MAUDE

Maude is a crab. She is bossy and opinionated, an unrepentant know-it-all who has her own views of how the world should work. As she sees it, her view is the only one that matters. She dispenses her opinions and criticisms at the drop of a hat, whether you want to hear it or not. And her patient husband Gordon is very often the unwitting target of her judicious harangues.

Maude never wanted to go on vacation down South anyway. That was Gordon's idea. In her view, the world of confederate flags, country music, grits, and kudzu is as alien as if she had found herself standing on Neptune. Maude responds to all this with cantankerous volleys of wit, sarcasm, and ridicule aimed with the skill of a sniper -- and God help you if you're in her gun sights or caught in the crossfire.