According to an interview Bill Macy did with Scott Spears, one reason for Maude ending was because Bea Arthur struggled to cope with her divorce to then husband Gene Saks
The producers of "Maude" still liked the idea of a show centered around a new Congressional representative (even though they had watched a D.C.-politics show called "All's Fair" from their studio barely make it through the 1976-79 season) and remade this show three times.
This episode of "Maude" was re-taped as the pilot for "Onward and Upward," starring John Amos as the Congressman. Amos, who had quit "Good Times" after its third season, quit this series before any new shows could be made.
The next try was called "Mr. Dugan" (after a couple of name changes) and scheduled for a limited run in 1979 with Cleavon Little in the title role. Four days before that show was to premiere, Norman Lear's company canceled it unilaterally and refunded $1.2 million in production costs (four to six shows' worth) to CBS-TV after African-American members of Congress, who had screened the available shows, vehemently disapproved the comic portrayal of an African-American in high office as a chronic fumbler.
For third try the producers moved the whole show to a college campus, added a fifth character named Rita (Darrian Matthias) as a wide-eyed student assistant. They also picked up Bill Macy in the lead role and filmed four shows. They aired on CBS-TV in August 1979 and sank into obscurity.
This episode of "Maude" was re-taped as the pilot for "Onward and Upward," starring John Amos as the Congressman. Amos, who had quit "Good Times" after its third season, quit this series before any new shows could be made.
The next try was called "Mr. Dugan" (after a couple of name changes) and scheduled for a limited run in 1979 with Cleavon Little in the title role. Four days before that show was to premiere, Norman Lear's company canceled it unilaterally and refunded $1.2 million in production costs (four to six shows' worth) to CBS-TV after African-American members of Congress, who had screened the available shows, vehemently disapproved the comic portrayal of an African-American in high office as a chronic fumbler.
For third try the producers moved the whole show to a college campus, added a fifth character named Rita (Darrian Matthias) as a wide-eyed student assistant. They also picked up Bill Macy in the lead role and filmed four shows. They aired on CBS-TV in August 1979 and sank into obscurity.
Final episode of the series.