Maude
Carol's Dilemma
TV Flash files “Carol's Dilemma” as hour 135 of 141 in the TV Flash guide — Maude (1972–1978) on CBS, season 6, episode 18, aired 1978-02-25, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S06E18: listed hour 135 of 141 in the Maude guide, hour 18 of 24 in season 6. It aired 1978-02-25 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Vivian's Decision” (S06E17). Next is “Arthur's Grandson” (S06E19).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Carol's ex-husband Vernon comes to town and begins showering her with flowers and attention. Both Carol and Maude are convinced he's looking for a reconciliation and Carol is seriously thinking about it, that until he announces that he is engaged to someone else and he has come to town in hopes that Carol would allow Phillip to live with him.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Carol's Dilemma sit in the Maude guide?
S06E18 is listed hour 135 of 141 — hour 18 of 24 in season 6, season 6 episode 18.
When did Maude S06E18 air?
Carol's Dilemma aired 1978-02-25 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…