Info:
DVD Release Date: March 20, 2007 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/1972-1973
MSRP: $29.95
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 22
Running Time: 572 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: N/A
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English;
Closed-Captioned
Special Features: None
Introduction:
She is woman, hear her roar! And that woman is none
other than the uncompromising, enterprising, anything
but tranquilizing Maude Findlay! For those that are
totally in the dark, Maude Findlay (played by Bea
Arthur) made her first appearance in television on an
episode of All in the Family as Edith Bunker’s
cousin—a liberal that is everything that Archie
Bunker isn't. Like many other characters on All in
the Family, Maude eventually got her own spin-off,
where she was living in upstate New York with her
husband Walter (Bill Macy), recently divorced daughter
Carol (Adrienne Barbeau), and Carol's son Phillip.
Living next door was Dr. Arthur Harmon (Conrad Bain of
Diff’rent Strokes), who always seemed to be against
Maude on pretty much everything. Rue McClanahan played
Vivian, who was Maude's best friend that she has
known for years. The first season had another
character that we all know and love, Florida Evans
(Esther Rolle) as Maude's maid, who would eventually
be having some good times of her own. Much like other
Norman Lear series, the show tackled some very
controversial issues throughout its run.
The Complete First Season contains all 22 hilarious
and unedited episodes of this television gem that
seems to have mostly disappeared since the original
airing of the series on a three-disc set.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The series begins with "Maude's Problem," where
Maude finds out that Carol is seeing a
psychiatrist—which naturally leads Maude to think it
is all her fault. Is it? Esther Rolle makes her first
appearance as Florida Evans in "Maude Meets
Florida," where Maude needs to hire a maid (which
Maude specifically declares must be a black maid). In
"Maude & the Radical," Maude is going to host a
fundraising party for a black militant leader, but
trouble arises when her token black guest decides not
to show up--so where can Maude find a black person at
the last minute? Maude gets a speeding ticket in
"The Ticket," and she can get it fixed too, but
will she accept it or will she be determined to prove
her innocence?
Maude is pregnant in the two-part episode "Maude's
Dilemma," but Carol reminds Maude that she as an
advocate for abortion rights. What will Maude's
decision be in this highly controversial episode?
Robert Mandan (Soap, Three's a Crowd) guest stars. In
"Grass Story," Maude is determined to get arrested
for possession of marijuana, just to prove a
point--but first, where is she going to get the pot? A
black man pickets in front of Maude's house because
Maude and Walter are slumlords in "The Slumlord."
Tom Bosley (Happy Days) guest stars in "Maude and the
Medical Profession," where Maude might just sue her
doctor for malpractice--unless the doctor has a friend
(like a neighbor of Maude's) that can stop her.
Florida and Maude are on the same side for women's
rights in "Florida's Problem," where Florida's
husband (his name is Henry here, but he is still
played by John Amos) insists that she quit her job
since he found a second job. Who will win? Carol sees
Walter at a cocktail lounge with a blonde in
"Walter's Secret," but Carol knowing isn't
even nearly as bad as Maude knowing. How can he worm
his way out of this one? Walter and Maude learn that
Vivian's perfect marriage may not be so perfect
after all in "The Perfect Marriage."
Packaging:
The packaging is decent, but they could have done a
lot better on some aspects of it. It uses two slim
cases (one that holds Disc 1 and 2, the other holds
just Disc 3), which is always a nice packaging design.
On the front of the box, we have nine pictures of
Maude—it almost reminds me of the Brady Bunch square
in a way—and the basic show information on the back.
Inside, the two slim cases have various pictures of
Maude on them.
Basically, everything is fine up until here. Then the
listing of the episodes is a problem. I am not sure
who came up with the way of listing these episodes,
but I can honestly say they did a horrible job of
doing it. The problem is that they put way too much
information about each episode, and made the print a
little larger than it should have been. As a result,
the back of each case includes information for five of
the episodes contained within the slim case. If you
want to know about the rest, you have to open up the
slim case to read the titles and descriptions, but
they are covered up by the discs inside the set!
