MAUDE

Norman Lear strikes again. There are times when I think we should just rename the 70’s section to The Norman Lear Decade! Maude Findlay was Edith Bunker’s cousin on All In The Family. Her over-bearing, democratic party voting, liberal viewpoints proved strong enough to warrant her own show. So Lear asked Bea Arthur to move into the show “Maude” and she did.
From 1972 to 1978 America laughed with Maude as she worked on her 4th husband, Walter. Most of the laughs peaked when Maude would end an argument with her hubby by saying “God will get you for that, Walter.” (Chalk up another laugh for the 70’s catch phrase)

COOL TRIVIA ALERT: If you are one those people who love to trace actors careers back to odd roles or track spin-offs to their original show then Maude has a few trivia bits for you. Lets begin with Maude’s housekeeper Florida Evans…sound familiar? It should, she would leave the show in 1974 for her OWN series called “Good Times”.
Then there is Maude’s next door neighbors Arthur and Vivian Harmon. Now they are played by Conrad Bain, who would go on to br Mr. Drummond in “Different Strokes” and Rue McClanahan, who would rejoin Bea Arthur in the 80’s for “Golden Girls”. Now then, Maude’s daughter Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) dated many men and would go on “business trips” with them quite frequently but one guy she dated more than any other was played by Fred Grandy who would go on to be Gopher on “The Love Boat”.
And to bring everything full circle…. Esther Rolle, who played Florida Evans would go to “Good Times” which was created by Mike Evans who played Lionel Jefferson on “All In The Family” the show that spun off Maude in the first place. Whew…Im tired.

Maude ended on April 22nd 1978 but not before leaving a big impression on the nation….and a pretty awesome theme song. 🙂