Maude - The Complette First Season

I bought this season because I'd never seen Maude before but had heard about it and knew the character from "All in the Family" and, of course, actress Beatrice Arthur from "The Golden Girls" (one of the funniest actresses of all time). I thought it would be a politically controversial series from the liberal Maude's point of view rather than the conservative side of Archie Bunker.Politics certainly plays a large role in this first season but the series doesn't seem to push the envelope like "All in the Family." Archie had an outspoken nemesis in Michael and many others who disagreed with him but Maude's conservative counterpart, neighbor Arthur played by Conrad Bain who later played the father on "Diff'rent Strokes," seems a bit wishywashy to spark much heated debate. Plus, he remains a close friend of Maude's husband Walter so there's more lighthearted argument rather than shouting matches. The other characters have the same political/social leanings as Maude, so she doesn't get challenged much. "Maude Meets Florida" is the big exception where Maude goes overboard in her liberalism and her proud, confident housekeeper puts her in her place. I consider that episode the best of this season. The main arguments are between Maude and Walter over sometimes silly issues. They have a very loving relationship but they sure break a lot of things when they are mad.Other familiar faces are Esther Rolle and John Amos (playing their "Good Times" roles), Rue McClanahan ("Mama's Family," "Golden Girls"), and Tom Bosley ("Happy Days"). It is very `70s and I like seeing the interior decorating of that time. It was neat to watch the first time but I don't know if it's a show I'd want to watch over and over save for a couple of episodes.Disc 1"Maude's Problem": Maude finds out her daughter Carol is seeing a psychologist. It doesn't seem like it should be as big of an issue as it is here as Maude is so liberal but, I guess when it hits close to home, it's a different story."Doctor, Doctor": Walter's conservative friend Arthur is concerned about Carol's son (who never has much of a role in this season) playing doctor with his granddaughter and this starts an argument about sexual freedom with Maude."Maude Meets Florida": Maude hires Florida Evans as her cleaning woman and goes overboard making her feel like an equal. This is one of the better episodes."Like Mother, Like Daughter": Maude is angry that Carol is dating an older man...a man she used to date."Maude and the Radical": Maude hopes to impress a famous black militant leader at a fundraising party but the guests all leave before he arrives."The Ticket": This is one of the silliest episodes, I think. Maude receives a speeding ticket and insists on going to court to fight it even after Arthur gets her ticket "fixed." The scenes with the young traffic officer are so silly they're almost painful to watch."Love and Marriage": Carol announces she is going to ask her boyfriend, whom she does not love but is a very handsome older man, to marry her so she and her son can leave Maude's house. The dish-breaking scene is a little over-the-top but I found out that breaking things is one of the ways the Findlays air out their differences and it also caused Carol to re-consider her plans."Flashback": Maude and Walter watch the Nixon-McGovern election returns and reminisce about the 1968 Nixon-Humphrey election when they were going together and questioning their future.Disc 2"Maude's Dilemma Parts 1 & 2": Maude finds out she's pregnant at 47. Abortion, vasectomy are all discussed, although the moral implications of abortion are not really examined."Maude's Reunion": Maude's college friend visits and the former mousey girl with an overbite is now stunning and Vice President of Avon. Maude begins to consider what she has done with her life and, ironically, defends the traditional wife/mother role. Seems out of character."Grass Story": Maude is intent on bringing marijuana to a police station so she and a group of liberal housewives can protest a local kid facing jail time for possession. Walter is against her plans but Maude will get her way. Interesting ending as even the police chief sympathizes with Maude's cause. One of the better episodes."The Slumlord": Walter is a member of a syndicate that purchased property that has a tenement. A black man pickets the Findlays' house with a "Slumlord" sign."The Convention": Maude and Walter are in a hotel room getting ready for Walter's Maytag convention and they have a lengthy argument about the worth of men and women in society. I don't think this episode goes anywhere. Walter is already a liberal man. It seemed boring and pointless."Walter's 50th Birthday": An old friend dies at Walter's 50th Birthday party and Walter faces his mortality.Disc 3"Maude and the Medical Profession": Maude and Walter plan a second honeymoon trip to Italy and Maude gets a rash. Arthur recommends a dermatologist (Tom Bosley) who doesn't give Maude proper directions for pills. Maude gets in a car accident due to the side effects and misses the trip so she and Walter try to convince Arthur to testify against the doctor in court. As a fellow doctor, Arthur worries about his reputation if he were to testify. The ending seemed rushed and unsatisfying to me."Arthur Moves In": Arthur stays at the Findlays' while his house is being repaired for fire damage and Maude is jealous of the time he and Walter spend together."Florida's Problem": Florida's husband (John Amos) gets a second job because he doesn't want his wife working for a white family. He and Walter then go on a powertrip but are soon put in their place."Walter's Secret": Carol sees Walter with a woman at a cocktail lounge at the Holiday Inn. Walter then confesses his mid-life crisis."Maude's Good Deed": Maude tries to reunite an old sorority friend with her estranged daughter who is fighting with her over her inheritance. Things don't quite go as Maude plans. Carol sides with the daughter but we don't really learn enough about the inheritance issue to figure which side is right."The Perfect Marriage": Back from a Jamaican vacation, Maude and Walter's best friends Vivan (Rue McClanahan) and Chuck announce they are getting a divorce. Maude and Walter begin to question their own compatibility. More things get broken."Maude's Night Out": Maude and Walter get ready for a dinner party and the entire episode they argue about the host's "furtive glances at Maude's fabulous fanny" and other issues. This episode reminds me of "The Convention" as there are only two actors in the whole episode, a lot of dialog, and one setting (though they move between the bathroom and bedroom). I found the interior décor and all that wallpaper interesting to look at. This episode is very funny. I like how Maude totally disses certain women and then in the next sentence says how good of friends they are. It's also fun to see her totally change her opinion of a couple by the end of the episode. I also like when she pulls off the piece of tissue paper on Walter's shaved face and says, "Bleed, Walter." Bea Arthur is one of the best comedic actresses ever!

