Maude
Arthur's New Best Friend
TV Flash files “Arthur's New Best Friend” as hour 114 of 141 in the TV Flash guide — Maude (1972–1978) on CBS, season 5, episode 21, aired 1977-03-14, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E21: listed hour 114 of 141 in the Maude guide, hour 21 of 24 in season 5. It aired 1977-03-14 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Maude's Aunt” (S05E20). Next is “Vivian's Surprise” (S05E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Walter is surprised when Arthur suddenly stops spending time with him and it seems Arthur has replaced Walter with Wendell Glendale as his new best friend. Walter is jealous of Arthur's new friendship, and his sense of loneliness and betrayal makes Maude in turn feel bad and Walter sets out to make Arthur jealous by making Hubie Binder, Arthur's co-worker his new best friend.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Arthur's New Best Friend sit in the Maude guide?
S05E21 is listed hour 114 of 141 — hour 21 of 24 in season 5, season 5 episode 21.
When did Maude S05E21 air?
Arthur's New Best Friend aired 1977-03-14 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I start with All in the Family or jump to Maude?
Jump. Maude was introduced on the parent series, but Arthur's Tuckahoe household is a self-contained political sitcom. Archie is context, not a gate.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Bea Arthur detonates a Tuckahoe living room as Lear's most unapologetic heroine: abortion episodes, political dinner combat, and a middle-aged woman who will not demur. Bill Macy and Rue McClanahan keep the household sharp. Essential relevant comedy beyond Archie Bunker, sponsors included.
Flash: Tuckahoe, a dinner party already on fire, and Bea Arthur's voice clearing the room before the salad. Maude Findlay does not demur — she detonates. CBS's Maude (1972–1978), spun from All in the Family, ran six seasons, 141 episodes, with Norman Lear's relevant-comedy shop treating hot-button politics as plot, not a very-special footnote. Bill Macy's Walter, Rue McClanahan's Vivian, Adrienne Barbeau's Carol, and Conrad Bain's Arthur complete the combat circle. The afterglow is a laugh track trying to keep…
Filed against
- Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay
Bea Arthur delivered Dorothy Zbornak’s withering one-liners on The Golden Girls like velvet artillery — tall, dry, and never wrong for long. A Broadway powerhouse who also headlined Maude, she made older women the sharpest people in the…
- Bill Macy as Walter Findlay
Bill Macy’s Walter Findlay kept Maude’s Tuckahoe living room sharp — Bea Arthur as Lear’s most unapologetic heroine, abortion episodes, political dinner combat, a middle-aged woman who will not demur, Rue McClanahan in the orbit. Relevant…
- Adrienne Barbeau as Carol Traynor
Adrienne Barbeau’s Carol Traynor needled Bea Arthur’s unapologetic heroine on Maude — Tuckahoe living room, abortion episodes, political dinner combat, a middle-aged woman who will not demur. Bill Macy and Rue McClanahan keeping the…
- Conrad Bain as Arthur Harmon
Conrad Bain’s Arthur Harmon needled Maude’s Tuckahoe living room as the next-door conservative — 1970s catalog Lear combat, then Diff’rent Strokes recasting the posture as Phillip Drummond’s Park Avenue experiment. TV Flash files him as…
- Rue McClanahan as Vivian Cavender Harmon
Rue McClanahan’s Blanche Devereaux was The Golden Girls’ carpet in human form — Miami satin, a neckline the censors negotiated, dating after divorce as a weekly after-party. Four women, one kitchen, chemistry biographies that still…