History YMMV / Maude

** 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, who had not planned to work on another sitcom after her 1983 vehicle for Creator/{{ABC}}, ''Amanda's'', had bombed, 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 [[Series/MadMen 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.
** 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 discussed with the boy about respecting boundaries. In the same episodes Arthur also rants several times about the government being "permeated by homosexuals" as a sign of the decay of moral society, something that sounds downright insane by modern standards, the other characters meanwhile just treat it as a drollery and reprimand Arhtur for "getting off of subject".

* HarsherInHindsight: In "The Tax Audit", Maude recounts having a NearRapeExperience 31 years prior. Her description of her father's reaction--blaming her, calling her a "tramp", etc--as well as Walter's dismissive attitude--"You got away, so what's the big deal?", etc, is ''precisely'' what has been stated by numerous women as the reason they didn't report instances of sexual abuse/assault/harassment.
** Also in the sister show ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' Maude's niece Gloria and cousin Edith have nearly been raped, the latter during her 50th birthday.

** Speaking of Betty White, she had a short-lived sitcom on Creator/{{CBS}} during this show's final season, which aired Monday nights at 9:00. As ''Maude'' aired Monday nights at 9:30, CBS viewers on Monday night during the 9:00 hour would have seen three of the four future ''Golden Girls'' in action (all except Estelle Getty). And curiously, neither series hit ratings gold that season: White's sitcom fizzled quickly and ''Maude'' had fallen into the ratings basement by then.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The show 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 Creator/BeaArthur died, and reporters mentioned virtually ''nothing'' else about the show. (Contrast their fond and detailed retrospectives of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', which has stuck far more firmly in the popular imagination.)

** 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 discussed with the boy about respecting boundaries. In the same episodes Arthur also rants several times about the government being "permeated by homosexuals" as a sign of the decay of moral society, something that sounds downright insane by modern standards.

** 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 discussed with the boy about respecting boundaries.

* ItWasHisSled: The only thing many 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]].

** A line from Walter when Maude is trying to wake him up on election day in "The Election": "Wake me up when the float with Creator/BettyWhite passes by!" Fast forward a decade and Betty White is co-starring with Bea Arthur on ''The Golden Girls''.
** Speaking of Betty White, she had a short-lived sitcom on CBS during the final season of ''Maude'' (1977-78), which aired Monday nights at 9:00. As ''Maude'' aired Monday nights at 9:30, CBS viewers on Monday night during the 9:00 hour would have seen three of the four future ''Golden Girls'' in action (all except Estelle Getty). And curiously, neither series hit ratings gold that season: White's sitcom fizzled quickly and ''Maude'' had fallen into the ratings basement by then.
* JustHereForGodzilla: More than a few viewers have admitted to watching the show just to look [[MsFanservice at Adrienne Barbeau]].
* OvershadowedByControversy: ''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.)

** The third season episode "Maude's New Friend", in which Maude admires a local gay novelist, confronts her husband about his bigotry, and confronts her own preconceptions about gay people. The episode aired five years before the first gay pride march in Washington.

** The show was [[TransatlanticEquivalent remade for UK television]] under the title ''Nobody's Perfect'', which starred Elaine Stritch in the Bea Arthur role. A few years later, Stritch would audition for an American TV show called ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', and would lose the role she was going for, Dorothy Zbornak, to Bea Arthur.

* AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame: The only thing many 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]].

* TheCastShowoff: ''Maude'' afforded Beatrice Arthur numerous attempts to display her dancing and singing talents, even more so than ''Golden Girls''. Maude was given to randomly breaking out in song on occasion, and a few episodes were even themed around musical telethons. The other cast members got in on it too, including Bill Macy and Adrienne Barbeau, who both had musical theater backgrounds (in ''Oh! Calcutta'' and ''Grease'' respectively).

* HilariousInHindsight: The show was [[TransatlanticEquivalent remade for UK television]] under the title ''Nobody's Perfect'', which starred Elaine Stritch in the Bea Arthur role. A few years later, Stritch would audition for an American TV show called ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', and would lose the role she was going for, Dorothy Zbornak, to Bea Arthur.

* 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, who had not planned to work on another sitcom after her 1983 vehicle for Creator/{{ABC}}, ''Amanda's'', had bombed, 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.

* 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.

* 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.

** The other thing many people know about this series is how it relates to ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' - not only in that the two series shared two lead actresses and several guest stars, but that the aforementioned abortion episode was written by none other than the creator of ''Golden Girls''.

* EarWorm: The [[https://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 [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lWUD7MBdDuo "rarely seen full length version"]] of the lyrics.

* TheCastShowoff: ''Maude'' afforded Beatrice Arthur numerous attempts to display her dancing and singing talents, even more so than ''Golden Girls''. Maude was given to randomly breaking out in song on occasion, and a few episodes were even themed around musical telethons. The other cast members got in on it too, including Bill Macy and Adrienne Barbeau, who both had musical theater backgrounds (in ''Oh! Calcutta'' and ''Grease'' respectively). S