Why Doesn't Maude Do Well In Syndication? - Page 7 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Svenfan1234 · 04-16-2017, 08:20 PM

Antenna still airs Maude.

BigManMike · 04-16-2017, 09:55 PM

KTXD 47, an independent station in Dallas was airing Maude recently, but I see they've replaced it with Coach, but they kept All in the Family and The Jeffersons which followed it. They also have the Addams Family, the Munsters, MASH, and Who's the Boss.

PracTz · 04-18-2017, 09:53 AM

IMO,

Between the show being SO topical that one had to live through the 70's (and be armed with 1970's search engine) to get a good number of the jokes AND with all the adult characters (except Florida) constantly getting looped, in retrospect it's a bit of a challenge to keep going back to it- despite the many good performances here. I guess back in the 70's everyone thought most folks could 'handle' getting looped on a regular basis and it's odd that any character on that show would have been surprised that Walter (or anyone else) would become a full-scale alcoholic. Also, apart from making Carol a more sympathetic character via being a working parent, I don't see why they had Phillip who seemed to spend his entire childhood upstairs while the adults were screaming their heads off.

1. Too 70's (which Miss Arthur herself would recognize and insist on keeping "GG" as UNtopical as possible )
2.Too boozy
3. Negligent parenting

That's three strikes against current popularity.

MichaelKeith · 04-20-2017, 11:49 AM

All excellent points above. Though I still enjoy this show because of the great, talented actors--Bea Arthur, Bill Macy, Rue McClanahan and Conrad Bain. Also Esther Rolle and Hermione Baddeley. True talent there and always fun to watch.

TVFactFan · 04-20-2017, 07:36 PM

I think Maude was better as a Original Airing show because of the shock value and topics.

Not the type of show you can fall back on the couch with a snack and watch like the shows below

sanford and son
alice
Jeffersons
What's happening
Bob Newhart

tlc38tlc38 · 05-02-2017, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelKeith

All excellent points above. Though I still enjoy this show because of the great, talented actors--Bea Arthur, Bill Macy, Rue McClanahan and Conrad Bain. Also Esther Rolle and Hermione Baddeley. True talent there and always fun to watch.

Yes...awesome actors! I enjoy the show, too.

However, I couldn't do more than 3 or 4 episodes at a time but this could also be said for a lot of other shows.

TMC · 01-29-2018, 09:17 PM

What I got from MovieChat.org:

1. Of all the Normal Lear shows, this one has aged the poorest. Even though some of the issues it dealt with are still being argued, its style and perspective is so 40 years ago that it doesn't transcend its era to feel timeless, the same way All In the Family or The Jeffersons did.

2. As someone else said, the Maude character is the only impressive one there (and she has a tendency of being too over the top.) The rest of them were a bit on the drab side. More argumentative than funny. Furthermore, they all look very middle-of-the-road "70s," like they could have been extra's in Deep Throat, or something.

3. Three of its biggest stars went on to have arguably bigger, and more career-identifying, success with following shows. All of which feel more "contemporary" by today's standards. Most of the general public seems to identify Bea and Rue as Dorothy and Blanche, and Conrad as Mr. Drummond. Seeing them as Maude, Vivian and Arthur seems weird. And since Golden Girls/Diff'rent Strokes have done very well in syndication, I can imagine that TV stations would probably rather just buy those shows than this one.

4. The abortion episodes. Bea once said in an interview that Maude's abortion created a backlash against the show. Sure, Maude was popular during its production run, but once the show ended, the show seemed to become defined by that particular storyline - which scared off many TV stations in the more conservative 1980s from buying it. Meanwhile, during that same period, again, GG and DS were on and popular. This just sort of buried Maude.

TMC · 05-05-2018, 02:49 AM

30 second promo for an episode of Maude on Channel 51 San Diego, CA.

DEH55 · 02-24-2021, 10:20 PM

it has the same problem most Norman Lear shows have. It's too topical. so many of references and names mentioned are so outdated. a teenager watching would not have a clue what they are talking about. henry kissinger, Richard Nixon and on and on. and it's exhausting to watch back to back. non stop topical crisis. lol another thing about Norman Lear shows is how loud they are. everyone is yelling. maude is one of the loudest shows i have ever watched.

TVFactFan · 02-25-2021, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEH55

it has the same problem most Norman Lear shows have. It's too topical. so many of references and names mentioned are so outdated. a teenager watching would not have a clue what they are talking about. henry kissinger, Richard Nixon and on and on. and it's exhausting to watch back to back. non stop topical crisis. lol another thing about Norman Lear shows is how loud they are. everyone is yelling. maude is one of the loudest shows i have ever watched.

