Bea Arthur really doesn't care whether anyone compares her new comedy role in NBC's "The Golden Girls" with her longtime stint as "Maude."

For one thing, the word around town is that "The Golden Girls" may be the hot new show of the fall television season.

So is Arthur worried about typecasting?

"Look," she says, "I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line. What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something totally different. I think it's a total waste of energy to worry about typecasting."

"I remember Carroll O'Connor being worried about being too closely associated with Archie Bunker. It's silly. He was brilliant as Archie Bunker."

It was on "All In The Family" that Maude Findlay first raised her voice. Against Archie, of course. She never shut up after that and went on to vent her liberal views for six years on "Maude" in the mid-1970s.

The consensus of the critics is that the pilot for "The Golden Girls" is the best of all the new shows for the fall. Another potentially hot show is Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories", but its being kept under wraps.

The show centers on four women, either divorced or widowed, who are living out their golden years in Miami. It also stars Betty White, Rue McClanahan (who was Vivian, the best friend and next-door neighbour on "Maude") and Estelle Getty. Naturally, the series was quickly nicknamed "Miami Nice," after NBC's hit detective drama "Miami Vice."

Arthur is all smiles about her new show, but recalls ruefully she felt the same way two years ago about "Amanda's."

"I really thought it was going to be fabulous," she says.

In the show, she ran a small resort hotel called "Amanda's By The Sea," and was constantly called upon to keep in line a staff as efficient as the Three Stooges.

"I think everyone goofed on the series, including ABC," she says. "It had no point of view. It was a huge disappointment for me, but I can't really put the blame on ABC. I think it was ill-conceived to begin with."

Arthur turned to Norman Lear, who had produced "Maude" and "All In The Family." "I always call him when I'm in trouble."

But there was little Lear could do other than offer consolation. "Amanda's" soon folded.

"When I came into television it was with Norman," she says, "and I just assumed that was the way television was. Well it wasn't the way television was."

She is delighted, however, that "The Golden Girls" was created by Susan Harris ("Soap"), and will be directed by Paul Bogart ("All In The Family"). The show is produced by Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas.

"What's scary is that word is out that this is going to be the hot new show," Arthur says--"What if we bomb? It's crazy. I've never been in this situation before. I keep thinking back to "Amanda's" and how all the bosses loved it.

"But whether or not we make it, if the scripts continue as they have been, I won't have to hide my head and pretend it's not on that night. It's like being back with Norman."

Arthur stars in "The Golden Girls" as Dorothy, a no-nonsense retired school teacher whose husband has run off to Hawaii with an airline stewardess. Rue McClanahan is Blanche, a Southern belle with a weakness for handsome men. Betty White is Rose, a daffy, ephemeral spirit. Estelle Getty is Sophia, Dorothy's outspoken mother.

Arthur was a Tony award-winning actress for her role as Vera Charles in "Mame" prior to coming to television.

"Norman Lear had seen me in an off-Broadway revue called 'Shoestring' in 1955," she recalls. "In 1959 I got a phone call from him. He was doing a variety version of the George Gobel show and asked me if I wanted to be a regular. I said yes because I had nothing else to do. We did three or four shows and it folded.

"We remained friendly and the next time we got together he wrote "Maude" for me. It was for "All In The Family" and I never intended that it would become a series."

Arthur had had an even earlier experience on television. She was a regular on "Caesar's Hour" in 1956-57.

Her film appearances, however, have been rather rare. She had some roles in three movies, and calls losing the Vera Charles role in the film version of "Mame" one of "the major disappointments of my life."

She was formerly married to Broadway and film director Gene Saks. Their two sons, Daniel and Matthew Saks, are following in their footsteps, Daniel as a set designer and Matthew as an actor.