In case you missed it, Betty White--actress, comedian, and all-around legend--hit one out of the park on NBC's Saturday Night Live last month. And at eighty-eight years old, she made it look easy.
White, of course, is no stranger to the comedy limelight. She made it big in the 70's when she landed a starring role on the Mary Tyler Moore show, one of the most influential sitcoms in television history. It was that role that would eventually pave the way for White's signature role in the 1980's sitcom "Golden Girls."
It had been almost twenty years since Golden Girls went off the air, but White has never been forgotten. She became a TV cameo all star, lending her talents to a wide array of programs. She showed up on dramas like Alley McBeal and The Practice. But mostly she played to her strengths in shows like Kind of the Hill, That 70's Show, Malcolm in the Middle, and The Simpsons. And in 2007, she even did a stint on the soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful.
So why Saturday Night Live? Why now? Was it the appearance in last summer's hit "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock? Not so much. It was her Super Bowl commercial.
White's hilarious spot in a Snickers Super Bowl ad launched a viral campaign on Facebook to draft the legendary actress as a Saturday Night Live host. SNL master Lorne Michaels was amused and motivated.
Her appearance was by far the highlight of the year for Saturday Night Live. It received the highest ratings since election season, 2008.
It had to be an encouraging sign for age activists in Hollywood, who have been complaining for years that Hollywood seniors have been put on the shelf. Actresses, in particular, are often ignored as they have gotten older and lost their notable beauty. White's brilliance and popularity show that yes, there is indeed still a place for talented seniors in the entertainment world. Let's hope we see more of this attitude in the months to come.
Jason Landry lives in the Northwest, where he enjoys blogging, building websites, parenting, and watching football.
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Jay Landry lives in Oregon with his wife and kids. When he isn't writing or developing websites, he is traveling the world and checking his fantasy football scores on his iPhone.
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