You are viewing the archive: “Betty White”

Big ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ Reunion On ‘Hot In Cleveland’: Moore, Valerie Harper & Cloris Leachman Join Betty White & Georgia Engel

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 5:34pm PDTTags: Betty White, Cloris Leachman, Georgia Engel, Hot in Cleveland, Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: The ladies of The Mary Tyler Moore Show are back together on a sitcom stage. I’ve learned that Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper and Cloris Leachman will join their MTM co-stars Betty White and Georgia Engel in an episode of White’s TV Land comedy series Hot In Cleveland, on which Engel has been recurring. For Harper, the guest stint follows her recent announcement that she has a terminal brain cancer.

Related: Valerie Harper Explains Showbiz Absence

In the Hot In Cleveland episode, which tapes April 5, I hear Elka (White) and Mamie Sue (Engel) decide to get their bowling team, named GLOB: The Gorgeous Ladies of Bowling, back together. They reunite with former team members Diane (Moore), Peg (Leachman) and Angie (Harper). The quintet had a falling-out after their championship season went to their heads.

This is believed to be the first time the five former castmates will act in front of a camera since taping the MTM finale in 1977. It’s also Moore’s second visit to Cleveland — she previously played Elka’s cellmate in a Season 2 episode. Shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show paved the way for female driven comedies like Hot In Cleveland. Hot In Cleveland, toplined by White, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick, returns for its summer season with a live episode June 19. The series was just renewed for a fifth season, bringing its order to 104 episodes.

Comments 77

NBC To Do Another Betty White Birthday Special

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday January 16, 2013 @ 10:55am PSTTags: Betty White, NBC
Nellie Andreeva

Betty WhiteAfter the success of last year’s Betty White’s 90th Birthday Special, NBC is making it an annual tradition. The network has set Betty White’s 2nd Annual 90th Birthday Special, a star-studded event to celebrate the in-demand actress’ 91st birthday. It will air on Tuesday, February 5  from 8-9 PM. Read More »

Comments (8)

SAG Awards TV: ‘Modern Family’ Leads, ‘Homeland’ Lands First Noms, Alec Baldwin And Betty White Keep Rolling, Edie Falco Ties Record

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday December 12, 2012 @ 8:14am PSTTags: Alec Baldwin, Betty White, Homeland, Modern Family, SAG Awards
Nellie Andreeva

More than any other awards race, the SAG Awards have proven to be a popularity contest. Alec Baldwin and Betty White have won the best actor/actress in a comedy series SAG Award every year their current shows have been on the air — a whopping six consecutive times for 30 Rock‘s Baldwin and two for Hot In Cleveland‘s Betty White. Both are nominated again, with Baldwin having a chance to complete his streak with a seventh statuette for the seventh and final season of the NBC comedy. With Baldwin and White having a stronghold on the comedy categories, awards darling Modern Family is yet to win an individual award. (It won for best comedy ensemble the past two years). The ABC comedy has three more chances this year as it once again leads the list of series nominees with four noms: best ensemble and best actor/actress mentions for Emmy winners Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet as well as Sofia Vergara. Two-time Emmy winner Julie Bowen, nominated last year, did not make the cut this time.

Related: SAG Awards Nominations Announced

There was very little fresh blood in the series SAG nominations — no Lena Dunham or the Girls cast, no Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep, no mention of any new broadcast series. The only first-year shows to land nominations were HBO’s The Newsroom for star Jeff Daniels and USA’s short-lived Political Animals for Sigourney Weaver in the movie/miniseries category.

But the SAG Awards did correct some anomalies from last year. The guild had many scratching their heads last December where it completely ignored Showtime’s drama Homeland, which would go on to dominate the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. No snub this years as Homeland landed three noms — best ensemble and best actor/actress for Emmy winners Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. Despite four Emmy nominations and two wins, The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons had never received an individual SAG nomination until today. (His show nabbed its second consecutive ensemble nom.) Also, FX’s Louie finally got on the board with a first nomination for creator/star Louis C.K.

