While all three versions (1978 - Snavely, 1983 - Amanda by the Sea, 1999. Payne) flopped, this first one is the best of the US ones. But none of them are able to capture the je ne sais quoi of the original UK John Cleese's Fawlty Towers, and just end up looking contrived. Good as Bea Arthur is with comedy, her character is all wrong for the role of a female John Cleese in her Amanda by the Sea, which ends up being a replay of Maude. Betty White fares better as the wife, but still the interplay with Harvey Korman just doesn't capture the requisite essence. Payne was just painful.
All four versions are on YouTube - worth a watch.
All four versions are on YouTube - worth a watch.