Its outdated for cable but not for digital tv

Duster76 · 03-01-2021, 12:03 AM

This thread was started in 2006! Maude is topical that's true, it's so 70's that's true too, but I think the most significant reason for its limited success in reruns is the fact that it lacks a heart. Bea is the series, and she is a real in your face talent, she has an edge and either the situation or other characters have to counterbalance that edge, nothing like that happened here. The audience may find episodes interesting, funny but that's not enough to keep bringing people back to watch the show day in and day out. Simply put, the audience has to like and care about the characters.

TVFactFan · 03-01-2021, 12:48 AM

Well the show will never be on cable again only the digital tv world and DVD's. Its definitely a show for older adults and now that I am close in age to maude and Arthur I can relate to the show more now. When i saw this show air 30 years ago I had no interest

TMC · 03-01-2021, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEH55

it has the same problem most Norman Lear shows have. It's too topical. so many of references and names mentioned are so outdated. a teenager watching would not have a clue what they are talking about. henry kissinger, Richard Nixon and on and on. and it's exhausting to watch back to back. non stop topical crisis. lol another thing about Norman Lear shows is how loud they are. everyone is yelling. maude is one of the loudest shows i have ever watched.

It isn't just the topicality that has given the impression that the show has aged poorly. There's also the impression that Maude is an alcoholic. She is frequently shown with a drink in her hand, making a drink for herself, or asking Walter (her husband) for one. While this may have been funny back then, you would be hard pressed to be easily laughing over that now.

Not only that, but thanks to the modern day opioid crisis, Maude's addiction to pills makes the series a lot darker now than it was ever intended to be back in the 1970s. I mean, The Conners wrote Roseanne Barr's character out by having her overdose on prescription pills to give you some perspective.

To further illustrate how dark of a show Maude actually was, take a look at her to Walter was her fourth and even that one was rocky. Did the series ever really explain why a brassy acting woman like Maude was appealing to him. Maude just came across as a woman with serious emotional issues when you really got down to it.

Also, Arthur seems to be suffering from some sort of mental illness given that he had at least two nervous breakdowns in addition to self-medicating with alcohol. So what we get are episodes that are supposed to be serious, and yet, they still the need to keep things “light”. Didn't this just really undercut what was supposed to be the character suffering and feels exploitative instead of supportive?

TVFactFan · 03-01-2021, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

It isn't just the topicality that has given the impression that the show has aged poorly. There's also the impression that Maude is an alcoholic. She is frequently shown with a drink in her hand, making a drink for herself, or asking Walter (her husband) for one. While this may have been funny back then, you would be hard pressed to be easily laughing over that now.

Not only that, but thanks to the modern day opioid crisis, Maude's addiction to pills makes the series a lot darker now than it was ever intended to be back in the 1970s. I mean, The Conners wrote Roseanne Barr's character out by having her overdose on prescription pills to give you some perspective.

To further illustrate how dark of a show Maude actually was, take a look at her to Walter was her fourth and even that one was rocky. Did the series ever really explain why a brassy acting woman like Maude was appealing to him. Maude just came across as a woman with serious emotional issues when you really got down to it.

Also, Arthur seems to be suffering from some sort of mental illness given that he had at least two nervous breakdowns in addition to self-medicating with alcohol. So what we get are episodes that are supposed to be serious, and yet, they still the need to keep things “light”. Didn't this just really undercut what was supposed to be the character suffering and feels exploitative instead of supportive?

Drinking was walter way of coping with his business money issues and getting older

biffbronson · 03-01-2021, 12:36 PM

Drinking was very common even on a family-friendly series like Bewitched, and I mean the characters were having drinks really often. Lou Grant kept a booze bottle in his desk on TMTMS. Westerns which had been petering out by the early '70s always had a lot of saloon scenes. Bewitched, Bonanza, Gunsmoke etc. always did very well in reruns. I think we can discount that to some extent as to why Maude didn't become a syndication staple, though I see the point.

04-16-2017, 08:20 PM	#91
Svenfan1234 Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 12, 2015 Posts: 11,200	Antenna still airs Maude.
	__________________ [

04-16-2017, 09:55 PM	#92
BigManMike Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 25, 2006 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 3,021	KTXD 47, an independent station in Dallas was airing Maude recently, but I see they've replaced it with Coach, but they kept All in the Family and The Jeffersons which followed it. They also have the Addams Family, the Munsters, MASH, and Who's the Boss.