Seriously, they could have fit all of this information
on the BACK of each slim case had they removed the
useless details (basically they list the stars,
directors, writers, producers, and the fact that it
was A Bud Yorkin – Norman Lear Tandem Production in
Association with Sony Pictures Television for EACH
episode on the set!) and made the print smaller.
The disc artwork is just like the front of the box
artwork. Disc 1 has the pictures from the first row on
the front of the box, Disc 2 has the pictures from the
second row, and Disc 3 has the pictures from the third
row. Disc 1 contains episodes 1-8, Disc 2 contains
episodes 9-15, and Disc 3 contains episodes 17-22, as
well as some bonus previews that are AT LEAST four
years old (I'm not kidding, they even say "Now
available from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video" on some
of them).
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are very basic, much like all Sony DVD sets.
Basically, the main menu gives you options of Play All
Episodes and Episode Selections, with artwork similar
to the artwork on the slim cases. I do not know what
else to say about the set, because once you select one
of these options, you either Play All Episodes or go
to an Episode Selections menu that has four episode
choices per screen. I guess the important thing is
that the menus are simple and to the point--but
honestly pretty boring.
Video and Audio Quality:
The series has held up fairly well considering that it
has had a history of, well, not being shown hardly at
all in syndication (the only time I ever saw the show
BEFORE the DVDs was when TV Land was airing it, I
can't recall ever seeing it elsewhere). It suffers
the usual problems that you get with dated video, but
for the most part, it looks fine. The audio is
presented in mono, and sounds just like you would
expect it to sound and closed-captioning is available
for those that require it. Moreover, as a nice
"bonus" (it should not be a bonus but things like
this seem to have become a bonus on some DVD sets
lately), every episode appears to be unedited, some
running over 26 minutes long! The runtimes are as
follows:
Disc 1:
1. "Maude's Problem" (25:52)
2. "Doctor, Doctor" (25:50)
3. "Maude Meets Florida" (26:14)
4. "Like Mother, Like Daughter" (26:08)
5. "Maude & the Radical" (26:12)
6. "The Ticket" (26:06)
7. "Love and Marriage" (26:36)
8. "Flashback" (26:07)
Disc 2:
9. "Maude's Dilemma, Part 1" (26:01)
10. "Maude's Dilemma, Part 2" (25:20)
11. "Maude's Reunion" (26:09)
12. "Grass Story" (25:48)
13. "The Slumlord" (26:03)
14. "The Convention" (25:38)
15. "Walter's 50th Birthday" (26:13)
Disc 3:
16. "Maude and the Medical Profession" (26:11)
17. "Arthur Moves In" (26:09)
18. "Florida's Problem" (26:09)
19. "Walter's Secret" (25:24)
20. "Maude's Good Deed" (26:50)
21. "The Perfect Marriage" (26:07)
22. "Maude's Night Out" (26:03)
Special Features:
Nothing, it would be nice if the cast members could
participate in something. Aside from Esther Rolle, all
of them are still living! Commentaries, interviews, or
anything else would be nice.
Final Comments:
This is a great set that MANY people would enjoy! If
you are a fan of the Norman Lear shows, you will
definitely love this series. If you are a fan of The
Golden Girls and want to see Bea and Rue before they
were "golden," you will definitely love this
series. Heck, if you are a fan of classic television,
you will definitely love this series. Really, I do not
know who wouldn't want to own this show on DVD. The
special features are definitely lacking, but the
presentation of the show on DVD is fine, and this is
one of those rare shows that really did have some
great episodes from the very beginning of the series,
and there are many more great and pivotal episodes in
the upcoming seasons (assuming they get released). In
addition, if you do not pick up the set, remember: God
will get you for that.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menu Navigation/Design: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by skees53 on 03/06/07
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