Related: SAG Awards Film: What’s Surprising About Who’s In And Who’s Out Read More »

Comments (9)

2012 Primetime Emmys: Did Julia Louis-Dreyfus Break A Record With Third Victory?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday September 23, 2012 @ 8:05pm PDTTags: Betty White, Emmys, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Related: Nikki Finke: Live-Snarking The 64th Emmys

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s TV coverage

The win by Julia Louis-Dreyfus for lead actress in a comedy series sent Emmys historians scrambling to the record books to discover whether anyone had previously won trophies for regular roles in three different series — as Louis-Dreyfus now has for Seinfeld (supporting comedy actress, 1996), The New Adventures Of Old Christine (lead comedy actress, 2006) and this year for HBO’s Veep (lead comedy actress). There had been speculation that it had been done previously by Betty White for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and — way back in 1952 — something called Life With Elizabeth. But the only problem is, neither IMDb nor the TV Academy have a record of White winning for Life With Elizabeth. Read More »

Comments 22

Betty White Joins Twitter

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 10, 2012 @ 4:55pm PDTTags: Betty White, Twitter
Nellie Andreeva

Proving that it’s never too late to embrace new technology, Betty White has joined Twitter. Since sending out her first tweet two hours ago, the 90-year-old actress has amassed 3,300 followers. “Hey @RyanSeacrest,” she most recently tweeted. “My new … Read More »

Comments (6)

Super Bowl NBC Promos: ‘The Voice’, ‘Tonight Show’ And ‘America’s Got Talent’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday February 5, 2012 @ 6:17pm PSTTags: Betty White, Howard Stern, Madonna, Super Bowl, The Voice
Nellie Andreeva

NBC Enlists Pete Berg And Madonna For Series Promo Blitz During The Super Bowl
Video: NBC’s Musical Brotherhood Of Man

NBC took to the Super Bowl to promote most of its shows. It was exactly two years ago that Betty White’s appearance in a Super Bowl commercial launched the red-hot new stage of her career. NBC is hoping that her luck would rub off its reality series The Voice, whose big-budget, Pete Berg-directed Super Bowl promo featured the 90-year-old actress. Jay Leno’s Tonight Show spot with Madonna came nowhere near the fun Super Bowl spot he did for rival David Letterman two years ago. NBC also used the big game to introduce new America’s Got Talent judge Howard Stern, who behaved more like his outrageous shock jock persona than the thoughtful expert NBC brass have been touting. “Aside from his radio persona he is a very thoughtful, intelligent person,” NBC chief Bob Greenblatt said in January. “He is a huge fan of the show and wants to be a very good judge. … I don’t think he wants to be a shock jock judge. … AGT won’t become the Howard Stern Circus.” Judge for yourselves.

Read More »

Comments (7)

SAG Awards TV: The Equivalent Of A Rerun

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday January 29, 2012 @ 9:25pm PSTTags: Alec Baldwin, Betty White, Boardwalk Empire, Jessica Lange, Modern Family, SAG Awards, Steve Buscemi
Nellie Andreeva

SAG Awards Live Blog, SAG Awards Winners List
… Read More »

Comments (7)

NBC Enlists Betty White For Ratings Help: TCA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 6, 2012 @ 11:20am PSTTags: Betty White, Betty White's Off Their Rockers, NBC

Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.

The troubled NBC network will be taking on more serious issues later in the day, but it kicked off its TCA sessions in Pasadena today with a breakfast with the ubiquitous Betty White, 89, who is adding to her work schedule on TV Land’s sitcom Hot In Cleveland by hosting and executive producing the new NBC reality show Betty White’s Off Their Rockers. The show is about the elder generation pulling pranks on unsuspecting members of the younger generation. It is adapted from the International Emmy-winning Belgium series Benidorm Bastards.

As usual, this popular member of TV’s least desirable demographic was full of quips, including this reply to a question about whether there’s anything the soon-to-be 90 actress still wants to do: “I’m not going to say Robert Redford, as much as you might expect it.” The network will celebrate White’s birthday with the previously announced 90-minute special January 16, Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute To America’s Golden Girl, followed by a sneak peak of Off Their Rockers at 9:30 PM. (The network today announced that Ellen DeGeneres, Morgan Freeman, Tina Fey and Carl Reiner are among those who have been added to the birthday salute roster, joining Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner and White’s fellow Hot In Cleveland cast members.) Read More »

Comments (5)

NBC Slates Betty White Birthday Special, ‘Off Their Rockers’ Preview

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday December 17, 2011 @ 10:43am PSTTags: Betty White, NBC, Off Their Rockers
Nellie Andreeva

NBC has scheduled a two-hour Betty White block on January 16 from 8-10 PM, the night before the actress’ 90-th birthday. It will feature the 90-minute special Betty White’s 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America’s Golden Girl from 8-9:30 PM, … Read More »

Comments (12)

SAG Awards TV: Rookies ‘Suits’, ‘American Horror Story’ & ‘Game Of Thrones’ Join The Fray As Betty White’s Reign Continues

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday December 14, 2011 @ 8:09am PSTTags: 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Betty White, SAG Awards
Nellie Andreeva

SAG Awards Movies: Full of Surprises And Omissions
SAG Awards Nominations

Screen Actors Guild’s love affair with Betty White continues. White followed up on her SAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 with her first SAG Award nominations, an individual and ensemble nods for Hot In Cleveland, last year, winning her first SAG Award in January in the best actress in a comedy category. This morning White got an early present for her 90th birthday in January, two individual SAG Award nominations: one for TV Land’s Hot In Cleveland and one in the longform category for her role in Hallmark Hall Of Fame’s The Lost Valentine. She is one of only 2 performers to accomplish that this year, along with Glenn Close, nominated of her series Damages and feature Albert Nobbs.

