duncan, who was killed by accessory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan


And sung by the great Donny Hathaway, no less!

[Aggie]

And sung by the great Donny Hathaway, no less!


whoa!!...i didn't know that...see, now that song just tripled in its awesomeness...:D


I think you'd be hard-pressed to have a woman in her 50's, deciding to have an abortion, past Standards & Pracitces. Despite personal beliefs and/or practices, the fear of backlash is too strong.


i thinkn you'd be hard press to find a woman in her 50s at the center of a television show or movie, period...that notwithstanding, it's pretty ironic that after all these years you can pretty much drop the f-bomb and/or simulate steamy sex but just mention the word abortion or god forbid, have a frank conversation about it and all holy hell breaks loose.