Since no one else seems to have started a thread on this - let me be the first. I'm in mourning over the death of Bea Arthur. She was one of my favourite TV characters as Maude when i was growing up in the 70s and i think that her role was a ground-breaker in terms of depicting a liberal woman in the US and dealt with all kinds of great topics like Maude getting an abortion, going through menopause, having a Republican neighbour etc... Apparently Bea Arthur was actually very progressive in real life too (as was Carroll O'Connor who actually campaigned for George McGovern while portraying Archie Bunker on All in the Family) and was doing ads attacking Kentucky Fried Chicken up until very recently.
Anyways, i figured this would be a good place for other people to post any notes on fond memories of Maude!