The list of SAG Award nominees in the TV series categories includes one true newcomer, surprise nominee Patrick J. Adams of USA Network’s hot new series Suits who earned his first nomination of any kind. Two other breakout shows, FX’s American Horror Story and HBO’s Game Of Thrones, were the only other freshman series to make the cut – AHS with co-star Jessica Lange, previous SAG nominee in the film and lingform TV categories, nominated for best actress in a drama series; and best series Emmy nominee GOT with a nom in the best drama series ensemble category. (Though Emmy-winning GOT co-star Peter Dinklage didn’t get an individual nomination.) Because it premiered in midseason, NBC’s sophomore Harry’s Law also earned a nomination in its first year of eligibility, a best actress in a drama series mention for star Kathy Bates. Left out was Showtime’s new drama Homeland as well as New Girl star Zooey Deschanel.

While not very welcoming to freshmen, the SAG Awards nomination field, led by Modern Family with 5 noms, includes several first-time nominees who are getting their dues after being overlooked previous years. The list includes recently minted Emmy winner Kyle Chandler, who landed Friday Night Lights‘ first (and last) SAG Award nomination in the best actor in a drama series category; fellow reigning Emmy winner Julie Bowen of Modern Family, previous Emmy winner Jon Cryer of Two And A Half Men as well as hit CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory, which landed its first ever SAG Award nomination (individual or ensemble) in the best comedy series ensemble category. Despite Big Bang star Jim Parsons’ 2 consecutive Emmy wins, he is yet to receive a SAG Award nomination after getting snubbed again this year. Meanwhile, 30 Rock‘s Alec Baldwin, who lost to Parsons at the Emmys for the past 2 years, has a shot at continuing his remarkable string of 5 consecutive best comedy actor SAG Award wins for 30 Rock with a sixth individual nomination in a row. (The NBC series was also recognized for best comedy ensemble and best actress Tina Fey.) Parsons and Dinklage were not the only current Emmy winners left out of the SAG Awards nominations. They’re joined by Justified‘s Margo Martindale as the FX drama series is yet to get its first SAG Award nomination. Best comedy series actress Melissa McCarthy also missed the cut for her CBS series Mike & Molly but landed one on the feature side for Bridesmaids. Read More »

Comments (13)

Seth MacFarlane Double Grammy Nominee, Faces Barbra Streisand And Tony Bennett

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday December 1, 2011 @ 12:33am PSTTags: Barbra Streisand, Betty White, Grammy nominations, Louis C.K., Seth MacFarlane, Tina Fey, Zooey Deschanel
Nellie Andreeva

‘The Voice’ Wins Competition Series’ Grammy Showdown
‘Book Of Mormon’ Nominated For Musical Theater Album

In between juggling five series — Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show and the upcoming Flintstones and Cosmos reboots — his first feature and emceeing duties at the Comedy Central roasts, Seth MacFarlane is fostering a budding music career. And tonight, the uber TV producer earned two Grammy nominations. One was for a song from Family Guy, Christmastime Is Killing Us, which he co-wrote, in the Best Song Written For Visual Media category. It was the only song from a TV show to make the cut. The other nod was an even bigger surprise: MacFarlane’s debut album as a singer, Music Is Better Than Words, was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album alongside heavyweights Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett and Harry Connick Jr. and international sensation Susan Boyle. I think it is safe to say that this is the first time MacFarlane’s name has been mentioned in the same sentence as Ms. Streisand. (Below is a snippet from one of MacFarlane’s sold-out live performances of Music Is Better Than Words, which was turned into an EPIX special.) Read More »

Comments (15)

News Bits: Carol Burnett To Be Honored, PaleyFest Sets Dates, Kinetic Promotes EP

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday November 18, 2011 @ 11:30am PSTTags: American Horror Story, Betty White, Carol Burnett, Chris Coelen, Kinetic Content, Lifetime Achievement Award, Mad Men, Modern Family, Off Their Rockers, PaleyFest, Publicists Awards Luncheon, You Deserve It
Nellie Andreeva

