Chekhov, who often referred to his own writing in self-deprecating ways, remarked on his success: "I've managed to write a stupid vaudeville which, owing to the fact that it is stupid, is enjoying surprising success." The play is the basis for operas by Dominick Argento ("The Boor", 1957) and William Walton ("The Bear", 1967). It was also the inspiration for the second act of the 1979 musical "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine". It was adapted for an episode of the radio show "On Stage" in 1953. Walter Brown Newman wrote the script as a western, and Cathy Lewis, Elliott Lewis, Byron Kane, and Horace Murphy starred. In 2000 it was made into a short film, "Speed for Thespians", in which a group of actors put on "The Bear" on a New York City bus.