Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Arts and Books / Betty White on Saturday Night Live: not cute

Betty White on Saturday Night Live: not cute

05/08/2010 by backofthebook.ca 2 Comments

By Frank Moher

betty-white_saturday-night-liveThe show hasn’t reached my time zone yet, but by all Twitter accounts Betty White is killing it on “Saturday Night Live” tonight. But all this amazement that she can still do the job is a bit misplaced, no? For one thing, she’s only 88-years old. My buddy Antony Holland, whom some of you will know as the farting grandfather in National Lampoon’s Thanksgiving Family Reunion (though he’d probably prefer I mentioned his recent performance as King Lear) just turned 90, and he’s still doing the acting deed. And on stage too, which is a heckuva lot harder.

As for White, she first appeared on TV in 1939, three months after graduating from Beverly Hills High. If that isn’t a formula for killing it on “SNL” 71 years later, I’ll eat my “Golden Girls” Signed Pilot Episode TV Script. She was on “Live with Regis and Kelly” earlier this week claiming to be terrified about the whole thing, but that’s just a very canny performer warming up the house — not so much lowering expectations as raising the “Aww, isn’t she cute?” factor, which will make it all the funnier when she says “shit” and they beep her.

Of course, it was White’s Superbowl ad . . .

 
. . . that gave her cachet with a generation of viewers who didn’t know her from “The Golden Girls,” or “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” before that, or “Password” before that. I expect that’s what she meant when the president of her fan club (as quoted in that CNN article above) told her “When you’re hot you’re hot” and she replied “When you’re old, you’re old.” Not “I don’t know if I can do this” but “Stick around long enough, honey, and they’ll applaud you for getting up in the morning.”

Still, we should be grateful she’s not only still getting up in the morning, but heading down to the TV studio. I also expect the outsized reaction to her appearance on “SNL” has to do with the fact that she brings more skillz to the job than most of the hosts. Seventy-one years on camera will do that for you.

And yet, and yet . . . I found a live feed of the show while I was writing this, and even I find myself thinking: “Cool. She can still read the cue cards.” Call it the “We all love our grannies” syndrome. Good for Betty White for taking advantage of it. Canny. Not cute. Canny.

Filed Under: Arts and Books Tagged With: aging, celebrity, television

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Comments

  1. Laura says

    05/09/2010 at 7:04 pm

    Betty White’s SNL monologue about Facebook was sooo funny!
    Check out David Ippolito’s hilarious new FACEBOOK SONG on YouTube!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHb4wewAIQ

    It’s just fun… Spread the laughter!
    Laura

  2. PeachyTO says

    05/09/2010 at 7:45 am

    I LOVE Betty White, and always have. She was a regular on one of my favourite shows from the 70’s; Match Game. She has always had a dry wit, and is an expert in sarcasm. She plays an airhead better than any I’ve seen too. I can just imagine how funny she was on SNL. I’ll have to catch a rerun.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in