For her solo television special, Bea Arthur gives the hints of what The Beatrice Arthur Variety Hour would look like, imitating fellow variety show hosts Carol Burnett and Cher (which she would later do on "Golden Girls") and coming out in each of those looks (as well as herself) as a split screen Bea narrates the goings on. This gives the hint that this will be the type of late 1970's/early 1980's TV shtick that is nostalgic if often cringing today, but ultimately a fun hour of song, comedy and dramatic sketches. Done between "Maude" and her brief TV flop series "Amanda's", this special shows Bea doing what she loved doing best: entertaining, whether through song and dance, making her audience laugh, or being poignant in dramatic scenes, showing her versatility and not taking away from what made her one of the most unique entertainers of the 20th Century.
With guests Rock Hudson and Melba Moore, Bea gets to do a bit of everything. She goes down "Ballroom" territory by singing "50 Percent" (a piano bar staple nearly 40 years later), duets with Moore on a medley of songs heard in the hit Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehavin'", and questions why everybody is "turning on" (a song from the 1977 Broadway musical "I Love My Wife") with Rock whom she does a "Maude" like sketch with. Her inimitable raspy voice makes her both lovable and tough, yet eager to please, hiding her true self behind those characters like Vera Charles, Maude Findlay and Dorothy Spornak whom we've come to love. I could have seen her hosting a weekly variety series, if for just a season, as there's nothing different than there was on "Sonny and Cher", "Donny and Marie" or "Captain and Tenille". Ultimately, it's a camp journey down memory lane of what TV used to "Bea", and a reminder of the fascinating personality that dominated the stage and small screen for fifty years.
With guests Rock Hudson and Melba Moore, Bea gets to do a bit of everything. She goes down "Ballroom" territory by singing "50 Percent" (a piano bar staple nearly 40 years later), duets with Moore on a medley of songs heard in the hit Broadway musical "Ain't Misbehavin'", and questions why everybody is "turning on" (a song from the 1977 Broadway musical "I Love My Wife") with Rock whom she does a "Maude" like sketch with. Her inimitable raspy voice makes her both lovable and tough, yet eager to please, hiding her true self behind those characters like Vera Charles, Maude Findlay and Dorothy Spornak whom we've come to love. I could have seen her hosting a weekly variety series, if for just a season, as there's nothing different than there was on "Sonny and Cher", "Donny and Marie" or "Captain and Tenille". Ultimately, it's a camp journey down memory lane of what TV used to "Bea", and a reminder of the fascinating personality that dominated the stage and small screen for fifty years.
