Tired of living with her mother and stepfather and wanting a father figure for Phillip, Carol decides to propose marriage to a man she doesn't love. Meanwhile, married life doesn't seem to be all what it's cracked up to be for Maude and Walter who's argument leads to destruction in the kitchen.

While waiting for the electoral results for Election 1972, Maude and Walter recall Election 1968. Carol had just gotten a divorce and moved in with Maude. Meanwhile, Walter and Maude's relationship had reached a pivotal moment; should they marry or live together.

Maude and Walter are scheduled to play cards one evening with some friends but Maude is anything but in a card playing mood. Especially since, she just came back from a doctor's appointment with some shocking news. At 47 years old, Maude has become pregnant. Now the hard part, breaking the news to Walter.

After Carol suggests an abortion, Maude begins heavy debating over the pros and cons of having a baby at her age. Walter's ""what-ever-you-want"" attitude has Maude having a problem deciding wheather or not to keep the baby. Ultimately, Maude takes into consideration everyone's opinion and makes a final decision, she decides not to have the baby.

Maude pulls out all her high school memorabilia as she awaits the arrival of an old school friend, Phyllis Nash, who was nicknamed both ""Bunny"" because of an overbite and ""Mousie"" because of her looks. However, Maude is stunned and becomes envious when she discovers Phyllis is now a beauty with a career to match.

As a 19-year-old faces a lengthy prison sentence for marijuana possession, Maude and a group of middle-aged housewives plan a protest at a police station. The plan is to get arrested for possession and Maude is supposed to provide the pot. However, trying to get her hands on some, proves to be problematic.

Maude is stunned to discover a black man picketing in front of her home. It isn't until later that she discovers that Walter and her have unwittingly become the owners of a rundown apartment building and they are now being labeled ""slumlords"".

Walter and Maude go to Massachusetts for an appliance seller's convention. When their reservations at a upscale hotel are botched, they must share a shabby motel. This is when a squabble ensues when Maude tries to confide in Walter the angst she has over not having any meaning in her life and the troubles she's been having trying to find a job because she's a woman.

Maude plans a surprise 50th birthday bash for Walter that does not go as well as she planned since Walter is too depressed to have any fun. However, Maude hopes an old friend will be the cure for Walter's gloominess, but she is dead wrong when he drops dead before Walter's eyes.

Walter and Maude are planning on taking a second honeymoon to Italy, however, the day their plane leaves, Maude gets a tetnus shot which results in a rash. She immediatley hotfoots it down to the doctors office where she encounters a busy preoccupied doctor who perscribes her medication but doesn't advise her on how to take it, resulting in an overdose, cancellation of the honeymoon and a possible malpractice suit.

After a fire breaks out in his home, Arthur moves in with the Findlays and immediately works over Maude's nerves. Not only does Arthur keep Walter up all night playing card games, but he gives Florida work to do and insists Maude prepare his food in a certain way. Pretty soon, Maude insists that Walter throw him out.

Florida is backed into a corner by her chauvinistic husband, Henry, who has picked up a second job and orders her to quit her housekeeping job at the Findlays home. Soon it begins to cause problems for Maude and Walter as Walter takes Henry's side and Maude takes Florida's.

Carol walks into a cocktail lounge and catches a glimpse of Walter having drinks in a cozy corner with a woman who once worked for him. When Maude finds out, she immediately jumps to the conclusion that Walter is having an affair and promptly packs up his things and orders him out of the house.

An old friend of Maude's comes for a visit with news of a feud between herself and her daughter. This leads Maude to go all out and try to reconcile the two but a generation gap and financial matters are working against her attempts. Meanwhile, at the same time, Maude tries to matchmake her friend up with Arthur.

Maude is convinced that her best friend, Vivian has the ""perfect marriage"" so she is completely stunned when Vivian announces plans for a divorce. This leads Maude to analyze her supposed ""perfect marriage"".

Maude and Walter prepare for a dinner party at Cliff and Joanna Naylor's home. However, while they are getting ready, they discuss and bicker about Cliff's apparent crush on Maude and how she is flattered by him, that is until Walter breaks the news that Cliff is having an affair with someone else at the country club.

Maude becomes concerned when Walter begins smoking a pipe and wearing high heeled shoes. She suggests that perhaps he's going through male menopause. However, what really concerns both her and Arthur is when they catch Vivian and Walter sharing a kiss. This obviously leads to yet more marital strife between the Findlays and the Harmons.

Walter is late for a special dinner with Maude because he is trying to stop his book keeper from committing suicide. However, while he is there, Walter has a heart attack and he ends up having much more than his health to worry about, when Maude discovers where he was.

With Florida gone, Maude has finally decided to hire a new housekeeper. She is excited with the fact that the new one, Mrs. Naugatuck is British but quickly the two of them clash over gender roles, as Mrs. Naugatuck insists on calling Walter the master of the house and begins to pamper his every need.

Walter and Arthur go away for the weekend on a camping trip. Maude is upset with Walter's plans but she soon forgets it, when Vivian and her go on a non-stop eating binge. However, Walter and Arthur's trip goes awry as they become victims of a speed trap and land in jail.

Maude and Vivian go out for drinks one evening, while Arthur and Walter go away for a golfing weekend. The two girls soon compare notes and discover that an old flame who once dated both of them has sent them each a post card saying he'll be in town. The two girls quickly get drunk while debating over who he finds more attractive.

Walter and Arthur return from an outing in Canada with a batch of fresh fish and a lack of interest in their eager wives. However, Walter has one very important interest, to move the family to the Canadian wilderness. Maude is dead set against the notion, but her reverse psychology fails and Walter ends up trying to sell his business.

Maude is having a restless night, she can't sleep because she has something very important on her mind and wants to tell Walter about it, but he's too busy worrying about the blizzard outside and his end of the summer sale scheduled for the next day. So she decides to just drop the bomb, her doctor has told her that she should have a hysterectomy.

Someone in Maude's household seems to be having a nighttime visitor.

Vivian is throwing a party and she is a nervous wreck, luckily she has Maude to help her. Things get worse when her maid refuses to serve during the event so, Maude extends a hand and gets Mrs. Naugatuck to help out. However, after all that, Maude is in for a shock, Walter and her are not invited to the party.