Maude Findlay (character)
Encyclopedia
Maude Findlay is a fictional character
on the controversial 1970s sitcom
Maude
. She was portrayed by the Emmy
-winning actress Beatrice Arthur
.
in December 1971, in the episode, "Cousin Maude's Visit", and is the cousin of Edith Bunker
. Maude cared for Edith and disliked her husband
, Archie Bunker
, as shown by Maude telling Edith she could have chosen a much better mate than Archie. Maude also was an ally of Edith's daughter, Gloria
(Sally Struthers
), and Gloria's husband, Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner
). Archie and Maude were both known for getting on each other's nerves, especially since she was a liberal and Archie was a conservative.
In All in the Family, it was said that Maude was widowed twice. Her husband Fred died of brain aneurysm and Bert died of a heart seizure. When Maude premiered, it seemed that Fred was now renamed Barney and Bert became Albert Hilliard, her third husband.
After her appearances on All in the Family
, Maude received her own series, which debuted on CBS
on September 12 1972
. On her own show, Maude lives in Tuckahoe, New York
, is quite no-nonsense, and is married to Walter Findlay (Bill Macy
), the owner and operator of an appliance store called Findlay's Friendly Appliances. They met during a Democratic convention, where both supported Hubert Humphrey
. Before she met Walter, she dated a writer named Russell Asher (Cesare Danova
), who was a womanizer.
Walter's marriage to Maude was his second marriage. His previous wife was a gold digging woman named Marta (Carole Cook
), to whom Walter was married for eleven years, and was paying alimony to when he married Maude. Marta, who agreed with Maude that Walter was a cheapskate, and greedy as she had ever been, was engaged to Maude's Uncle Henry, which truly unnerved her, having her husband's ex-wife as her aunt. Walter had ended up incurring Maude's unmatched wrath on numerous occasions, including when he had the nerve to call her Sylvia.
Maude's recently divorced daughter, Carol Traynor (who also disliked Archie Bunker) (Marcia Rodd
in the pilot episode of All in the Family, which became Maude; Adrienne Barbeau
, thereafter), and Carol's son, Philip (Brian Morrison; Kraig Metzinger
), also live with the couple. Carol, who was once married to a man named Pete, who was Philip's father, was the product of Maude's second marriage to a man named Chester. Her marriage to Chester lasted six years. Maude had been married four times in all, Walter was her fourth husband. Much like her mother, Carol, too, was liberal, and clearly shared her mother's opinions, although at times, they would clash. At one point, Carol had dated Maude's old boyfriend, Russell Asher, which distressed Maude. However, after a fight in which Russell called Carol by her mother's name, she saw him for what he really was, a conceited bore, and both Carol and Maude threw him out of their lives for good. Later in the series' run, Carol had a serious relationship with a man named Chris (Fred Grandy
).
The often loud and opinionated Maude would often tell someone, usually husband Walter, who could and sometimes did perturb her, "God'll get you for that!" (this line served as her catch phrase, her other catch phrase was "I'll rip his/her heart out!!!"); but she would obey very swiftly whenever Walter, who was Maude's polar opposite, meek on the outside, tiger within, would order, "Maude!!! Sit!" (The latter served as Walter's catch phrase.)
One of the running gags of the show is whenever Maude answered the phone, people would often mistake her for Walter, due to her voice being at a low range. Usually she would say to whomever it was on the phone, "No, this is not Mr. Findlay, this is MRS. Findlay." followed by a offhand remark about Walter.
During the course of the show, Maude and Walter's marriage would take more than a few hits; due to Walter's alcoholism; Walter's business going into bankruptcy
; Walter having a heart attack, Maude's political aspirations, among other various things.
Walter tended to be rather old-fashioned, despite his being progressive, even going as far as to stoop to emotional blackmail
to get Maude to be a more traditional housewife. He wanted to be the breadwinner, and couldn't stand it that Maude was a feminist. He also could be shown to be very chauvinistic as well, something which Maude would not and did not tolerate.
