Maude's white guilt gets power into trouble once again when she hires Ron Glass to fix the boiler and he makes an unwanted pass at Florida, unwilling to warn him or even fire him simply because he's black. Even though he makes some rather rude comments to Maude, her guilt doesn't allow her to let him go. Florida tries to avoid him but his charms eventually win her over which backfires when her husband Henry (later James on "Good Times") catches them dancing "the funky chicken". Already having had an issue with Florida working, this makes him misunderstand the situation and think that she's cheating.
Yes, that's Helen Martin of "227" as Florida's friend who shows up to help her but ends up making her own ogling moves at Glass. Usually limited to "drop gag" moments (wise cracking then exiting), Rolle gets a rare episode to dominate and she is excellent, strong yet vulnerable. Glass, later of "Barney Miller", shows off another side of his talents.
This gets very daring in its depiction of various types of race relations, with John Amos very good as well. The race conflict issue is crossed when Walter and Arthur side with Henry, making it a gender sided issue as well, adding diverse conflict to an episode that crosses various lines rarely documented on TV shows, let alone a sitcom. This isn't way ahead of its time because time wouldn't allow this to be done the way it is here.
Yes, that's Helen Martin of "227" as Florida's friend who shows up to help her but ends up making her own ogling moves at Glass. Usually limited to "drop gag" moments (wise cracking then exiting), Rolle gets a rare episode to dominate and she is excellent, strong yet vulnerable. Glass, later of "Barney Miller", shows off another side of his talents.
This gets very daring in its depiction of various types of race relations, with John Amos very good as well. The race conflict issue is crossed when Walter and Arthur side with Henry, making it a gender sided issue as well, adding diverse conflict to an episode that crosses various lines rarely documented on TV shows, let alone a sitcom. This isn't way ahead of its time because time wouldn't allow this to be done the way it is here.
