Ebony, Ivory, Gold

Well, how could I go wrong with this one?


About a month ago I just started getting New York Magazine. To whomever my mysterious benefactor is, I thank you.

Anyway, this week's issue came and it has Miss Betty White and Mr. Tracy Jordan Morgan on the cover - I mean, two great tastes that go great together.



The fact that there's an article about them? Even better. And best of all? Behind the scenes film of the cover shoot?



Lay me down now Lord, it's a good day.

Three Good Things!

One:

Remember this baby? I honest-to-God was one of those kids who returned my Christmas present of Michael Jackson's Dangerous CD for Nevermind at my local Strawberry's Records & Tapes.

Flash forward nineteen years:

Two:

If you want to know where I'll be Saturday night at 11:30pm, it'll be watching Betty White on SNL. Here's her last night, re-challenging Jimmy Fallon in Beer Pong.



Three:
Drew Barrymoore's tell-all coloring book hits shelves.

God Bless, America.

A True, Great, White

Recently, someone said to me "So why do the kids like Betty White so much these days?" I assume this question was meant as, why is it that all of a sudden her star is shining so bright, rather than 'what is there to like about her?'

I first met Ms. White back in my early childhood, when I would go and stay with my Nana and Papa. The Mary Tyler Moore show was in reruns, and Nana and I would enjoy that together. Her Sue Ann Nivens was brilliant. White herself credits this improv bit with the kick to the oven as one of the ways in which she turned this one-time guest spot into a recurring role.

As they were creating the part of Sue Ann Nivens, Mary Tyler Moore said "we need someone who on air is sickeningly sweet, a real Betty White type." Zing! It sounds rather apocraphyl now, since I've heard that story before (in casting Dorothy Szbornak, they supposedly said "We need a real Bea Arthur type," but we'll get to the Golden Girls in a moment).

Where'd she get this reputation for niceness? Well, she started in television in the late 1940s, when most of our parents were just being borned. I like watching Life With Elizabeth, in which she plays a loveable housewife in a show that sometimes is a bit on the mysogenistic side, but often funny (who says we can't have both?).

Here's a clip from that:

Sometimes she'd even sing!

Anyway, of course we all remember her from The Golden Girls. From 1985-1992, every Saturday night I would babysit for my little sister while my parents went out. I would drink root beer from a wine glass, eat a whole bag of Doritos, and watch Golden Girls.

But then? That program eventually went off the air. White was busy with lots of guest appeareances, including this amusing one from The John Larroquette Show:



I think one of the things that kick-started her 'comeback' was her dirty-mouthed role in Lake Placid in 1999:

People liked that, and then she was on Boston Legal with William Shatner, and THEN she had that dirty mouthed bit on Bill Shatner's roast, which I blogged about at the time (it keeps getting taken down).

This lead to the bit in the Proposal, the superbowl ad, and all the other things I've blogged about.




Here's a lovely little clip that sorta sums it all up:

Anyway, that's my story of Betty White and I'm sticking to it. God Bless, Betty, White.

iBetty

I mean, this is almost a week old, but it's been a while since we've seen Betty White. And now, shilling for Apple!

"If You Can Escape From The Nazis..."

Wow Betty White. This program looks horrible. On the plus side, it's nice to see you again.

Also? Golden Bells!

I mean, if there's a Golden Girl on Late Night TV, I gotta feeling I have to post it here.



Hey, Betty White's gotta eat!

Oh, Betty!

Dolls Parts

Wow. If you know anything about me, you know I have a fear of dolls.

Part of it definitely stems from that episode of Webster where there was the creepy doll on the little rocker upstairs in their new house...after their old house burned down because of his memento box, another terrifying ep.

Anyway, this inventive person has created some pretty amazing replicas, which I can't tear my eyes away from, like those car crash pervs in a J.G. Ballard story, or a Grace Jones / Roxy Music song.

I'm glad I finally get to see Bette Davis in her red dress for the Olympus Ball...in color!

Speaking of Little Miss BD, these are the most horrifying things I have ever seen.

Oh wait, here's something just as scary - and what a treat to see old chum Agnes Moorehead in doll form! Watch where you stand, buddies!

I love Rosemary's Baby, and not just because the movie theatre in my home town was named after Ruth Gordon.

This one cheers me up. Kinda.

Barbara, God Bless you.

Amber's favorite, Miss Carmen Miranda. I don't understand the technology involved in the "real" Carmen Miranda, I definitely don't understand it here.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Be sure to visit the website to order your copies today!

Old Broads, New Tricks

One thing I always like to do on Sundays is catch up with my Golden Girls and Mary Tyler Moore alumni.


First, I read the "Night Out With" column in the Times with Betty - she had a nice zinger about Bob Redford.

“Is there anything left that you would really like to do?”

“Robert Redford,” Ms. White answered instantaneously.

Then I read a bit with her old pal & costar Cloris Leachman in New York Magazine. She didn't have all the one-liners that Betty did, but I enjoyed the bit anyway. More than I enjoyed her memoir, frankly.

Anyway, here's Betty White on Chelsea Handler.



Oh, and here she is playing beer pong with Mr. Jimmy Fallon, if that's not enough BW for you.



Let's see if that's enough to get us through Monday.

Off-White

Without any ado at all, here's yet another Golden Girl talking dirty.

Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds: Behind the Scenes of The Proposal from Betty White

Personally, I can't get enough of this stuff.

An Arthur-ian Legend

Bea, I thought you'd outlive us all.

In case you somehow missed it from people Facebook twittering, or you know, the NEWS, we lost another Golden Girl this weekend. Really, what's left to say besides "Aw Crap" ?

I've blogged about Miss Bea Arthur before. On Angela Lansbury's birthday I showed the clip of the two of them singin' & dancin'. Once I posted the clip of her & Rock Hudson singing that song about drugs.

Well, on Saturday, Amber and I dedicated that night's Murder She Wrote to Bea. And this morning I have trolled the internets looking for some good clips to remember her by. Bea, these ones are for you!

Here's a writer from Golden Girls (Marc Cherry?) and Betty White talking about Bea's / the Golden Girls' Gay Appeal:



This clip is a little long, but it's a lovely bit from Golden Girls:



Here's her final TV performance, roasting Pamela Anderson. I actually posted it once before, and another time I blogged about Betty White at Shatner's roast. Still, I think it's worth repeating:



Rest in Peace, Bea. I'm sure Estelle Getty will be waiting on the other side of the River Jordan to welcome her little pussycat home.

The Golden One & That One

I try not be political, really.

But I love it when our Golden Girls talk dirty. Here's Betty White pretending to be a McCain speechwriter on the Craig Ferguson show.

I Can't Stand The Heat

...and yet I sure would like to be in this kitchen!

The only thing hotter than this weekend would be a catfight between Sue Ann Nivens and Phyllis Lindstrom in front of an open oven.

My favorite part is that Betty White included a paragraph in her memoirs about how everyone marveled at her ad libbed way of closing the oven door. Broadcast history, people. Eat that, Barbara Walters.

That Golden Girl

Here's a little long form for a Sunday. God Bless, Betty White.

Hints from the Happy Homemaker

Amber is at a Werewolf Bar Mitzvah today, where boys become men and men become wolves, so Zach and I are cleaning the apartment. We use this method we learned from the TV, from our friend Sue Ann Nivens.