More often as not, however, Walter's blackmail attempts met with disaster, because it only made Maude all the more determined to do what she wanted to do. Sometimes, Walter and Maude would have very violent arguments in the kitchen which would often end up with some of Maude's priceless dishes being broken.
Maude hired the first Housekeeper
, Florida Evans
, an African-American woman who always had the last laugh at Maude's expense. Florida gave Maude a dose of her own medicine, but Florida always knew Maude was mostly a level-headed woman and had a feminist-like attitude. Florida left in 1974
. (Esther Rolle
got her own show, Good Times
which premiered on February 8, 1974). Maude next hired Nell Naugatuck, a British
housekeeper
who drank too much and lied constantly, (In the episode called "The Case of the Broken Punch Bowl, both came into play when Maude was trying to find out who broke her Antique Waterford Crystal punch bowl, and, thanks to Carol, it was shown that Mrs. Naugatuck had deliberately broke it) and she left in 1977 with her husband to move to Ireland
to care for her mother-in-law. And in the final season (1977—1978), Maude hired Victoria Butterfield, and she remained with the series until it ended.
Maude also had neighbors: The Harmons, Vivian Cavender-Harmon
(Rue McClanahan
) and Dr. Arthur Harmon (Conrad Bain
). Maude got along with Vivian, having known her since they were in college; Vivian was well-meaning and compassionate but scatterbrained. Maude did not, however, get along with Arthur as well as she did with Vivian.
Arthur, who was conservative and Walter's best friend (the two had served together in World War II and it was Arthur who introduced Walter to Maude) was Maude's foil in lieu of Archie Bunker; and he simply called her "Maudie". Maude explained that Maudie had been a hated nickname given by her aunt Gertrude whom she cursed when she was fourteen and thirty three years later passed on.
Maude and Arthur were always clashing about something; usually political or moral issues. Arthur could become very bombastic at times when he was confronting Maude. At various times Carol would also join in the argument, usually on Maude's side, and Walter, although he did agree with Maude, would tend to side with Arthur, because of his long-standing friendship with him.
However, despite their wide ideological differences, Arthur showed that he really did care about Maude, as was evidenced in the episode "Maude's Big Decision" when he calmly explained to a very distraught Maude that she shouldn't feel responsible for Walter beginning to drink again (Walter was an alcoholic). "You've got to detach yourself with love, Maudie," Arthur said, "because he's going to drink no matter what you do."
Walter had, characteristically, stooped to blackmail to get Maude to stop her run for State Senate (the incident which had led to Maude and Walter splitting up). He told her that if she didn't drop the run for State Senate, he would never come back. He, chauvinistically, felt that Maude's only real job was to take care of him and nothing else.
Arthur then confronted his friend on his selfishness. Walter had bragged about his victory in forcing Maude to give up her plans of running for office. "Let's have a drink to celebrate," Walter bragged selfishly, "I WON!" Arthur then lost his temper with Walter, "Won? Won what?!" he snapped, "Happiness through blackmail?! You know, you're like a baby throwing a temper tantrum. Everyone has to give in to Walter Findlay because he's an alcoholic. I don't like you very much right now, Walter!"
Eventually, Walter relented and allowed Maude to run for office. However, she lost the primary, but supported her former challenger and both celebrated when he won.
Widower Arthur (his late wife's name was Agnes) and Vivian met each other (thanks to Maude) after she divorced her husband, Chuck Cavender after 21 years, and the two (Arthur and Vivian) were married in the middle of the second season of Maude (1973—1974).
In the series, Maude mostly dealt with the events happening in her life, but in the most-watched and controversial two-part episode of the first season, entitled Maude's Dilemma, Maude discovered at age 47 that she was pregnant. Maude and the entire family and friends are shocked, and the daughter, Carol, tries to persuade Maude to get an abortion
, which is now legal in New York. The episode was seen by an estimated 9.94 million viewers.. The show had also dealt with menopause
, boredom
, and women's liberation.
