Amanda's (also known as Amanda's by the Sea) is an American sitcom television series based on the 1970s British sitcomFawlty Towers that aired on ABC from February 10 to May 26, 1983. The series starred Bea Arthur as Amanda Cartwright, who owns a seaside hotel called "Amanda's by the Sea" and was Arthur's first return to series television since her sitcom Maude ended in 1978.
Thirteen episodes were produced, with three remaining unaired following the series' cancellation.[1]
Synopsis
Amanda Cartwright (Bea Arthur) is the formidable owner of "Amanda's by the Sea", a struggling California seaside hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean whose fractious staff includes her hotel-management-graduate son Marty (Fred McCarren); her spoiled daughter-in-law Arlene (Simone Griffeth); Earl, the bumbling chef (Rick Hurst) and Aldo, the bellhop of foreign extraction (Tony Rosato).
The comedy revolved around burnt steaks, fussy guests, travel-guide writers who had to be impressed, the banker Mr Mundy (Keene Curtis) – who constantly threatened to foreclose – and brother-in-law Zack (Kevin McCarthy), who was out to woo Amanda.
Production
Amanda's is the second attempted American adaptation of Fawlty Towers. The first, Snavely (also known as Chateau Snavely) starring Harvey Korman and Betty White, was produced by ABC for a pilot in 1978, but the transfer from coastal hotel to highway motel proved too much and additional episodes were never filmed after the completion and review of that pilot.[2]John Cleese, co-creator of the original British sitcom, was critical of this first adaptation, in particular Korman and White, saying they "played it too slow and were embarrassed by the edgy dialogue".[3]
Amanda's was created by Elliot Shoenman, who had previously written six episodes of Arthur's 1970s sitcom Maude. Since Maude concluded in 1978, Arthur had been approached with numerous ideas until Shoenman showed her some tapes of Fawlty Towers. Loving the original, Arthur agreed to take part in a remake. Later, however, she recalled "complaining bitterly"[4] about the show and, in particular, the plot and character changes. Amanda, unlike her original counterpart Sybil, did not have a husband (she was a widow) but instead had a son and daughter-in-law. Arthur noted the only fundamental similarity between Amanda's and Fawlty Towers was the adaptation of the character Manuel, known in the remake as Aldo.[4]Norman Lear, a friend and former colleague of Arthur's, looked at the sitcom and told Arthur: "You don't have a character...you're not playing anything."[4]
In a 2009 interview, Cleese described the occasion when American television producers spoke to him about their development of Amanda's:
The most extraordinary remake was with Bea Arthur. I remember at a party I met these chaps from Viacom, who said they were working on a new Fawlty Towers. My ears pricked up at the sound of cash registers and said, "That's wonderful, are you going to change anything?" They said, "Well we have changed one thing, we've written Basil out". And that's absolutely true, they took Basil and Sybil's lines and gave them all to Bea Arthur.[3]
Amanda's was taped in front of a live audience at ABC Studios in Hollywood, California. It was canceled in May 1983 after a four-month run of ten episodes, with three unaired episodes remaining. A&E channel broadcast reruns of the show during the late 1980s.[citation needed]
Arthur later described the show as "a big disappointment".[4] Two years after the cancellation of Amanda's, Arthur was cast in the sitcom The Golden Girls.
A third remake of Fawlty Towers, titled Payne, was developed sixteen years after Amanda's ended. Produced by and starring John Larroquette, the CBS series was cancelled after the broadcast of its eighth episode on April 28, 1999.
When an ex-con (Donnelly Rhodes) holds the staff and guests hostage in the hotel lobby, both he and the chief of police (Jerry Stiller) make a play for Amanda.
3
"The Man Who Came on Wednesday"
Charles S. Dubin
Elliot Shoenman
February 24, 1983 (1983-02-24)
Amanda's party plans are interrupted when she has to pass off a bunch of country bumpkins as pillars of the community to welcome the town's new bank president.
Amanda panics when she and Aldo desperately try to keep up with a corpse that mysteriously turns up in various guest rooms.
5
"My Cheatin' Staff"
J.D. Lobue
John Markus
March 10, 1983 (1983-03-10)
Aldo falls for a gorgeous airline stewardess (Ann Gillespie) while Marty and Arlene suspect Amanda of having an affair with Aldo and a married hotel guest.
^Digital copies of the pilot episode "Amanda's By the Sea—All in a Days Work" and other full installments of the series are available for viewing on the streaming service YouTube, Google, Mountain View, California; originally posted 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