04-18-2017, 09:53 AM	#93
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	IMO, Between the show being SO topical that one had to live through the 70's (and be armed with 1970's search engine) to get a good number of the jokes AND with all the adult characters (except Florida) constantly getting looped, in retrospect it's a bit of a challenge to keep going back to it- despite the many good performances here. I guess back in the 70's everyone thought most folks could 'handle' getting looped on a regular basis and it's odd that any character on that show would have been surprised that Walter (or anyone else) would become a full-scale alcoholic. Also, apart from making Carol a more sympathetic character via being a working parent, I don't see why they had Phillip who seemed to spend his entire childhood upstairs while the adults were screaming their heads off. 1. Too 70's (which Miss Arthur herself would recognize and insist on keeping "GG" as UNtopical as possible ) 2.Too boozy 3. Negligent parenting That's three strikes against current popularity.

04-20-2017, 11:49 AM	#94
MichaelKeith Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2007 Posts: 1,139	All excellent points above. Though I still enjoy this show because of the great, talented actors--Bea Arthur, Bill Macy, Rue McClanahan and Conrad Bain. Also Esther Rolle and Hermione Baddeley. True talent there and always fun to watch.

04-20-2017, 07:36 PM	#95
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 98,984	I think Maude was better as a Original Airing show because of the shock value and topics. Not the type of show you can fall back on the couch with a snack and watch like the shows below sanford and son alice Jeffersons What's happening Bob Newhart

01-29-2018, 09:17 PM	#97
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,928	What I got from MovieChat.org: 1. Of all the Normal Lear shows, this one has aged the poorest. Even though some of the issues it dealt with are still being argued, its style and perspective is so 40 years ago that it doesn't transcend its era to feel timeless, the same way All In the Family or The Jeffersons did. 2. As someone else said, the Maude character is the only impressive one there (and she has a tendency of being too over the top.) The rest of them were a bit on the drab side. More argumentative than funny. Furthermore, they all look very middle-of-the-road "70s," like they could have been extra's in Deep Throat, or something. 3. Three of its biggest stars went on to have arguably bigger, and more career-identifying, success with following shows. All of which feel more "contemporary" by today's standards. Most of the general public seems to identify Bea and Rue as Dorothy and Blanche, and Conrad as Mr. Drummond. Seeing them as Maude, Vivian and Arthur seems weird. And since Golden Girls/Diff'rent Strokes have done very well in syndication, I can imagine that TV stations would probably rather just buy those shows than this one. 4. The abortion episodes. Bea once said in an interview that Maude's abortion created a backlash against the show. Sure, Maude was popular during its production run, but once the show ended, the show seemed to become defined by that particular storyline - which scared off many TV stations in the more conservative 1980s from buying it. Meanwhile, during that same period, again, GG and DS were on and popular. This just sort of buried Maude.

05-05-2018, 02:49 AM	#98
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 124,928	30 second promo for an episode of Maude on Channel 51 San Diego, CA.

02-24-2021, 10:20 PM	#99
DEH55 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 19, 2020 Posts: 319	it has the same problem most Norman Lear shows have. It's too topical. so many of references and names mentioned are so outdated. a teenager watching would not have a clue what they are talking about. henry kissinger, Richard Nixon and on and on. and it's exhausting to watch back to back. non stop topical crisis. lol another thing about Norman Lear shows is how loud they are. everyone is yelling. maude is one of the loudest shows i have ever watched.

03-01-2021, 12:03 AM	#101
Duster76 Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 1,641	This thread was started in 2006! Maude is topical that's true, it's so 70's that's true too, but I think the most significant reason for its limited success in reruns is the fact that it lacks a heart. Bea is the series, and she is a real in your face talent, she has an edge and either the situation or other characters have to counterbalance that edge, nothing like that happened here. The audience may find episodes interesting, funny but that's not enough to keep bringing people back to watch the show day in and day out. Simply put, the audience has to like and care about the characters.

03-01-2021, 12:48 AM	#102
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 98,984	Well the show will never be on cable again only the digital tv world and DVD's. Its definitely a show for older adults and now that I am close in age to maude and Arthur I can relate to the show more now. When i saw this show air 30 years ago I had no interest

03-01-2021, 12:36 PM	#105
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,324	Drinking was very common even on a family-friendly series like Bewitched, and I mean the characters were having drinks really often. Lou Grant kept a booze bottle in his desk on TMTMS. Westerns which had been petering out by the early '70s always had a lot of saloon scenes. Bewitched, Bonanza, Gunsmoke etc. always did very well in reruns. I think we can discount that to some extent as to why Maude didn't become a syndication staple, though I see the point.