Eldergays, tell me about Bette Molders tv show Bette

March 2024 · 16 minute read

Was it good? Any stories about behind the scenes drama?

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by Anonymousreply 92April 15, 2022 2:47 AM

And that should be “Midler” - not “Moulder”

by Anonymousreply 1February 6, 2022 9:32 PM

Oh for ffs - not “Molder”

by Anonymousreply 2February 6, 2022 9:33 PM

I liked the theme song. she should do an album of TV theme song covers

by Anonymousreply 3February 6, 2022 9:41 PM

Bette and Dolly's duet of "Moses" is better than the version on Bette's album.

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by Anonymousreply 4February 6, 2022 9:49 PM

I remember an episode where she met this big black bodybuilder who told her he loved her movie “Bitches”.

by Anonymousreply 5February 6, 2022 9:55 PM

Whew gurl, looks like a HOT MESS

by Anonymousreply 7February 6, 2022 10:24 PM

I remember that. It stunk.

by Anonymousreply 8February 6, 2022 10:35 PM

It was huge with black people

by Anonymousreply 9February 6, 2022 10:36 PM

r9 is that why whoopi's sitcom crashed?

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by Anonymousreply 10February 6, 2022 10:39 PM

Notice the look Better gives Dolly when she sings "and a best friend who is queer".

by Anonymousreply 11February 6, 2022 10:45 PM

I know you’re fucking Judy.

by Anonymousreply 12February 6, 2022 11:10 PM

Midler was a nightmare. She got her onscreen husband fired. The whole thing was a total mess. James Dreyfuss left 'Gimme Gimme' to take the role as her piano player, and lived to regret it. The show was cancelled after the first season. I would consider myself a Midler fan. I made it through the first episode and about ten minutes of the second one. Yawnsville.

by Anonymousreply 14February 7, 2022 12:49 AM

I watched this show as a devoted Divine Miss M fan. The trouble was that it hit too close to home. Nobody really cared about how difficult Bette's off-sage life was like. All we wanted was the Divine Miss M riding in wheelchairs singing hit songs and having fun. This show made her seem too real for comfort. However, she did sing some terrific tunes during the course of the limited run.

by Anonymousreply 15February 7, 2022 12:55 AM

Didn't the show get retooled like half a dozen times?

by Anonymousreply 18February 7, 2022 1:08 AM

Well, she went from Kevin Dunn to Robert Hays as I recall.

by Anonymousreply 19February 7, 2022 1:14 AM

Bette probably thought she deserved a hunkier hubby. But this is the official version:

"Several episodes into the series, Kevin Dunn grew unhappy with the increasingly minimal role and lack of development his character Roy was facing. After filming the series' 11th episode, CBS agreed to let Dunn out of his contract. Dunn was credited for one further episode for contractual reasons. The character of Roy was left offscreen for four episodes while the role was recast. Ultimately, Robert Hays was cast. In his first episode, A Brand New Roy, the cold open makes joking mention of the changes in Roy's appearance. Hays only filmed two episodes of Bette before its cancellation. One of his episodes - and another filmed before he was cast - were never aired by CBS, and his debut episode was the final to air on the network."

by Anonymousreply 20February 7, 2022 4:18 AM

Has bette alienated everyone she ever worked with?

by Anonymousreply 21February 7, 2022 5:04 AM

Who is Judy, R12?

I watched a few episodes. I really wanted to love it, but just didn't. It was kind of a mess and not in a fun way.

by Anonymousreply 22February 7, 2022 5:12 AM

Olivia Newton-John was also a guest star (together with DL fave Chloe Lattanzi!).

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by Anonymousreply 23February 7, 2022 5:19 AM

I remember one episode she came out dressed in all white to make fun of Barbra. and joked that James Brolin was in her concert audience because he couldn';t afford to see his wife.

by Anonymousreply 24February 7, 2022 5:19 AM

R14 Kevin Dunn, who played her husband, was not fired rather he quit. There was conflict between Dunn and Midler. Originally, the husband was supposed to have a much larger role but it quickly became obvious that the comedy of the series rested more with Bette's career rather than her home life and often during re-writes the husband's lines were cut or given to the more popular side kicks played by James Dreyfus and Joanna Gleason. While there is no doubt Bette was hard to work with and she and Dunn did not get along, Dunn also sounds like a piece of work himself. James Dreyfus and Joanna Gleason have in the years gone by since the show was cancelled have actually said nice things about Bette.

by Anonymousreply 25February 7, 2022 5:25 AM

I wonder how much Bette had to do with the show's focus shifting to her career. It seems inevitable that would be the case.

