Maude was a love affair right from the beginning. The program stirred controversy with an episode devoted to Maude's decision to have an abortion. Cooper has not worked on a series since the short-lived The Powers That Be in 1992. It's no fun anymore. He bemoans the current status of situation comedies.
Today is such cookie cutter stuff.
Everybody does what everybody does. The reality is based on prior successful sitcoms rather than on life. There are 10 Friends on the air right now. You cannot formula-ize success. That extra element is elusive.