 When Norman Lear (qv), Mike Evans (I) (qv), and  Eric Monte (I) (qv) were first developing this show, it was not a  spin off of _"Maude" (1972)_ (qv). Later, they decided to cast  Esther Rolle (qv) as the lead and make the show a spin off  featuring Florida Evans and her family. The original family name was  changed to Evans, but the first names of the other characters were  not changed. Coincidentally, Michaels name became the same as  co