Bette

The Divine One's "Bette" is still good enough to win a Marvy for the best TV comedy of the year. [11 Oct 2000, p.B35]

She is simply hilarious. Lovable, insecure, over-the-top and hilarious. [11 Oct 2000, p.D01]

Bette is full of good-natured mischief and proves a surprisingly easy fit for Midler. The weaknesses are obvious enough: a need to ease up on the fat jokes and the broad physical farce that's a little too obvious. But the screen loves Midler, which is never more apparent than during a scene that finds her turning a Kid Rock rap-rock tune into a jazzy swing number. You can't write that into a script; it's pure magic. [11 Oct 2000]

The trick for Midler's writers will be to make sure the show is at least somewhat grounded in real-life situations while keeping the inside-Hollywood stuff from being too inside. It's funny, for example, when she expresses vengeful bitterness over losing the 1979 Oscar to Sally Field ("Norma Rae"), but it might not be so funny to hear references to her 1982 celluloid stink bomb "Jinxed." (Remember that one?) [11 Oct 2000, p.D01]

Most of this is enjoyable, some of it a bit much. But Bette is Bette, as is "Bette." She's a hothouse rose, not a shrinking violet. But on a weekly basis, too much scenery-chewing could make even the "Divine Miss M" wear thin. We'll see how it all plays out. [8 Oct 2000]

You've got to be something of a Bette-a-holic to take this much of Midler's raging insecurities and slapstick stylings on a weekly basis. Even when she's missing from a scene in "Bette," which is rare, the rest of the show's character ensemble is fixated on her and her bottomless pit of need. [11 Oct 2000, p.C1]

Try as Midler might - and she does try, doing a few physical comedy bits that would make Lucille Ball proud - even she can't overcome the reality that Bette is an idea that never developed beyond the star's reputation. [11 Oct 2000, p.1E]