A season Four two-part episode called "Maude's Moods" revealed that Maude has bipolar disorder (more specifically, manic depression). She attempted to run actor Henry Fonda
for President, and as she did, her moods swung from very high happiness, to the very pits of depression. She eventually went to see a psychiatrist about her condition.
In the final episode, Maude runs for office, to take over the unfinished term of a congresswoman she supported who had died, and she and her husband Walter move to Washington, D.C.
. Arthur and Vivian had moved to Idaho
, where he accepted a job; and Carol (who had broken up with Chris, by this time) and Philip had moved to Denver, Colorado
, after she had acquired a job there.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the controversial 1970s sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Maude
Maude (TV series)
Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with...
. She was portrayed by the Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning actress Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice "Bea" Arthur was an American actress, comedienne and singer whose career spanned seven decades. Arthur achieved fame as the character Maude Findlay on the 1970s sitcoms All in the Family and Maude, and as Dorothy Zbornak on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls, winning Emmy Awards for both...
.
Background
Maude Findlay first appeared on All in the FamilyAll in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
in December 1971, in the episode, "Cousin Maude's Visit", and is the cousin of Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on All in the Family , played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker , mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and, after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic...
. Maude cared for Edith and disliked her husband
Husband
A husband is a male participant in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between cultures and has varied over time...
, Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
, as shown by Maude telling Edith she could have chosen a much better mate than Archie. Maude also was an ally of Edith's daughter, Gloria
Gloria Stivic
Gloria Stivic , is the name of the supporting character played by Sally Struthers on the American situation comedy All in the Family, which aired on the CBS television network from 1971 until 1979...
(Sally Struthers
Sally Struthers
Sally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...
), and Gloria's husband, Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
). Archie and Maude were both known for getting on each other's nerves, especially since she was a liberal and Archie was a conservative.
In All in the Family, it was said that Maude was widowed twice. Her husband Fred died of brain aneurysm and Bert died of a heart seizure. When Maude premiered, it seemed that Fred was now renamed Barney and Bert became Albert Hilliard, her third husband.
After her appearances on All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, Maude received her own series, which debuted on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on September 12 1972
1972 in television
The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. On her own show, Maude lives in Tuckahoe, New York
Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York
Tuckahoe is a village in the town of Eastchester in Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village's population was 6,486....
, is quite no-nonsense, and is married to Walter Findlay (Bill Macy
Bill Macy
Bill Macy is an American television and stage actor.Macy was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to Mollie and Michael Garber, a manufacturer...
), the owner and operator of an appliance store called Findlay's Friendly Appliances. They met during a Democratic convention, where both supported Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
. Before she met Walter, she dated a writer named Russell Asher (Cesare Danova
Cesare Danova
Cesare Danova was a television and screen actor. Born as Cesare Deitinger in Bergamo, Italy to an Austrian father and an Italian mother, he adopted Danova as his stage name after becoming an actor in Rome at the end of World War II. He emigrated to the United States in the 1950s to make the film...
), who was a womanizer.
Walter's marriage to Maude was his second marriage. His previous wife was a gold digging woman named Marta (Carole Cook
Carole Cook
Carole Cook is an American actress. She has appeared in many theatrical productions, in films and on television.Born as Mildred Frances Cook, she was a protege of Lucille Ball. Ball gave her the stage name of "Carole", after her friend Carole Lombard because, Ball reportedly told Cook, "you have...
), to whom Walter was married for eleven years, and was paying alimony to when he married Maude. Marta, who agreed with Maude that Walter was a cheapskate, and greedy as she had ever been, was engaged to Maude's Uncle Henry, which truly unnerved her, having her husband's ex-wife as her aunt. Walter had ended up incurring Maude's unmatched wrath on numerous occasions, including when he had the nerve to call her Sylvia.
