Maude was a nasty piece of work. It’s curious that at the end of the show’s run, she was “appointed” to Congress (nevermind with her baggage of ex-husbands, recent abortion, alcoholism, mental illness, suicide attempt, etc., she’d never have won a primary, let alone a race for Congress).
Bea Arthur didn’t want to continue doing the show as a “Congresswoman” (despite the fact that it might’ve reinvigorated the show and given her new situations to mine), so it forced Norman Lear to drastically retool the whole idea and made “Maude” into a Black man and new Congressman (talk about a transgender/transracial transformation !). He gave the lead to John Amos (perhaps as a consolation prize for his leaving “Good Times” when it turned into the Jimmy “J.J.” Walker Show).
“Mr. Dugan” turned into one of the most fabled bombs in television history. Lear thought he was paying tribute to the Black members of Congress, and went so far as to screen it for them, but the members thought he was patronizing them and insulting/lampooning them (of course, you know how thin-skinned and humorless those Communist CBC racist moonbats are) and it spectacularly blew up in his face, and he yanked the remaining few filmed episodes. I’ve never seen it, and it would be curious to see if it was remotely entertaining. Amos is a skilled actor, and could play comedy and drama turning on a dime.
Lear retooled the show again, this time for Bill Macy, Arthur’s co-star, as a University President, but it bombed as well.
I was surprised how crappy the Maude backdoor pilot was, other than Archie at the end, nothing was funny. “God is gonna get you” is an odd catchphrase for a lefttard.
I’ve never heard of “Mr Dugan”. There doesn’t seem to be any released video of it. Too bad.
I really want to see the unreleased OJ Simpson pilot “Frogmen”.