by Anonymousreply 26February 7, 2022 11:53 AM

R26 I think it was probably more of a natural evolution because that's really were the comedy was and what the audience responded to.

by Anonymousreply 27February 7, 2022 6:07 PM

Bette as 'Bette' was just too big/much for a sitcom.

by Anonymousreply 28February 7, 2022 6:28 PM

Like many apparently never knew it existed

by Anonymousreply 29February 7, 2022 6:42 PM

According to Internet gossip columnist Jeannette Walls, Midler and Dunn “absolutely detested” each other. One set insider confesses to seeing the two have a shouting match in front of the entire crew during a script run-through. “It disintegrated into ‘I hate you!’ ‘And I hate you!’ levels,” the source notes. “This all happened at about 6 p.m. The next day it was announced Kevin would be leaving the show.” The ailing sitcom, which has dropped significantly in the ratings since its Oct. 11 debut, is apparently getting to Midler. The Divine Miss M recently told late night talk show host David Letterman that her series is “the lowest thing that ever happened to me in my life,” adding, “I’m like a dung beetle pushing this ball of dung up a mountain.”

by Anonymousreply 30February 7, 2022 6:42 PM

OP hopefully eldergays had cable or DirectTV and didn't need to watch CBS in 2000/2001

by Anonymousreply 31February 7, 2022 6:46 PM

Supposedly LiLo quit because they moved production to LA after the pilot and she didn't want to transfer schools.

by Anonymousreply 32February 7, 2022 6:59 PM

They should have just spun off her character from the Murphy Brown finale, Caprice Feldman.

by Anonymousreply 33February 7, 2022 7:02 PM

I only vaguely remember this show (I remember a scene where Bette had to sing a song at someone's funeral and she sped up the tempo because she had to be somewhere else) but I thought the husband character was pointless and not particularly good. The comedy was always with Bette and her assistants.

by Anonymousreply 34February 7, 2022 7:34 PM

I watched it for a few episodes and I thought it improved a little bit as time went on. Nothing hilarious, but okay to pass the time.

by Anonymousreply 35February 7, 2022 7:44 PM

Who loves me even though I'm crazy? indeed.

IIRC the NYT? maybe New York magazine? did an in-depth fly on the wall feature on the show, where they followed Bette around for a week (one episode). They wrote about it not working, not being funny, and more than that...that BM knew it wasn't working, wasn't funny and how she handled it.

Oh and according to the Times BM wasn't pleased with Robert Hays either.

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by Anonymousreply 36February 7, 2022 8:05 PM

Who did Bette ever get along with?

by Anonymousreply 37February 7, 2022 8:34 PM

nothing to do with Bette.'s disaster....but watching this in depth celebration of Dick Van Dyke you realize chemistry is everything.... and how rare it happens.

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by Anonymousreply 38February 8, 2022 12:18 AM

Chemistry and good writing, r38.

by Anonymousreply 39February 8, 2022 12:23 AM

Bette also complained several times that doing a weekly show was too much work. Well that’s really going to attract viewers. No one wants to hear a highly paid star complain.

by Anonymousreply 40February 8, 2022 12:30 AM

She'd talked to Candice who told her what to expect. It really is a medium not suited to everybody.

by Anonymousreply 41February 8, 2022 12:33 AM

if bette were to be honest with herself, 20 years later...do you think she accepts responsibility....or do you think she really feels it was the fault of her agent, manager, network, etc....?

by Anonymousreply 42February 8, 2022 3:57 AM

She would have been great with a variety show back in the day.

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by Anonymousreply 43February 8, 2022 4:03 AM

wow she really has a grudge with sally field.

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by Anonymousreply 44February 8, 2022 4:05 AM

She lost a ton of weight and looked great. Maybe it made her cranky.

Joanna Gleason was great as her sidekick and seemed to be a good sport offscreen. She really deserved a long-running classic sitcom role. Love & War, Bette and Oh Baby were beneath her. (To say nothing of Hello, Larry.)

by Anonymousreply 45February 8, 2022 4:09 AM

The show could've worked had Bette taken Cybill's idea of playing a less successful version of herself while also learning from Cybill's mistake of letting ego/insecurity cloud her judgment.

by Anonymousreply 46February 8, 2022 4:15 AM

The titular role works better if they're the straight woman reacting to the zany cast around her. Mary and Candice knew that.

by Anonymousreply 47February 8, 2022 4:18 AM

Whaddabout The Geena Davis Show? Anyone remember that?

by Anonymousreply 48February 8, 2022 4:18 AM

Sara? I remember liking it, r48.

