TV's first feminist debuts on DVD Before "Roseanne," "Kate and Allie" and "One Day at a Time" became hits featuring strong women and frequently mature themes, there was "Maude," the groundbreaking, six-season CBS comedy featuring Bea Arthur.
Big, brassy and pushing 50 at the time, Arthur concedes she was an atypical TV star. The Broadway veteran was tapped for her own series after a stint on "All in the Family" as Maude Findlay, the liberal nemesis and sister-in-law of arch-conservative Archie Bunker. That prompted series creator Norman Lear to create a spinoff based on an upper-middle-class New York feminist on her fourth marriage.
"She was not your average, beautiful heroine, but I felt like Cinderella," says Arthur, now 83. "It was one of the first times on television that a woman was seen as the head of the family instead of the usual fumbling male."
Nearly 35 years after its debut in fall 1972, viewers may find "Maude: The Complete First Season" (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $29.95) tame. But at the time, Maude's story lines on alcoholism, menopause, women's lib, nervous breakdowns and hemorrhoids were considered so controversial that some network affiliates refused to air episodes -- such as a two-parter on Maude's abortion.
"I liked the fact that we touched on just about everything untouchable," says Arthur, whose last TV appearance was as Larry David's surly mom on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." "It was so very different and not what people expected."
"Maude: The Complete First Season" is due March 20.
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