To Bea or Not to Bea

Sorry for all the death blogging lately, kids, but people we care about are dropping like flies, so what are we to do? Anyway, at least with Bea Arthur we get to put up knee-slapping vids that make you laugh while you contemplate mortality. Regrettably, we can't put up the full six minutes of Bea's killer (get it?) performance at a 2005 Comedy Central roast of Pamela Anderson (because the meanies of Viacom have had it taken down off the YouTubes over a copyright claim), but here are a couple of choice morsels that show Bea at her dead(get it?)pan best. My typist is particularly enamored of these bits because Arthur, in reading selections from Anderson's 2005 novel Star Struck, compellingly reminds us of why, in the biopic of Moose's life, the part of her dissertation director, a formidable founder of feminist literary criticism, was to have been played by Beatrice Arthur. Alas.

Here's Arthur, setting up her readings from Anderson's novel, in full-on professorial style:

Roast of Pamela Anderson - Bea Arthur Roasts Pam's Novel | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

And here she is on the subjects of intimate bargaining, the hydraulics and mechanics of sex, and, yes, anal eroticism:

Roast of Pamela Anderson
Bea Arthur Uncensored
comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

Yes, Bea Arthur was queerer than you are. And funnier, too, but that's all right. Need something a little less risqué to talk about around the water cooler tomorrow? Treat yourself to the full 7 minutes of this highlight reel from the first two seasons of Golden Girls. qta passed it along via Facebook, and we pass it along to you as a way of saying, you know, thank you for being a friend. Peace out.