History YMMV / Maude

* AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: The only thing most people know about this series is that Maude has an abortion. So when she discovers in a VerySpecialEpisode that she is pregnant, [[ForegoneConclusion it's a pretty safe bet she won't be welcoming a new baby into the world]].

** For the most part, being the first show to have a legal abortion after Roe v. Wade right in the middle of the Feminist Movement was a huge deal. However, it seems more like ''Maude'' tends to get overshadowed by Arthur's and [=McClanahan's=] success on ''Series/TheGoldenGirls,'' since ''The Golden Girls'' still has a huge periphery demographic of younger people, while ''Maude'' has somewhat faded from the TV landscape.

** In the episode where Arthur gets enraged when he catches Carol's son and his granddaughter "playing Doctor", the focus is on how Maude and Carol have more liberated ideas about sexual expression and curiosity about the human body. Now, the concern would be whether this game was "consensual" and the two would have defended sex as natural but also discuss with the boy about respecting boundaries.

** For those primarily familiar with Bea's and Rue's work on ''Golden Girls'' and watching ''Maude'' for the first time, many of the themes will seem familiar: the game show episode (before "Grab That Dough," there was "Beat the Devil"), the UFO episode, a housekeeper of West Indian descent (before Marguerite, there was Victoria), and so on. It's also not hard to see a little of "Sophia and Salvatore Petrillo" in Maude and Walter.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Look, it's [[Series/TheGoldenGirls Dorothy and Blanche]]! But why is Blanche acting like [[Creator/BettyWhite Rose]]? Made even more apparent when we learn that ''The Golden Girls'' producers wanted [=McClanahan=] to play Rose and White to play Blanche; Bea Arthur wasn't interested in playing Dorothy under those conditions (calling it "Maude and Vivian meet [[Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow Sue Ann Nivens]]") until [=McClanahan=] informed her that ''she'' would be playing the vamp, and White the nitwit. "Now ''that'' sounds interesting", Arthur replied, and you know the rest.

** There's a similar scene when she confronts the man who tried to rape her 31 years prior. He apologizes and claims that he found her very sexy. She starts smiling and blushing and acting ''flattered'' that the reason he assaulted her was because he found her too desirable to resist. Granted given her age and the era of that time (not to far off when Joan boasts to Peggy about having men follow her home to her apartment on the street as show of her sexual desirability), it's understandable.

** There's a similar scene when she confronts the man who tried to rape her 31 years prior. He apologizes and claims that he found her very sexy. She starts smiling and blushing and acting ''flattered'' that the reason he assaulted her was because he found her too desirable to resist.

** Herb Edelman playing Maude's co-worker in "Maude the Boss", for those who know him as Dorothy's ex-husband on ''The Golden Girls'', since Bea Arthur played both characters.

* ValuesResonance: In response to Walter's dismissive attitude regarding her NearRapeExperience 31 years prior, Maude angrily declares that what happened to her is ''not'' insignificant, nor are her feelings about it.

* ValuesDissonance: The episode where Walter, in a drunken rage, hits Maude and gives her a black eye. Yes, he's sorry and all that, but the way she's comforting him and telling him it's OK, she knows he didn't mean it.... for a character portrayed as a radical feminist, this seems pretty jarring.

* EarWorm: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw&feature=related very catchy title song]], performed by Donny Hathaway and featuring famous women through "herstory". Lampshaded in a cutaway on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' as Peter and Lois watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apC44_0RNDE&feature=related "rarely seen full length version"]] of the lyrics.

* NeverLiveItDown: ''Maude'' ran for six seasons, and was a ratings hit throughout its run, but today it is remembered for the abortion episode and little else. This was ''very'' evident when Bea Arthur died, and reporters mentioned virtually ''nothing'' else about the show. (Contrast their fond and detailed retrospectives of ''The Golden Girls'', which has stuck far more firmly in the popular imagination.)

** Herb Edelman playing Maude's co-worker in "Maude the Boss", for those who know him as Dorothy's ex-husband on ''The Golden Girls''.

* JustHereForGodzilla: More than a few male viewers have admitted to watching the show just to look [[MsFanservice at Adrienne Barbeau]].

