No joke! Could Bette Davis have won an Emmy as best TV comedy actress?

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 12:19pm

"A devilish Gold Derby reader sends us this hilarious YouTube clip of a pilot for a TV sitcom in 1965 starring Bette Davis that never got aired. It's bravura TV — vintage Bette in shrewdly crafted comedy — but it mysteriously stayed on the shelf despite socko talent behind it that included producer Aaron Spelling ("Charlie's Angels," "Beverly Hills 90210") and writer Mart Crowley ("The Boys in the Band" — a perfect camp fit for Bette, eh? Crowley and Spelling would team up again later to do a TV series for another grand diva, Joan Collins, that turned out to be a huge hit — "Dynasty"). When Bette Davis' TV series didn't sell to the networks, she didn't take the news well. "She was very disappointed that 'The Decorator' didn't go," writes Ed Sikov in "Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis" (Henry Holt Books, 2007). "No, not disappointed — hurt. Very hurt."

Below is just Part 1 of the pilot. You can see Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

In "The Decorator," Bette Davis portrays a cranky interior designer (think Margot Channing suffering her nastiest hangover) whose career is hitting rock bottom as she gets well-deserved knocks from her wisecracking assistant, portrayed by Mary Wickes. When she finally lands a job with a rich Oklahoma judge (Ed Begley), Bette moves into his home and start redecorating his family's life — with outrageous consequences, of course.

Two-time Oscar champ Bette ("Jezebel," "Dangerous") wasn't too grand to stoop to appearing on the lowly boob tube like many other film superstars in those days. She was nominated for four Emmy Awards and won one for a different grouchy role: best actress in a TV movie as a crusty old momma (Bette was 71 in real life) whose terminally ill daughter (Gena Rowlands) comes home to reconcile with her before she dies in "Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter" (1979).

But Bette Davis in a TV sitcom! How funny is that? Hilarious on screen, yes, but not such a laughing matter to the great diva."

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/03/bette-davis-new.html