6.2 /10 1 Votes
6.5/10 TV Created by Elliot Shoenman Composer(s) Artie Butler Program creator Elliot Shoenman | 6/10 IMDb Also known as 'Amanda's By The Sea' Theme music composer Lois Walden Final episode date 26 May 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Directed by Marc Daniels
Charles S. Dubin
J.D. Lobue
John Rich
Howard Storm Starring Beatrice Arthur
Fred McCarren
Simone Griffeth
Tony Rosato
Rick Hurst
Keene Curtis
Kevin McCarthy Network American Broadcasting Company Cast Bea Arthur, Tony Rosato, Rick Hurst, Simone Griffeth, Keene Curtis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amanda s by the sea all in a days work
Amanda's (also known as Amanda's By The Sea) is an American sitcom based on the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers that aired on ABC from February 10 to May 26, 1983. The series starred Beatrice Arthur as the main character, 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.
Contents
A total of thirteen episodes were produced, with three remaining unaired following the series' cancellation.
Synopsis
Amanda Cartwright (Beatrice 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 always threatened to foreclose and brother-in-law Zack (Kevin McCarthy), who was out to woo Amanda.
Production
Amanda's was the second attempted American adaptation of Fawlty Towers. The first, 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 the series was never produced. John Cleese, 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".
Amanda's was created by Elliot Shoenman, who had previously written six episodes of Arthur's successful 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.
However, Arthur has since recalled "complaining bitterly" about the show and, in particular, the plot and character changes. Amanda, unlike her original counterpart Sybil, did not have a husband, but instead had a son and daughter-in-law. Arthur noted the only real similarity between Amanda's and Fawlty Towers was the adaptation of the character Manuel, known in the remake as Aldo. 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."
Cleese recalled a meeting he attended to discuss this new adaptation of his show:
"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."
Amanda's was taped in front of a live audience at ABC Studios in Hollywood, California. It was cancelled in May 1983 after a short four-month run of ten episodes, with three episodes remaining unaired. A&E channel broadcast reruns of the show during the late 1980s.
Arthur has since described the show as "a big disappointment". Two years after the cancellation of Amanda's, Arthur was cast in the enormously successful sitcom The Golden Girls.
Following Amanda's, a third remake of Fawlty Towers entitled Payne (produced by and starring John Larroquette) was also produced, but was cancelled shortly after. A fourth remake titled Over the Top was made in 1997 starring Tim Curry and Annie Potts (with Steve Carell in an early-career role as the Manuel character). Twelve episodes were produced, but only three ever aired on American television (though the complete run was broadcast overseas). A German pilot based on the sitcom was made in 2001, named Zum letzten Kliff, but further episodes were not made.