Maude's recently divorced daughter, Carol Traynor (who also disliked Archie Bunker) (Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
in the pilot episode of All in the Family, which became Maude; Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Jo Barbeau is an American actress and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical Grease, and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter of Maude Findlay in the sitcom Maude...
, thereafter), and Carol's son, Philip (Brian Morrison; Kraig Metzinger
Kraig Metzinger
Kraig Metzinger is an American man who, as a teenaged actor, played the role of Maude Findlay's grandson Phillip Trainor on the sitcom Maude from 1977 until the program's cancellation in 1978....
), also live with the couple. Carol, who was once married to a man named Pete, who was Philip's father, was the product of Maude's second marriage to a man named Chester. Her marriage to Chester lasted six years. Maude had been married four times in all, Walter was her fourth husband. Much like her mother, Carol, too, was liberal, and clearly shared her mother's opinions, although at times, they would clash. At one point, Carol had dated Maude's old boyfriend, Russell Asher, which distressed Maude. However, after a fight in which Russell called Carol by her mother's name, she saw him for what he really was, a conceited bore, and both Carol and Maude threw him out of their lives for good. Later in the series' run, Carol had a serious relationship with a man named Chris (Fred Grandy
Fred Grandy
Fredrick Lawrence "Fred" Grandy is a former actor best known for his role as 'Gopher' on the sitcom The Love Boat and who later became a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Iowa...
).
The often loud and opinionated Maude would often tell someone, usually husband Walter, who could and sometimes did perturb her, "God'll get you for that!" (this line served as her catch phrase, her other catch phrase was "I'll rip his/her heart out!!!"); but she would obey very swiftly whenever Walter, who was Maude's polar opposite, meek on the outside, tiger within, would order, "Maude!!! Sit!" (The latter served as Walter's catch phrase.)
One of the running gags of the show is whenever Maude answered the phone, people would often mistake her for Walter, due to her voice being at a low range. Usually she would say to whomever it was on the phone, "No, this is not Mr. Findlay, this is MRS. Findlay." followed by a offhand remark about Walter.
During the course of the show, Maude and Walter's marriage would take more than a few hits; due to Walter's alcoholism; Walter's business going into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
; Walter having a heart attack, Maude's political aspirations, among other various things.
Walter tended to be rather old-fashioned, despite his being progressive, even going as far as to stoop to emotional blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
to get Maude to be a more traditional housewife. He wanted to be the breadwinner, and couldn't stand it that Maude was a feminist. He also could be shown to be very chauvinistic as well, something which Maude would not and did not tolerate.
More often as not, however, Walter's blackmail attempts met with disaster, because it only made Maude all the more determined to do what she wanted to do. Sometimes, Walter and Maude would have very violent arguments in the kitchen which would often end up with some of Maude's priceless dishes being broken.
Maude hired the first Housekeeper
Housekeeper (servant)
A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids...
, Florida Evans
Florida Evans
Florida Evans Dixon was the fictional supporting character on the sitcom Maude and the lead character in its spin-off, Good Times. She was the hard-working mother of the Evans family...
, an African-American woman who always had the last laugh at Maude's expense. Florida gave Maude a dose of her own medicine, but Florida always knew Maude was mostly a level-headed woman and had a feminist-like attitude. Florida left in 1974
1974 in television
The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. (Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle was an American actress. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times.-Biography:...
got her own show, Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
which premiered on February 8, 1974). Maude next hired Nell Naugatuck, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
housekeeper
Housekeeper (servant)
A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids...
who drank too much and lied constantly, (In the episode called "The Case of the Broken Punch Bowl, both came into play when Maude was trying to find out who broke her Antique Waterford Crystal punch bowl, and, thanks to Carol, it was shown that Mrs. Naugatuck had deliberately broke it) and she left in 1977 with her husband to move to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to care for her mother-in-law. And in the final season (1977—1978), Maude hired Victoria Butterfield, and she remained with the series until it ended.
