THE BLONDE IN THE THUNDERBIRD

I caught Suzanne Somers' Broadway show the day it closed waaaay early due to bad reviews. I didn't read any of those reviews, but the show was a little tacky. OK, it was quite tacky. But I'll be damned if Suzanne isn't still adorable at 58. At one point she even put her hair in pigtails a la Chrissy on THREE'S COMPANY. Surprisingly, her singing voice was pleasing. But a little more "Come and knock on our door" and a little less maudlin' history would've been welcome. And some of the goofy humor fell flatter than her 58 year-old ass (in a leotard) has. She responds to canned voices a lot, and when her therapist's voice says "You apologize too much" Suzanne says "I'm sorry". You get the gist. But I did love it when she pulled out a light-up cart covered with all the items she's hawked on infomercials over the years, showing that she's a good sport who's in on the joke. The show will probably do better on tour.

That night I watched Tammy Faye Baker-Messner on Larry King. Honey, I can't decipher that gal's magic but it's in full efect, even as she announces that her cancer is back. She looked better than ever in a frosty blonde shag and a bright turqoise summer sweater. She's just so damned perky that she either really loves life or is a great actress.

And she was boosting the gays, saying that "God is love" and criticizing a church group who had cancelled a fellow evangelist because of his ministering to the gays. She was thrilled to have been to the Castro Theater in San Fran and got to "play the big organ"--missing, I'm sure, the sexual innuendo here.

I once emcee'd a Tammy Faye look-a-like contest in DC and the two of us shared a dressing room. She insisted on coming out at the end as one of the drag contestants. Of course the crowd went nuts! She was a hoot!