Did you join the Facebook group, because I did, and it nudged SNL head Lorne Michaels into caving in and giving La White a hosting gig to air May 8th.Originally, the powers at SNL thought the octogenarian was too old carry the 90 minute gig (White is 88!), but Michaels conceded that the big Facebook campaign sealed the deal. I can't wait to see her duet with Adam Sanberg.
To ease the burden of too many live skits on the Grand Dame of TV Comedy, SNL will also pack that show with celeb guests including Tina Fey, Amy Boehler, Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch (all a welcome return sin my opinion), and they are coining the episode the Mother's Day Special.
Which is kinda funny since White made a very public and conscious decision early in her career to forgo having children, and it cost her a marriage. White eeked into television in the early, early days by guesting right out of high school on a local show. That show went national, then it was one Betty White Show after another. She dominated the airwaves for years, and has truly earned her pioneer status. Today, that is lost to most because those shows are not available or easily viewed, but she had a huge career in the 1950's. Then, after marrying Allen Lunt, she went on to have quite a healthy run on Password. Before you knew it, it was another decade in the business, then bam - Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Betty White made quite a comeback, and entered the gay view when she starred with three other senior citizens in Susan Harris's The Golden Girls. After a while, it was clear the show had a huge gay following but it really hit home when the show debuted in syndication on Lifetime and garnered that network the largest ratings ever for a tv show on Lifetime up until that point. They blocked out their programming then with another gay fav, Will & Grace.Recently, current femme comedy fav Sandra Bullock honored her hero by pulling in White to costar in the hit feature, The Proposal. Another big fan, Craig Ferguson, regularly has her on his show doing skits and bits. Rumour has it, she turned down the part years ago in As Good as it Gets because she didn't want to do the scene when the character puts the dog down the garbage shoot!
The Facebook craze started right after the super bowl after White appeared in a rather humorous Snicker's ad.While White skipped the kids route, she has been a loyal and outspoken voice for animal rights since the 1950's and considers her rescued pooches her children.
You go Betty!
2 comments:
Did you mean Andy Samberg, or are you being snarky?
So excited about White. I totes joined that FB group too.
YES... thanks for catching that. It's probably because I'm not a big fan of his, which I think is due mainly to the fact that Lorne Michaels is pushing him to the front so much on that show with the obvious intention on producing his movie leap endeavors. Michaels produces alumni films, and I think he's hoping Samberg is another Adam Sandler.
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