Why I Secretly Enjoy The Series #Maude
Dec 31, 2017 11:40:01 GMT
Douglas and tweetsfrommaude like this
Post by jasong on Dec 31, 2017 11:40:01 GMT
And then there's Maude. Uncompromising, enterprising anything but tranquilising, right on Maude...
The Series in 1972 that turned then 50 Year Old Bea Arthur into a superstar. But I know that I've always slammed the show on twitter for ageing badly and being just too political for my liking.. , but there are some points to the show that matter today. But why?
For one.. Norman Lear made sure he knew what he was doing with the series and he knew where he wanted it to go.. This is why Norman is still the king of TV, and the lady he chose to do the show, Bea Arthur who at the time was known for her comedic style, even on Broadway, Bea for 6 years gave her all to this series, then 8 years later skyrocketed into the legendary show #GoldenGirls.
Whilst I wasn't around during the debut season of Maude, I found the series online late in 2014, and watched all 6 seasons of the show.
What did this make me see? A very talented cast deal with a lot of things, that in the 70s were very taboo, like alcoholism, manic depression, abortion and the realm of politics and feminism. Mostly topical episodes in an era in which sitcoms almost died out.
The 70s gave us some great shows like All in the Family, MASH, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore, Diff'rent Strokes etc. But what makes Maude standout?
The fact the main lead was in fact a woman in the 70s, which not many sitcoms in the 70s had, guaranteed that it was one of many shows created by Lear himself to make sure a women lead in the feminist movement, was what the 70s maybe needed....but they got it anyway
The Maude cast which consisted of, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy, Esther Rolle (season 1-2), Adrienne Barbeau, Hermione Baddedly, Conrad Bain, the two children who played Philip, took to the screens for 6 years with storylines that were ahead of its time sometimes.
From Maude's "God'll get you for that Walter" to Walters' "Maude Sit!", to the season 1 episode 10 ending "I love you Walter Findlay.." gave the series its premise. Whilst most people have said the show brought topic discussion to a series in the 70s. For example, the episode "Maude's Dilemma" part 1, which dealt with late life pregnancy, and the decision in the 2nd episode to have an abortion, wasn't discussed nor even talked about until reruns of the episode were taken off tv the following year after the episode was found out, and according to Bea Arthur during an interview that people wrote in 'Violently shunning abortion, but were proud to see and episode go to air.' and that 'the hate mail, I think they didn't let me see on purpose' and that "an interview had to be scheduled elsewhere because of protests" , and can be found now on many online video sharing sites. And who wrote those 2 episodes? None other than Golden Girls creator, Susan Harris who would go on to write for Soap, and over 7 years later Golden Girls.
Whilst I can say I did not care much for the political side of the show, I also find it weird on why and how the series ended with Maude going to Washington, when that's not how the senate works.. I did enjoy the series comedic moments, because no doubt it had some. And who provided those comedic moments? Why Bea Arthur of course, that's why her comedic legacy lives on.
Still gotta say, did the sound department think we were deaf? because... I reckon they did.
Whilst the show may not have aged well, a lot of people say that Maude is Bea's best role and they think that Golden Girls made focus on all four girls and not just one. I personally believe whilst the two shows are in different TV eras, they are different and have their own legacy.
-Jasong
The Series in 1972 that turned then 50 Year Old Bea Arthur into a superstar. But I know that I've always slammed the show on twitter for ageing badly and being just too political for my liking.. , but there are some points to the show that matter today. But why?
For one.. Norman Lear made sure he knew what he was doing with the series and he knew where he wanted it to go.. This is why Norman is still the king of TV, and the lady he chose to do the show, Bea Arthur who at the time was known for her comedic style, even on Broadway, Bea for 6 years gave her all to this series, then 8 years later skyrocketed into the legendary show #GoldenGirls.
Whilst I wasn't around during the debut season of Maude, I found the series online late in 2014, and watched all 6 seasons of the show.
What did this make me see? A very talented cast deal with a lot of things, that in the 70s were very taboo, like alcoholism, manic depression, abortion and the realm of politics and feminism. Mostly topical episodes in an era in which sitcoms almost died out.
The 70s gave us some great shows like All in the Family, MASH, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore, Diff'rent Strokes etc. But what makes Maude standout?
The fact the main lead was in fact a woman in the 70s, which not many sitcoms in the 70s had, guaranteed that it was one of many shows created by Lear himself to make sure a women lead in the feminist movement, was what the 70s maybe needed....but they got it anyway
The Maude cast which consisted of, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy, Esther Rolle (season 1-2), Adrienne Barbeau, Hermione Baddedly, Conrad Bain, the two children who played Philip, took to the screens for 6 years with storylines that were ahead of its time sometimes.
From Maude's "God'll get you for that Walter" to Walters' "Maude Sit!", to the season 1 episode 10 ending "I love you Walter Findlay.." gave the series its premise. Whilst most people have said the show brought topic discussion to a series in the 70s. For example, the episode "Maude's Dilemma" part 1, which dealt with late life pregnancy, and the decision in the 2nd episode to have an abortion, wasn't discussed nor even talked about until reruns of the episode were taken off tv the following year after the episode was found out, and according to Bea Arthur during an interview that people wrote in 'Violently shunning abortion, but were proud to see and episode go to air.' and that 'the hate mail, I think they didn't let me see on purpose' and that "an interview had to be scheduled elsewhere because of protests" , and can be found now on many online video sharing sites. And who wrote those 2 episodes? None other than Golden Girls creator, Susan Harris who would go on to write for Soap, and over 7 years later Golden Girls.
Whilst I can say I did not care much for the political side of the show, I also find it weird on why and how the series ended with Maude going to Washington, when that's not how the senate works.. I did enjoy the series comedic moments, because no doubt it had some. And who provided those comedic moments? Why Bea Arthur of course, that's why her comedic legacy lives on.
Still gotta say, did the sound department think we were deaf? because... I reckon they did.
Whilst the show may not have aged well, a lot of people say that Maude is Bea's best role and they think that Golden Girls made focus on all four girls and not just one. I personally believe whilst the two shows are in different TV eras, they are different and have their own legacy.
-Jasong
