Fan campaign urges "SNL" to make Betty White host

[anonymous1980]

Betty White got an MTV Movie Award nomination.

[OscarGuy]

Where are you suggesting Cloris Leachman got the jump? Curious because I would consider Betty White's birth as a star of the so-called "Eldercool" movement to have been 1999's Lake Placid, which I noticed is not mentioned here, but which gave her a rather strong cred with the circle that has now propelled her back into the height of popularity.

[Sonic Youth]

The birth of Eldercool. (Cloris Leachman isn't mentioned, but she had Betty White beat by two or three years.)

Senior actresses Betty White and '30 Rock' star Elaine Stritch give birth to the new 'eldercool'
By Joe Dziemianowicz
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS THEATER CRITIC

Wednesday, May 12th 2010, 4:00 AM

Suddenly, Betty White is the coolest chick in America - even if she's no spring chicken. In a stunning pop culture turn of events, White has won over the Facebook generation, the group who mobilized to put the 88-year -old comedienne back in the spotlight.

And three days after White hosted "Saturday Night Live" thanks to that rabid social networking campaign, Facebook fans upped the ante to an even higher-profile gig. By 4 p.m. Tuesday, "The Official Page for Getting Betty White to Host the Academy Awards" had 22,000 supporters. And the count was rising - fast.

White, who's shooting a new sitcom, "Hot in Cleveland," may not have noticed that she is, once again, Hot Everywhere - the reigning queen of, let's call it, Eldercool. And along with other famous ladies in their 80s, White, a saucy senior who's never shy about shocking her fans with a little sexually charged innuendo, is leading a sea change in perceptions about what constitutes hip in youth-obsessed showbiz.

In a world where where doe eyes and dewy skin and perky bikini bods are the currency of exchange, age can actually outvalue beauty. Lindsay Lohan's bad behavior got old. Fired from another film? Zzzz. Another car wreck or breakup? Yawn. Acting like a skank? Of course. All the fuss over Miley Cycus's feathery sexed-up new video? Bird-brained. And enough with Heidi Montag's industrial strength body, boobs and bulbous lips.

New York legend Elaine Stritch, 85, is living up to her reputation as an "brash, incorrigible scene-stealer" on "30 Rock," where she plays Alec Baldwin's bitchy mother from hell, Colleen. She's a character who could eat "Real Housewives" Jill Zarin for breakfast. "She comes on every once in a while," Stritch has said, "and raises hell, you know, changes the whole atmosphere.

And leave it to Angela Lansbury, 84, to charge the atmosphere. She's up for a Tony for her work in "A Little Night Music" on Broadway, her latest triumph after a sixty year career that's taken her from films like "Gaslight" to "Murder She Wrote" on TV.

She's not the only octo-actress who's shaking up the Tonys: Barbara Cook, 82, is up for "Sondheim on Sondheim," thanks to a richly emotional voice and gold-standard interpretations of popular songs.

And across the pond, one feisty granny is giving Susan Boyle a run for her money: "Britain's Got Talent!"'s Janey Cutler, an 81-year-old belter from Glasgow wowed Simon Cowell with her version of "No Regrets." That could be the motto of all these Golden Girls. Or make that "no apologies."

Everybody loves a survivor in a business that wants to put you out to pasture when you're passed the sell date.

It all began when White felt up Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal," where audiences got an inkling that the old broad has still got it.

Betty White used some of her "SNL" monologue thanking online fans for helping rejuvenate her career (her hilarious hosting turn brought in the highest ratings the show's had in the last 18 months).

"I didn't know what Facebook was," White said. "Now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it seems like a huge waste of time."

"Saturday Night Live" head writer Seth Meyers said the show surrounded White with the funniest women from the last two decades because "we weren't sure yet what she could do."

"It turned out, she could do everything."



Edited By Sonic Youth on 1273671017

[anonymous1980]

I've seen most of the clips on Youtube (before NBC pulled it all out). I have to say Betty White is a goddess.

[Eric]

And for everyone who tired of the gimmick of putting naughty things (words) into Betty's mouth, that last skit involving a census taker was a nice, late-inning gem.

A pale copy of the Tim Meadows / Christopher Walken census skit from ten years ago, however.

Given the 2000 version was written by Tina Fey and the 2010 version starred her, I'd go with knowingly self-referential. (And, by most measures, still the funniest sustained bit of the show.)

[Sonic Youth]

I forgot it was on, and I started this thread.

[rain Bard]

And for everyone who tired of the gimmick of putting naughty things (words) into Betty's mouth, that last skit involving a census taker was a nice, late-inning gem.

A pale copy of the Tim Meadows / Christopher Walken census skit from ten years ago, however.

[Eric]

Don't think you can pin this stunt on the gay following, though I'm sure they helped. (And the SNL writing staff certainly repaid them the favor, slipping in about eight hundred vagina jokes.) Just the adulation of the FB generation.

