Maude (TV series)

Maude is an American sitcom created by Norman Lear that aired on CBS from September 12, 1972, to April 22, 1978. A spin-off of All in the Family, the series stars Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay, a politically liberal, middle-aged woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, New York, with Bill Macy as her fourth husband Walter. The cast also includes Adrienne Barbeau, Conrad Bain, Rue McClanahan, Esther Rolle, Hermione Baddeley, J. Pat O'Malley and Marlene Warfield.

Like Lear's other sitcoms of the period, Maude combined domestic comedy with topical social issues. Scholars have described it as one of the most overtly political American sitcoms of the 1970s, particularly for its treatment of feminism and its engagement with subjects including abortion, alcoholism, domestic violence, mental health, race and sexuality. The series also occasionally departed from the conventional ensemble sitcom format, most notably in episodes centred almost entirely on Maude and Walter and in "The Analyst", in which Arthur was the only performer on screen.

The series was both successful and controversial during its original run. It ranked among television's top-rated programmes in its early seasons, and Arthur won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1977 for her performance. Later commentators have described Maude as a landmark in feminist television, and its best-known storylines—especially the 1972 abortion episodes "Maude's Dilemma"—have continued to attract critical attention.

Maude also generated a wider franchise. The character Florida Evans was spun off into Good Times, while the series was adapted internationally as the British sitcom Nobody's Perfect and the French sitcom Maguy.