* StopHelpingMe: Maude's attempts at proving she was not prejudiced tended to irk Florida quite a bit, since Florida just wanted to do her job. In Florida's first episode, Maude believed that having Florida come into the house through the back door was somehow offensive (even though that's where they parked), so Maude made Florida walk all the way around the house to the front door to bring in the groceries.

** For the most part, being the first show to have a legal abortion after Roe v. Wade right in the middle of the Feminist Movement was a huge deal. However, it seems more like ''Maude'' tends to get overshadowed by Arthur's and [=McClanahan's=] success on ''TheGoldenGirls,'' since ''The Golden Girls'' still has a huge periphery demographic of younger people, while ''Maude'' has somewhat faded from the TV landscape.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Look, it's [[TheGoldenGirls Dorothy and Blanche]]! But why is Blanche acting like [[Creator/BettyWhite Rose]]? Made even more apparent when we learn that ''The Golden Girls'' producers wanted [=McClanahan=] to play Rose and White to play Blanche; Bea Arthur wasn't interested in playing Dorothy under those conditions (calling it "Maude and Vivian meet [[TheMaryTylerMooreShow Sue Ann Nivens]]") until [=McClanahan=] informed her that ''she'' would be playing the vamp, and White the nitwit. "Now ''that'' sounds interesting", Arthur replied, and you know the rest.

* EarWorm: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw&feature=related very catchy title song]] featuring famous women through "herstory". Lampshaded in a cutaway on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' as Peter and Lois watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apC44_0RNDE&feature=related "rarely seen full length version"]] of the lyrics.

* StopHelpingMe: Maude's attempts at proving she was not prejudiced tended to irk Florida quite a bit, since Florida just wanted to do her job. In Florida's first episode, Maude believed that having Florida come into the house through the back door was somehow offensive (even though that's where they parked), so Maude made Florida walk all the way around the house to the front door to bring in the groceries.

* EarWorm- The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw&feature=related very catchy title song]] featuring famous women through "herstory". Lampshaded in a cutaway on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' as Peter and Lois watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apC44_0RNDE&feature=related "rarely seen full length version"]] of the lyrics.

* NeverLiveItDown - ''Maude'' ran for six seasons, and was a ratings hit throughout its run, but today it is remembered for the abortion episode and little else. This was ''very'' evident when Bea Arthur died, and reporters mentioned virtually ''nothing'' else about the show. (Contrast their fond and detailed retrospectives of ''The Golden Girls'', which has stuck far more firmly in the popular imagination.)

* RetroactiveRecognition: Look, it's [[TheGoldenGirls Dorothy and Blanche]]! But why is Blanche acting like [[BettyWhite Rose]]? Made even more apparent when we learn that ''The Golden Girls'' producers wanted [=McClanahan=] to play Rose and White to play Blanche; Bea Arthur wasn't interested in playing Dorothy under those conditions (calling it "Maude and Vivian meet [[TheMaryTylerMooreShow Sue Ann Nivens]]") until [=McClanahan=] informed her that ''she'' would be playing the vamp, and White the nitwit. "Now ''that'' sounds interesting", Arthur replied, and you know the rest.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Look, it's [[TheGoldenGirls Dorothy and Blanche]]! But why is Blanche acting like [[BettyWhite Rose]]? Made even more apparent when we learn that ''The Golden Girls'' producers wanted [=McClanahan=] to play Rose and White to play Blanche; Bea Arthur wasn't interested in playing Dorothy under those conditions (calling it "Maude and Vivian meet [[TheMaryTylerMooreShow Sue Ann Nivens]]") until [=McClanahan=] informed her that ''she'' would be playing the vamp, and White the nitwit. "Now ''that'' sounds interesting", Arthur replied, and you know the rest.

* NeverLiveItDown - ''Maude'' ran for six seasons, and was a ratings hit throughout its run, but today it is remembered for the abortion episode and little else. This was ''very'' evident when Bea Arthur died, and reporters mentioned virtually ''nothing'' else about the show.

* EarWorm- The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9NY8R-LmIw&feature=related very catchy title song]] featuring famous women through "herstory". Lampshaded in a cutaway on ''FamilyGuy'' as Peter and Lois watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apC44_0RNDE&feature=related "rarely seen full length version"]] of the lyrics.