Melba Moore & Lou Jacobi in Melba (1986)

I went to a benefit for TRU (Theater Resources Unlimited) this weekend and Melba Moore performed - beautifully, I might add. It brought to mind this show, which had the unfortunate luck to premier on the night of the shuttle disaster. It garnered record settingly low ratings and was pulled off the air immediatly, only to be rebroadcast in August of the same year, also to phenomenally low ratings. Melba played Melba Patterson, a divorced, single mother who ran the Manhattan Visitor's Center in New York where she worked with Jack (Jacobi). She, her mother, Rose (Barbara Meek) and her best friend Susan (Gracie Harrison) cared for her daughter Tracy. There was an Imitation of Life (1959) thing going on, in that Rose had taken care of Susan as a live-in housekeeper when she and Melba were children.

There were only six episodes of this show made and they're very hard to find. Only the opening credits are available on YouTube, buried in the same credit collection that I featured yesterday for Foley Square, uploaded by bobtwcatlanta.

Obscurity factor: 10 (not well remembered, very hard to find)

Bea Arthur, Rock Hudson & Madame in The Beatrice Arthur Special (1979)

In what amounted to arguably, perhaps the most over the top hour ever on television Bea Arthur starred in this musical review featuring Rock Hudson, Melba Moore and the risque Madame. They performed numbers, like the one below, did some wacky comedy and changed clothes a lot. There are quite a few clips available on YouTube, though the show is obscure enough to have been overlooked by IMDB.

Here, the entire ensemble shares the gospel with an appreciative crowd. This show has never made it to commercial DVD, though you can get unofficial versions on sites like iOffer.com.

Obscurity factor: 10 (not on DVD, available in parts on YouTube, not even on IMDB)