Norman Lear's seminal television series 'Maude' (1972-1978) harks back to a time when American adults were still adults, people freely and fearlessly spoke their minds, and the modern scourge of political correctness did not exist.Lear revolutionized American television with 'All In The Family' (1971-1979), which introduced audiences to bigoted conservative Queens resident Archie Bunker in an era when most viewers where still tuning in for pleasant rural fantasies like 'Mayberry R.F.D.' and established series with magical premises like 'Bewitched' (1964-1972).Where television comedies of the previous decade, from 'Mr. Ed' (1961-1966) to 'Hazel' (1961-1966), had emphasized genteel good manners and upper middle class respectability, All In The Family, with its coarse blue collar protagonist and his 'dingbat' wife, Edith, hit the ground running by boldly tackling themes of racism, anti-Semitism, rape, homosexuality, women's liberation, breast cancer, and impotence.Rumored to have been based on Lear's wife Frances, Maude Findlay originally debuted on All In The Family in a passing role as Edith Bunker's cousin. Maude was the diametric opposite of Archie Bunker: upper middle class, feminist, educated, intelligent, and, above all, liberal.Brilliantly portrayed by Beatrice Arthur, Lear wisely realized that he had television gold on his hands, and 'Maude' soared into primetime, as instant and controversial a success as All In The Family had been a year earlier. Arthur's commanding presence, impeccable comic timing, and blatant intellect cast an instant shadow across the entertainment landscape of the country, making 'Maude' one the decade's most recognizable icons.Dressed in her slightly eccentric trademark ensemble of a kneelength open vest over a blouse, a neckerchief, and a pair of loose trousers, the tall, confrontational, never less-than-assertive Maude, with her unruly steel-gray hair, hilariously roars through each episode, bellowing, hollering, and reducing her antagonists to rubble like a prototypical Japanese monster.Like All In The Family, 'Maude' would embrace mature themes like racism, abortion, spousal abuse, alcoholism, and mental illness (in a later season, Maude is revealed to suffer from manic-depression after becoming obsessed with the idea that screen legend Henry Fonda should become America's next president) head-on in a responsible but consistently entertaining manner. 'Maude' was a program created largely for adults and watched largely by adults; children and teenagers were unlikely to find it interesting.As the characters in Woody Allen's later films 'Annie Hall' (1977) and 'Manhattan' (1979) would, Maude, her husband Walter (Bill Macy), and other adult cast members blithely take subscription pills to stabilize their moods, while the ritual of evening cocktails is an essential component of the Findlay's daily lives. There are very few episodes in the first season in which Maude, Walter, or physician-neighbor Arthur (Conrad Bain) don't reach for a drink as soon as tempers begin to flare.Perhaps these habits explain the continually worn-out, beaten-down look of the cast, the repulsive clothing worn by everyone, the women's taste-free hairstyles, and the relatively tacky interior of the Findlay manse.Or perhaps Lear was partially attempting to underscore the 'realism' of his program: the grooming, dress, and decor found in 'Maude' are leagues away from the polished standard established by earlier Fifties and Sixties television series from 'Leave It To Beaver' (1957-1963) and 'My Favorite Martian' (1963-1966) to 'That Girl' and 'Family Affair' (both 1966-1971).This is particularly unlikely to be the case, however, since most of the show's production values are equally poor, a trend which would unfortunately sweep Seventies television and not be rectified until the late Eighties and early-to-mid Nineties with dramas like 'Thirtysomething' (1987-1991), 'Twin Peaks' (1990-1991), 'Northern Exposure' (1990-1195), and 'Picket Fences' (1992-1996).But 'Maude' was always about intellectual substance rather than visual style, and if he couldn't reflect both qualities equally, Lear certainly made the right choice, as 'Maude,' via the complexity of the writing, characterization, and superb acting by Arthur, remains the never-bettered situation comedy of its kind.

It came within the allotted time and is being enjoyed!

Excellent American series

i love the golden girls and i have never seen this and it has the late bea Arthur whom is a great talent.from 1970 and i am excited to watch.mint condition 4 a great price.there is only one left get it soon.

Maude was a bitch and she knew it....and for once men had to accept it and deal with it. She taught women that it was okay to be strong and feminine...and if that made you a bitch ...then so be it....women were strong enough on their own without a mans opinion anyways.

I remember watching this when it first came out. Women's lib was just beginning. Maude helped many women find their voice. Be a Arthur was so perfect for this role