Back in 1973, PBS produced and aired a production of Bruce Jay Friedman's black comedy, Steambath. The excellent cast included Bill Bixby, Valerie Perrine and Jose Perez, and the play reran many times on PBS, most often on Pledge Nights. This was partly because it was so funny and partly because Ms. Perrine (and two gay guys) were briefly naked in it. Nekkid people on TV are quite common now in the era of HBO and NYPD Blue but in '73, it was akin to the moon landing.
There were rumors that donations went through the ceiling whenever a PBS station aired Steambath and, based on my friends' reactions, I can believe it. I knew guys who otherwise wouldn't have been caught dead watching a play or PBS, but watch they did. During the commercials, when viewers were urged to support Public Television and encourage more programming like Masterpiece Theatre and Sesame Street," even some of my stingiest friends sent cash. They wanted to encourage more shows with Valerie Perrine's rear end.
I recently watched the production again and, boy, it holds up…especially Bill Bixby's fine performance. What a shame that man had to spend most of his career covering for his Uncle Martin, turning into the Hulk or pretending to be a detective-magician. And why isn't anyone rerunning The Courtship of Eddie's Father, which I recall as being a touching, witty show?
You can watch Steambath again or for the first time. It's been out on VHS for a while and is now available on DVD. Click here to buy the tape from Amazon and here to buy the DVD from them. Or click here to buy the tape from Movies Unlimited or here to buy the DVD from them. As usual, this site gets a tiny cut.
Trivial aside: I wonder how many people know that Bruce Jay Friedman, in addition to creating many fine plays and screenplays, created a fine cartoonist. One of today's best caricaturists — Drew Friedman, whose work appears regularly in Mad, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Observer and everywhere else — is the son of Bruce Jay. To learn more about Drew and what Drew draws, order a copy of Mad Art, a forthcoming book by that noted Mad Magazine authority, me.