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by Anonymousreply 49February 8, 2022 4:21 AM

The Geena Davis Show was a 1998-1999ish sitcom. Sara was a 1985 sitcom, 13 episodes, starring Geena, Alfre Woodard, Bill Maher, Joey Lawrence's younger brother, Corabeth Godsey from The Waltons, and a gay-playing Brinson Pinchot.

by Anonymousreply 50February 8, 2022 4:34 AM

I remember watching an interview with Joanna Gleason from a few years back (I can't for the life of me find it on YouTube) where she did talk about working on Bette. She said good things about Bette, but that Bette was unprepared for the amount of work involved in doing television particularly a sitcom where every week was like a new play with constant changes.

Bette also debuted right at the time the traditional three camera sitcom in front of an audience was dying which was another thing it had going against it.

by Anonymousreply 51February 8, 2022 4:40 AM

sitcom is the easiest job in the world for an actor - with the exception of tape night, it is a 9 to 5 job for the actor. If you have the right people running it.

even the Queens of Comedy, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore and Lucy - all big stars. But they let others run the show, and focused on the acting.

When you have a star like Bette, it has to be her way. Now there is nothing wrong with that, IF she came up with the concept and had good writers, producers and directors sharing your vision, then it would be an easy place

But CBS approached Bette, with a production team already in place. Neither worked together - and Bette had her way and producers had their way and the network was in the middle - usually siding with the producers.

It would have been better if CBS struck a development deal, had Bette come up with a concept, have her hire the team then do the pilot.

It was just a bad marriage all around.

by Anonymousreply 52February 8, 2022 4:48 AM

Well, why didn't my s(h)itcom work???

by Anonymousreply 53February 8, 2022 5:55 AM

R53 I still can't believe that they gave you a sitcom.

by Anonymousreply 54February 8, 2022 5:59 AM

R49 Wow I knew every single cast member! And I had never heard of that show.

by Anonymousreply 55February 8, 2022 6:11 AM

"the lowest thing that ever happened to me in my life"

Worse than "Jinxed"?

by Anonymousreply 56February 8, 2022 6:46 AM

If Bette had played a fictional character, and not just a zany version of herself, the show may have had a chance.

by Anonymousreply 57February 8, 2022 7:54 AM

when you see her next to danny devito you realize just how tiny she is.

by Anonymousreply 58February 8, 2022 7:57 AM

It was better than The Geena Davis Show

by Anonymousreply 59February 8, 2022 8:01 AM

Jeffrey Lane who was one of the writers (and apparently a friend of Miller’s until working with her) will not allow her name mentioned in his presence now

by Anonymousreply 60February 8, 2022 2:26 PM

The zany version of herself *is* a fictional character, r57.

by Anonymousreply 61February 8, 2022 2:26 PM

Kevin Dunn was not in the position then (or now?) to turn down a steady paycheck in a series. He had been doing sporadic guest shots on TV and movies. This would have been a god$end for a working actor; all he had to do is show up and collect a paycheck. I doubt if "artistic fulfillment" matters when bills are due.

She canned him.

by Anonymousreply 62February 8, 2022 3:49 PM

yeah, get Kevin Dunn on DL. pronto....I'm sure he's got some stories!

by Anonymousreply 63February 8, 2022 7:05 PM

I never watched it. I did used to watch Caroline in the City, though. God that show is a relic now.

by Anonymousreply 64February 8, 2022 7:17 PM

The show suffered from being an uneasy marriage of hoary 1980s network sitcom tropes and Bette Midler clinging fast to the “madcap but now Middle-America friendly diva” persona she armoured herself in during the 1990s.

If she had done a show a few years later on cable, I think she could have built something more like Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Comeback that could have actually been served by her “Bette Midler” persona instead of “the Divine Miss M runs for the PTA” crap that was the stuff of Bette.

by Anonymousreply 65February 8, 2022 9:45 PM

It seems like an American version of AbFab. The nutty, narcissistic, insecure mother trying to connect with her straight-laced daughter. They should have dropped the husband and paired her with a tall, smoldering bff. Hijinks ensue.

by Anonymousreply 66February 8, 2022 10:25 PM

Bette is known to be very difficult to work with, so I doubt the fault is completely with Kevin.

I remember a TV Guide cover story on Wynonna Judd in the 90's that centered around filming her first network television special. Bette was the special guest. Wynonna had been Bett's guest on some big VH1 event and they had apparently gotten along great. So when the network offered Judd a special, she invited Bette to appear to return the favor. The article went into depth on how Bette was such a raging bitch during filming to everyone, that Judd bemoaned to the reporter about how you should never meet your idols.

by Anonymousreply 67February 8, 2022 10:39 PM

I've watched x3 eps of 'Bette' and they're not nearly as bad as I remember. No, they're not good, but I can have them on in the background as I troll DL, Grindr, etc. She actually did get very trim for this role. It's just a shame the set doesn't have more faux scenery for her to chew; she delivers each and every line with so much gusto. She's the most relaxed when she sings, which--of course--she does very well.

by Anonymousreply 68February 8, 2022 10:42 PM

Does anyone remember the show that aired right after 'Bette'?