Carol Burnett will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Cinematographers Guild’ 49th annual Publicists Awards Luncheon, which will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 24, 2012. Previous recipients of the … Read More »

Comments (4)

Hammond: Emmys – The Good, The Bad And Those Late Night Parties

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday September 19, 2011 @ 5:16am PDTTags: Betty White, Charlie Sheen, Friday Night Lights, Jane Lynch, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Modern Family, TV Academy
Pete Hammond

Emmy 2011 is officially over and those I talked to at the Governors Ball, HBO and AMC celebrations generally liked it. The consensus is that Jane Lynch was a sharp host, the pace was good and the Mark Burnett-produced show came to life enough times to make it all worthwhile despite the deja … Read More »

Comments 49

Survey: Old Is Gold For Endorsements

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday August 19, 2011 @ 9:59pm PDTTags: Advertising, Betty White, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Ipsos, Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Will Smith

If you want to sell a product, don’t kid around. That’s the clear message if you buy the results of a survey just released by global market research firm Ipsos. The hottest huckster: 89-year-old Betty White. She is America’s … Read More »

Comments (7)

NBC Orders Betty White Reality Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 31, 2011 @ 9:55am PDTTags: Betty White, NBC
Nellie Andreeva

NBC has picked up Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, a new hidden-camera comedy show hosted and executive produced by Betty White. The series of 12 half-hour episodes will be produced by Chris Coelen’s Kinetic Content.

‪Known throughout Europe as Benidorm Bastards, … Read More »

Comments 60

Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito Lead Voice Cast For Animated ‘The Lorax’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday March 17, 2011 @ 10:52am PDTTags: Betty White, Danny DeVito, Dr. Seuss, Ed Helms, Illumination Entertainment, Rob Riggle, Universal Pictures, Zac Efron
Mike Fleming

Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Rob Riggle and Betty White will provide the principal voices for The Lorax, the Illumination Entertainment 3D CGI animated film. The pic is based on the Dr. Seuss tale that follows the … Read More »

Comments (10)

PILOT SEASON: The End Of Ageism?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday March 13, 2011 @ 7:10pm PDTTags: Betty White, Christine Lahti, Don Johnson, Eric Roberts, Kathy Bates, pilots, Steve Buscemi, Tim Allen, Tom Selleck
Nellie Andreeva

Part of a series that takes an analytical look at the current broadcast pilot season and some of its trends and heroes.

Maybe it’s the Tom Selleck/Kathy Bates effect, but the broadcast networks seem more open than ever to shows fronted … Read More »

Comments 83

RATINGS RAT RACE: Betty White Is Sunday Double Winner, Fox Is Tops With Pro Bowl

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday January 31, 2011 @ 8:36am PSTTags: ABC Ratings, Betty White, CBS, CBS Ratings, Fox Ratings, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Hot in Cleveland, NBC Ratings, Ratings Rat Race, SAG Awards, TV, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

On Sunday, it will be one year since Betty White stormed into pop culture with a memorable Super Bowl ad at last year’s Super Bowl, which led to a Saturday Night Live hosting gig, a hit sitcom, awards and more. A year later, the Betty White express is not slowing down. Last night, at age 89, she won her first comedy actress SAG Award for TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland and delivered CBS’ best TV movie ratings in years. The Lost Valentine (2.3/6 in 18-49, 14.5 million viewers) marked a big rebound for The Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise, which has been languishing in the ratings, drawing the largest audience since Jan. 2007 (Valley of Light) and highest 18-49 and 25-54 ratings since Dec. 2008. (Front of the Class). Appropriately, Betty White faced NFL competition, the 2011 NFC-AFC Pro Bowl on Fox (7:30-10:30 PM), which won the night with a 7.7/12 rating in 18-49 and 13.4 million viewers, the franchise’s most watched game in 14 years.

Read More »

Comments (0)

SAG Awards TV: AFTRA Shows Pull Even With SAG; ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Modern Family’, And Betty White Get First Wins

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday January 30, 2011 @ 7:21pm PSTTags: AFTRA, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Betty White, Boardwalk Empire, Claire Danes Temple Grandin, Julianna Margulies, Melissa Leo, Modern Family, SAG AFTRA Merger, SAG AFTRA One Union, SAG Awards, SAG Awards TV, TV
Nellie Andreeva

For the first time in a long time, both top TV series categories, best drama and comedy ensemble, featured first-time winners, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and ABC’s Modern Family. And for the first time, a winner in one the top categories, … Read More »

Comments (18)
More Deadline | Hollywood »