Post by jasonb on Apr 8, 2018 14:12:06 GMT
Let me clear something up before I start.. I was 2 when #Maude debuted in 1972 and when I found the series it was in 2014, and I watched *most* of the series back-to-front (Or just a random episode here and there, because its the best way to watch a show..) since 2014.. I also think the show is very relevant now more then ever. I may have slammed the show many times in the past for 'aging badly' but like many shows, it depends on how far they have come to age badly and what context you watch the series in(if you watch it to see what was the deal in the 70s that's fine. What ever reason you watch any show is fine, that doesn't bother me. In many shows you find the gem of the bunch and you find a series you come to love in the end). With reboots of many shows taking place now you may think why I chose to write about #Maude.
(also let me give you a reminder.. Make sure you don't have the volume on this show all the way up. your neighbours might think your having an argument.) Now lets go on with the show. Oh and beware.. tangents are full steam ahead.. don't mind me..
And then there's Maude. Uncompromising, enterprising anything but tranquilising, right on Maude...
I have also written about #Maude before and how it changed the lives of its Main cast and how the world reacted to the show. Norman Lear sure knew how to produce shows in the 70s and now is still going stronger then ever (And even now he's producing a new TV movie as well as the reboot of One Day at a Time).
Just a reminder that Lear produced The Jeffersons, Maude, All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time (Original and Reboot of the series) and even produced Diff'rent Strokes (he didn't put his name in the credits but his production company Tandem Productions). And many many more shows. The reason behind many of our favourite shows is Norman Lear.
But what else was on during the 70s? A lot of shows either started or ended their run and one of America's popular tv shows at the time was M*A*S*H, followed by All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore, Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, Laverne and Shirley, Rhoda and many, many more. (Sitcoms, sitcoms for days! Woo!)
What did Maude teach me? What did the shows episodes teach me? That a very talented cast dealt 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 that are now seen as "no big deal" nowadays. but in the 70s many people weren't ready for a such an "in your face" sitcom. But as everyone knows All in the Family broke a lot of barriers, Maude obviously followed suit and so did many more shows after that..
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 and starting her career as a senator, when that's not how the senate works..
(as when someone in the senate dies a vote must take place on who replaces the person who died in office. so yes that's not how the senate works, but hey its fiction so it doesn't matter.)
The Maude cast which consisted of Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy, Esther Rolle , Adrienne Barbeau, Hermione Baddedly, Conrad Bain, J Pat O'Malley etc., the cast gelled and they got along so well, I think you could see it during an episode and how far they came in 6 years. It was Bea's first series and she took it very seriously and she was all about providing a great episode experience, it was one of Rue's first series as well (as she was doing TV movies and was on Broadway as well). It was a great cast and it was wonderful viewing sometimes, other times I think I wanted the tv on mute.
What did the show teach me personally?
1. The show taught me to laugh more.
2. How underrated Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) and Arthur (Conrad Bain) were. (Conrad's acting in the role and seeing him in Diff'rent Strokes was highly different to see him portraying Harmon as an annoying neighbour, and then seeing him as a father figure was amazing. Adrienne on the other hand was amazing and how she grew into the role of Carol. As I have read that she missed many episodes of the last 2 seasons due to a growing film career (becoming a scream queen, and the voice of catwoman.) The two were just so versatile and very underrated.
3. How Bea Arthur held her comedic timing- As Bea said she never understood what that meant, but we did. She held a take and she could just say something so deadpan it was brilliant.
4. How unfair the workforce was- and how unfair it still is now, as the series progresses Maude takes a job with a salary of $9k a year, sometimes now some people still earn less then $10k a year and that is not much. Women still earn a lot less and men earn more. But strides are being made.
5. How loud they were. This is self explanatory, i'm fair sure the boom-mics were either broken or non-existent lol.
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 are different, they made a lot of people stand up and think about how the world can be so much more and how a show from the 70s can show you how far TV has come..
(also let me give you a reminder.. Make sure you don't have the volume on this show all the way up. your neighbours might think your having an argument.) Now lets go on with the show. Oh and beware.. tangents are full steam ahead.. don't mind me..
And then there's Maude. Uncompromising, enterprising anything but tranquilising, right on Maude...
I have also written about #Maude before and how it changed the lives of its Main cast and how the world reacted to the show. Norman Lear sure knew how to produce shows in the 70s and now is still going stronger then ever (And even now he's producing a new TV movie as well as the reboot of One Day at a Time).
Just a reminder that Lear produced The Jeffersons, Maude, All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time (Original and Reboot of the series) and even produced Diff'rent Strokes (he didn't put his name in the credits but his production company Tandem Productions). And many many more shows. The reason behind many of our favourite shows is Norman Lear.
But what else was on during the 70s? A lot of shows either started or ended their run and one of America's popular tv shows at the time was M*A*S*H, followed by All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Mary Tyler Moore, Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, Laverne and Shirley, Rhoda and many, many more. (Sitcoms, sitcoms for days! Woo!)
What did Maude teach me? What did the shows episodes teach me? That a very talented cast dealt 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 that are now seen as "no big deal" nowadays. but in the 70s many people weren't ready for a such an "in your face" sitcom. But as everyone knows All in the Family broke a lot of barriers, Maude obviously followed suit and so did many more shows after that..
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 and starting her career as a senator, when that's not how the senate works..
(as when someone in the senate dies a vote must take place on who replaces the person who died in office. so yes that's not how the senate works, but hey its fiction so it doesn't matter.)
The Maude cast which consisted of Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Bill Macy, Esther Rolle , Adrienne Barbeau, Hermione Baddedly, Conrad Bain, J Pat O'Malley etc., the cast gelled and they got along so well, I think you could see it during an episode and how far they came in 6 years. It was Bea's first series and she took it very seriously and she was all about providing a great episode experience, it was one of Rue's first series as well (as she was doing TV movies and was on Broadway as well). It was a great cast and it was wonderful viewing sometimes, other times I think I wanted the tv on mute.
What did the show teach me personally?
1. The show taught me to laugh more.
2. How underrated Carol (Adrienne Barbeau) and Arthur (Conrad Bain) were. (Conrad's acting in the role and seeing him in Diff'rent Strokes was highly different to see him portraying Harmon as an annoying neighbour, and then seeing him as a father figure was amazing. Adrienne on the other hand was amazing and how she grew into the role of Carol. As I have read that she missed many episodes of the last 2 seasons due to a growing film career (becoming a scream queen, and the voice of catwoman.) The two were just so versatile and very underrated.
3. How Bea Arthur held her comedic timing- As Bea said she never understood what that meant, but we did. She held a take and she could just say something so deadpan it was brilliant.
4. How unfair the workforce was- and how unfair it still is now, as the series progresses Maude takes a job with a salary of $9k a year, sometimes now some people still earn less then $10k a year and that is not much. Women still earn a lot less and men earn more. But strides are being made.
5. How loud they were. This is self explanatory, i'm fair sure the boom-mics were either broken or non-existent lol.
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 are different, they made a lot of people stand up and think about how the world can be so much more and how a show from the 70s can show you how far TV has come..