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by Anonymousreply 69February 8, 2022 10:57 PM

I do remember that one . Baranski mostly does parts in movies these days requiring her to be a high society bitch in skinny heels. She does the job admirably well.

by Anonymousreply 70February 8, 2022 11:20 PM

Baranski was phenomenal in The Big Bang Theory. It's an unpopular show here, of course. But she and Laurie Metcalf created impeccable, polar-opposite characters unlike anything they've done on tv.

by Anonymousreply 71February 8, 2022 11:24 PM

Interesting R68. I watched the two Robert Hays episodes after reading this thread and was astonished that, so many weeks into it, Midler had not figured out what level to pitch her performance. Her singing is wonderful, her acting dreadfully rote and schmacty. She sounds like she's saying lines and you don't "believe" her. To have her surrounded with really good actors like Joanna Gleason magnifies the issue instead of minimizing it.

by Anonymousreply 72February 8, 2022 11:37 PM

Director Andew D. Weyman was hired because of his reputation for being able to work with women perceived as difficult, like Ellen De Generes, Rosanne, and Cybill Shepherd.

by Anonymousreply 73February 10, 2022 1:09 AM

Sally Field was asked to guest-star, but she declined.

by Anonymousreply 74February 10, 2022 1:11 AM

Bette claimed she was going to pen a tell-all book about the various behind-the-scenes horrors she endured, but it never came to fruition.

by Anonymousreply 76February 10, 2022 1:12 AM

What a shitty s(h)itcom. Mine was soooo much better, y'all.

by Anonymousreply 77February 10, 2022 1:16 AM

I remember her saying in a NYT Magazine interview that she had never worked so hard in her life. There were lots of last minute script changes but j think that’s the rule.

by Anonymousreply 79February 10, 2022 2:18 AM

Yes, R78 that one too. Way better than that bitch's shit

by Anonymousreply 80February 10, 2022 2:35 AM

I wonder how Lohan got cast in the pilot. She'd already done 'Parent Trap', which was a huge hit for Disney. It seems lie they would've had her under contract.

by Anonymousreply 81February 10, 2022 2:50 PM

Yes, REBA was a million times better than BETTE.

Reba was wise and instead of being a narcissistic control freak, she played the straight man and let her zany co-stars make her funny.

Plus she brought on funny guest appearances from the likes of Park Overall, Dorothy Lyman and Julia Duffy who had a lot sitcom experience.

by Anonymousreply 82February 10, 2022 3:07 PM

Ugh, I could never get past Reba's speaking voice, no thank youuuuu.

by Anonymousreply 84February 10, 2022 4:19 PM

r69, I remember that show. There was a really interesting article I read before it came on about the development process--about how it was supposed to be Gaffigan's vehicle, but when Baranski expressed interest in the script, the whole thing was rewritten to make the character she would play bigger. Plus production was moved from LA to New York to accommodate her. The end result didn't really work--it wasn't enough his show or her show, just kind of a lukewarm combination that lacked focus. Though I remember the second or third episode was something like his character trying to get an apartment in New York and hers teaching him how to deal with brokers and the insanity of the New York real estate market, which was nicely specific and also the kind of thing that many people outside of New York probably weren't remotely interested in.

by Anonymousreply 87April 15, 2022 12:07 AM

I remember that BETTE and THE GEENA DAVIS SHOW debuted around the same time (I think one day apart in the fall of 2000) and Helen Hunt (who had the blockbusters WHAT WOMEN WANT and CAST AWAY on deck later that year) saying something snarky about how unoriginal the titles were and that she should title her next sitcom HELEN! with an exclamation point for good measure. 😂

by Anonymousreply 88April 15, 2022 1:21 AM

I think she was promoting the godawful PAY IT FORWARD, which was released around the same time as those sitcoms.

by Anonymousreply 89April 15, 2022 1:26 AM

My dear husband Ken Wahl has told me everything I'll ever need to know about this whore Bette!

by Anonymousreply 90April 15, 2022 2:33 AM

The title role cried out for a Linda Lavin or Bonnie Franklin to do it justice.

by Anonymousreply 91April 15, 2022 2:41 AM

It was really REALLY bad.

by Anonymousreply 92April 15, 2022 2:47 AM

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