If you'd been watching Beverly Hillbillies for 10 years and silly shows like it, trust me, Maude was a welcome change. No, 50 year old women don't get pregnant and have abortions every day, but nor do grandmothers box kangaroos.
If Bea is related to that Bethany idiot, I hope that her relatives would not acknowledge it. I have no idea where that concept came from.
The Odd Couple and WKRP were the best shows of the 1970s and they still hold up.