Though I thought the Univision talk show skit was borderline blackface and really didn't seem to go anywhere, I loved the sight of Betty attempting a merengue move.

And for everyone who tired of the gimmick of putting naughty things (words) into Betty's mouth, that last skit involving a census taker was a nice, late-inning gem.

Favorite non-Betty moment: Maya Rudolph croaking through three words of "I'm Every Woman" as Whitney Houston.

[Damien]

So she's a gay icon -- is that the explanation for this sudden (baffling, to me) explosion of promotion for her? And I say this as someone who likes her/finds her funny.

I watched some of the show the other night. I found the monologue very funny. But they lost me at the Muffin sketch -- it was the standard "Watch us be naughty 'cause Mommy can't stop us now" adolescent crap that has made the show mostly unwatchable for decades.

I didn't know she was a gay icon. Certainly not in my circle. We all used to make fun of her because she and Allen Ludden in the early 70s seemed like the squarest couple in America (and rumor was that it was a Marriage of Convenience). It was only when she started appearing as Sue Ann on Mary Tyler Moore that she got street cred. But nobody I knew ever deigned to watch Golden Girls, which seemed to us the epitome of lame late 80s sit-com.

I think her current renaissance may have to do with the fact that she's been part of our TV lives for so long. Tee, I imagine your first awareness of her was as a celebrity guest on game shows like The Match Game (the original) and Password, and as hostess of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Plus she seems likea genuinely nice, funny lady who's inspiring as being active and dynamic at age 88.

By the way, I turned off Saturday Night Live after the opening Lawrence Welk parody (talk about topical humor) -- I was disgusted that what passes as humor on SNL these days (haven't watched it in years) is making fun of a mentally challenged woman with deformed hands.

[Mister Tee]

So she's a gay icon -- is that the explanation for this sudden (baffling, to me) explosion of promotion for her? And I say this as someone who likes her/finds her funny.

I watched some of the show the other night. I found the monologue very funny. But they lost me at the Muffin sketch -- it was the standard "Watch us be naughty 'cause Mommy can't stop us now" adolescent crap that has made the show mostly unwatchable for decades.

[flipp525]

I attended the "White Party" at Duplex Diner at 18th and U in D.C. and it was insanely fun--and packed. All the bartenders were wearing special-made t-shirts and there were several drag queens walking about in various Betty White drag (Sue Ann Nivens, Rose Nyland, etc.)

I agree with Greg that the episode was the best of the season as were the unaired sketches NBC has since released on Hulu (Debbie Downer is particularly hysterical).



Edited By flipp525 on 1273670485

[Greg]

I don't know if anyone saw the SNL episode with Betty White; but, it was by far the best episode it has had in a very long time.

[Sonic Youth]

Betty White snags a sitcom
Posted: 02:07 PM ET
CNN.com

Young actresses in Hollywood might want to learn a lesson or two from veteran Betty White.

The octogenarian actress is every where these days - and now has reportedly scored herself a new sitcom.

The New York Times reports that White is slated to appear in a new TV Land series titled “Hot in Cleveland.” The show reportedly will co-star Wendie Malick ("Just Shoot Me"), Valerie Bertinelli ("One Day at a Time") and Jane Leeves ("Frasier").

This news comes on the heels of the announcement that White – after a vigorous Facebook campaign led by her fans – will be appearing on “Saturday Night Live.”

White is scheduled to appear Wednesday night on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

[Sonic Youth]

Inner Tube: Betty White confirmed as host of NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' on May 8
By Cristina Kinon
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, March 12th 2010, 4:00 AM

Betty White will host NBC's "Saturday Night Live" May 8, the network confirmed Thursday after weeks of speculation and fan campaigning.

"I can't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day weekend than with Betty White," Lorne Michaels, creator and executive producer of "SNL," said in a statement. The gig will be White's first time on the long-running show.

People.com reported that former cast members Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch will also appear May 8, though an NBC spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm any guest appearances.

White, who is most famous for her role as Rose on "The Golden Girls," was recently in "The Proposal" alongside Sandra Bullock.

[Sonic Youth]

Betty White To Appear On 'SNL'

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Former "Golden Girl" Betty White will appear on "Saturday Night Live" in the near future, according to People magazine.

Half a million fans joined a Facebook page urging SNL to make White a host. The campaign has been gaining followers and attention, just as the 88-year-old actress has become more ubiquitous. She recently starred with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in "The Proposal," was given a lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Snickers that has ranked as one of the game's most popular.

White told People that she was baffled by all the support.

"I don't know why or how," she told People at Elton John's annual Oscars viewing party on Sunday night. "But it's been wonderful."

White didn't offer any details about the SNL appearance.