Roberta

Truly horrific. This is NOT an adaptation of the 1933 musical ROBERTA but instead a typical Bob Hope TV special produced by the comedian himself. Granted some of the classic songs are there and there is a SLIGHT similarity to Otto Harbach's book but once again I stress the word slight. At one point midway we leave the show entirely so Hope can do one of his typical stand up comedy routines with topical jokes from 1969. It's a bizarre show with no redeeming qualities. It's not even campy. I've been a longtime fan of Janis Paige but her musical numbers are appalling. Her costumes are more suited to LAUGH IN and her voice doesn't sit well in the vocal arrangements given her. Then there's Michele Lee's HEAVY belt on such quiet numbers as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Funny thing is the show starts off like a vintage musical from bygone days and then morphs into a really bad cheesy musical variety special common in the sixties. I guess TV audiences back then were easily entertained. Cross this off your viewing list at the Paley Center for Media. Not worth the time or effort.

Bob Hope reprises his role from the Jerome Kern 1930s musical, updated for 1960s sensibilities, and heavily truncated (in dialogue and songs) to fit a ninety minute time slot, including commercials.

With Hope are leads John Davidson, not doing badly (but not overshadowing the obvious star, Hope); and Michele Lee, massacring "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

Usual scene-stealer Janis Paige is reduced to practically nothing in a man-hungry role until she gets to jiggle in an atrociously updated version of " "I Won't Dance."

Despite dropped or shortened Kern classics, they found time to squeeze in Hope warbling "La Vie en Rose," which he interrupts for a quite amusing running monologue. Elsewhere, his tweaked dialogue for topical jokes doesn't work so well.

Worst of all is a fashion show, which might've been keen-o in Kern's day but which is ridiculous nearly a century on. The styles aren't all as awful as one may have heard and not revealing (this was a family program), but it was the 1960s so be prepared to gasp, and not in a good way.

Hope's usual sctick is funny here and there (especially a joke near the end making fun of his obvious age) but I thought he was better before he became an institution.

The all-star cast (particularly Hope) in a prime time telecast classic musical must've looked good back in its day, but now it's a curiosity piece. Kern isn't well served, but it has enough laughs (mostly thanks to Hope's big monologue) to make it worth a peek for Hope fans.

But keep in mind: this isn't a showpiece for Kern, but for Hope.