"That's how Elaine's character came across as well but it was all directed towards Richard Griffiths as her husband. He was portrayed as a serious couch potato and so you were left with the unanswered questions as to how this couple ever got together in the first place"
That was almost the same with Maude. Walter was her fourth husband and she was a real shrew. He owned a hardware store and Maude always seemed like she thought he should have done better in life. One of her regular catchphrases was "God's gonna get you for that, Walter."
Maude was a huge feminist liberal and the Conrad Bain character was an evil Republican who's only job was to be a friend to Walter and foil for Maude's feminism.
And in typical US tv style, every season the writers couldn't write 35 episodes, so Maude included one episode every season where the cast "put on a show." Basically, they took a break from the plot and everyone performed a song, dance or some type of act.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.