Maude: “Like Mother, Like Daughter” (Season One, Episode 4)
This episode of Maude, “Like Mother, Like Daughter” opens with — wow, a surprise — Maude and Carol are bickering about Carol’s love life. Despite the theme, Florida adds some nice levity to the scene. The back-and-forth between Bea Arthur and Adrienne Barbeau is starting to feel a bit more natural as well now that the ladies are getting their sea-legs in the fourth episode of the first season.
However, this time Maude may have a point. Carol is about to go out with an “older…correction, old man” and Maude had dated him in the past before marrying Walter. Double-whammy. Maude is concerned that Carol is too dumb to know when she is the May in the May-December relationship, and this man, Russell Asher, is a novelist and totally self-absorbed. Maude is adorable in her “concern.” But whatever, this guy is loaded, so I say go for it, Carol.
Carol is wearing these weird hair clips that they used in the olden days as curlers or something. She is also wearing a body-hugging burgundy dress…growl. Adrienne Barbeau must have been the shit back then because she keeps getting these odd super soft-focus close ups.
Joke of the show: Maude explains to Walt that man also go through menopause, “they just haven’t had the bad press we women have had.”
Maude is equally charming when Russel arrives. And wow, this is a 70-year-old man — yowza! His suit alone is enough to make me forget my no-one-over-60 rule. Russell Asher is played by this guy, Cesare Danova, and I can swear I have seen him in something before, but if you check out his imdb page, he’s been in just about every old show out there, going back to The Rifleman and Daniel Boone and including McMillan & Wife, Mannix, Charlie’s Angels — and then I see it, Animal House. Bingo. He’s the mayor.
Russel and Carol are flying into NYC to tape the Tonight Show. NYC? Surely, that is a mistake…Carson taped in LA. Ah, true, Carson did tape in LA, but for the first ten years of the Tonight Show, he taped in New York. The Tonight Show moved out west May 1972, a few months after the airing of this episode. But I digress. Carol is going to Russell’s place in the city to watch the airing of the Carson show as they call it. Maude points it out to Walter that most people watch Carson in the bedroom. Florida confirms the sexual intent of Carol’s visit, as she took her toothbrush with her.
Next morning, and flowers arrive for Carol, who didn’t get in until 4 am and still hasn’t come down for breakfast. Maude was up, so she knows and frets. Walt is wondering why his parents had eggs every morning, but he is not allowed. Maude points out that his parents ate breakfast before they knew about cholesterol. Ha ha, a joke about the times and the new medical research.
Carol finally comes downstairs and she is totally over Russell Asher. She is defensive and evasive about the sudden change of heart, but Maude keeps goading her until she blurts out that Russell called her Maude’s name.
Bea Arthur’s slow turn to face the camera is priceless. Seriously, she is a goddess of comedy. Maude is genuinely happy about this turn of events, and she tells Walt about her triumph. Walt gets a bit jealous. Russell arrives, and Maude is precious in her arrogance around him, thinking that he still holds a torch for her.
But alas, the truth comes out. Carol called Russell out on his bigger-than-Hemingway ego, and he calls her Maude as in you are just like your mother while they are fighting. As Maude processes this, Carol figures out that Maude assumed that Russell called out her name while Carol and he were gettin’ it on. This brings Carol pleasure, as her mom is humbled.
But this little episode has brought Maude and Carol a little closer together, and that is kinda cute. This show is growing on me. Except for the weird little codas at the end of the episodes. In this one, Maude is freaking out on Walter, chasing him downstairs and waking Carol. Walt called Maude Sylvia. Kinda lame, and over done. But other than that, a very good episode.
Maude, Bea Arthur, Adrienne Barbeau, Cesare Danova, Tonight Show, sitcom, television, retro tv
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