Maude also had neighbors: The Harmons, Vivian Cavender-Harmon
Vivian Harmon
Vivian Harmon previously Cavender; is a fictional character from the television show, Maude.-Character traits:...
(Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
) and Dr. Arthur Harmon (Conrad Bain
Conrad Bain
Conrad Stafford Bain is a Canadian-American actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude.-Personal life:...
). Maude got along with Vivian, having known her since they were in college; Vivian was well-meaning and compassionate but scatterbrained. Maude did not, however, get along with Arthur as well as she did with Vivian.
Arthur, who was conservative and Walter's best friend (the two had served together in World War II and it was Arthur who introduced Walter to Maude) was Maude's foil in lieu of Archie Bunker; and he simply called her "Maudie". Maude explained that Maudie had been a hated nickname given by her aunt Gertrude whom she cursed when she was fourteen and thirty three years later passed on.
Maude and Arthur were always clashing about something; usually political or moral issues. Arthur could become very bombastic at times when he was confronting Maude. At various times Carol would also join in the argument, usually on Maude's side, and Walter, although he did agree with Maude, would tend to side with Arthur, because of his long-standing friendship with him.
However, despite their wide ideological differences, Arthur showed that he really did care about Maude, as was evidenced in the episode "Maude's Big Decision" when he calmly explained to a very distraught Maude that she shouldn't feel responsible for Walter beginning to drink again (Walter was an alcoholic). "You've got to detach yourself with love, Maudie," Arthur said, "because he's going to drink no matter what you do."
Walter had, characteristically, stooped to blackmail to get Maude to stop her run for State Senate (the incident which had led to Maude and Walter splitting up). He told her that if she didn't drop the run for State Senate, he would never come back. He, chauvinistically, felt that Maude's only real job was to take care of him and nothing else.
Arthur then confronted his friend on his selfishness. Walter had bragged about his victory in forcing Maude to give up her plans of running for office. "Let's have a drink to celebrate," Walter bragged selfishly, "I WON!" Arthur then lost his temper with Walter, "Won? Won what?!" he snapped, "Happiness through blackmail?! You know, you're like a baby throwing a temper tantrum. Everyone has to give in to Walter Findlay because he's an alcoholic. I don't like you very much right now, Walter!"
Eventually, Walter relented and allowed Maude to run for office. However, she lost the primary, but supported her former challenger and both celebrated when he won.
Widower Arthur (his late wife's name was Agnes) and Vivian met each other (thanks to Maude) after she divorced her husband, Chuck Cavender after 21 years, and the two (Arthur and Vivian) were married in the middle of the second season of Maude (1973—1974).
In the series, Maude mostly dealt with the events happening in her life, but in the most-watched and controversial two-part episode of the first season, entitled Maude's Dilemma, Maude discovered at age 47 that she was pregnant. Maude and the entire family and friends are shocked, and the daughter, Carol, tries to persuade Maude to get an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, which is now legal in New York. The episode was seen by an estimated 9.94 million viewers.. The show had also dealt with menopause
Menopause
Menopause is a term used to describe the permanent cessation of the primary functions of the human ovaries: the ripening and release of ova and the release of hormones that cause both the creation of the uterine lining and the subsequent shedding of the uterine lining...
, boredom
Boredom
Boredom is an emotional state experienced when an individual is without any activity or is not interested in their surroundings. The first recorded use of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a...
, and women's liberation.
A season Four two-part episode called "Maude's Moods" revealed that Maude has bipolar disorder (more specifically, manic depression). She attempted to run actor Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
for President, and as she did, her moods swung from very high happiness, to the very pits of depression. She eventually went to see a psychiatrist about her condition.
In the final episode, Maude runs for office, to take over the unfinished term of a congresswoman she supported who had died, and she and her husband Walter move to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Arthur and Vivian had moved to Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, where he accepted a job; and Carol (who had broken up with Chris, by this time) and Philip had moved to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, after she had acquired a job there.