In Contention

Tag: Betty White

  • Long live Betty

    Facebook users got their wish last night as Betty White took the stage on Saturday Night Live…and absolutely KILLED it.

    Seriously, has there been a better episode in the last five years (or more)?  I tend to find myself enjoying SNL more often than not lately because I really dig most of the cast, but we still get stinkers.  Gabourey Sidibe’s try a week or so back is the most recent example of one that just fell on its face.  But the creative invigoration of last night’s telecast was something to behold.  Everyone was firing on all cylinders.

    I think we have to look to White for that, not only for the material she herself was responsible for performing (she never missed a beat, mind you), but for the obvious inspiration she brought to the writers and the cast.  Bringing a few of the former female faves back was a shrewd move, and falling the day before Mother’s Day was perfect.  “MacGruber,” meanwhile, got a hell of a boost leading up to the May 21 release of the film.

    It really just doesn’t get any better.  I proud of and happy for all involved.  It goes down, for me, as an all time classic.  And perhaps I’m not alone.  The New York Times’ Melena Ryzik (better known as The Carpetbagger around these parts) Tweeted after the show that White “left the SNL afterparty to standing ovations and castmembers calling it a historic show.”

    What left to say, but: Bravo.  (Full episode, courtesy of NBC, after the jump.)

    [EDITED TO ADD: I also can’t remember the last time a host was literally in every single sketch, including the Weekend Update.  Maybe it’s more common than I know, but it was something that struck me.]

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  • Bullock to present Betty White with SAG honor

    Betty White at the Los Angeles premiere of The ProposalOkay, who is Betty White’s publicist and has he or she slept at all this season?

    Seriously, first there were some scattered web ads pushing White’s performance in “The Proposal” for Best Supporting Actress, then there was this massive spread in the trades gunning for the same.  (That ad was lovingly chided by the cut-ups at Vulture this week.)

    It was announced back in September that White would receive the Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award, but now comes (perhaps totally anticipated) word that Sandra Bullock, “it” girl of the year, will be presenting White with said honor.

    By the way, in case you missed it when Chad brought it up Sunday, Bullock made history this weekend when “The Blind Side” became the first female-driven vehicle to cross the $200 million mark.

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  • SAG to honor Betty White

    Betty White87 year-old Betty White has been named as next year’s recipent of the Screen Actors’ Guild’s lifetime achievement gong, which apparently honors both career achievement and humanitarian work. (Are both those two factors always prerequisites? Just asking.)

    Anyway, you go, Rose … you’ll be 88 when you collect the prize, lest we forget. Thank you for being a friend, etc, etc. Here’s the press statement by SAG head Alan Rosenberg:

    “Whether creating some of television’s most indelible characters, plunging into film roles with joyous gusto or perfecting the art of the quip as a television panelists and host, Betty White has entertained audiences with her impeccable comic timing and remarkable with for more than 60 years.

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