Throwback Thursday: Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015)

According to our cultural beliefs, women of a certain age are disposable. They are no longer young, are past (or nearly past) childbearing age, and can be replaced with a newer model.

The TV Land sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, aired from 2010 to 2015. Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli), Joy (Jane Leeves), and Victoria (Wendie Malick) are three forty-something women who are flying from Los Angeles to Paris. When their plane makes an unexpected stop in Cleveland, they decide to stay and take advantage of the social and romantic opportunities that are not available in California.

Moving in with Elka (the late Betty White), the women are introduced to everything (and everyone) the city has to offer.

I didn’t regularly watch Hot in Cleveland, but when I did, I found myself laughing. It was funny, entertaining, and proved once more that women over 40 are just as vibrant and full of life as their younger counterparts.

If I had to pick a favorite aspect of the show, it was Betty White. Still sharp as a tack, she never failed to make the audience laugh.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

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Flashback Friday: The Golden Palace (1992-1993)

When a beloved television series goes off the air, the temptation is to keep the IP going by creating a sequel. But as good as the ideas may be, it does not guarantee success.

The Golden Palace (1992-1993) premiered just after its predecessor, The Golden Girls, went off the air. Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) is newly re-married and onto the next stage in her life. With an empty room in their house, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty), Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), and Rose Nylund (Betty White) also decide that it’s also time to move on. They buy a hotel called The Golden Palace, expecting this experience to be smooth sailing. They quickly learn that it is far more difficult than it appeared to be.

The show gets an A for effort. I understand the reasons for extending the brand for as long as the audience would allow. I can also see why it was canceled after one season. The spark that kept The Golden Girls on the air for seven years is not quite there for The Golden Palace.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Betty White

To say that the death of Betty White a few weeks ago was devastating is an understatement. A legend by every sense of the word, she entertained generations of audiences. I could go on, but I will let Ms. White’s work and legacy speak for themselves.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Betty White.

RIP Betty White

To be the first in anything is a difficult task. This often applies when one is part of an oppressed group or a minority who is lacking in opportunity.

Betty White passed away yesterday. She was less than a month from her 100th birthday.

She was more than a legendary actress and comedienne who entertained generations of audiences. She was a trailblazer who opened the door to future generations of female performers.

My first introduction to Ms. White was watching The Golden Girls. After my paternal grandfather passed away, my sister and I would spend Saturday nights with our grandmother. The Golden Girls was regular viewing for us. It goes without saying back then that many of the jokes were over my head. To this day, I treasure these memories and laugh out loud during reruns (which are available for viewing on Hulu).

It takes a smart performer to play a dumb character. Ms. White was clearly one smart cookie. Rose Nylund is a woman with a big heart who was not the brightest bulb in the box.

When she hosted Saturday Night Live a few years, it was a landmark episode as far as I am concerned. It was not hard to see the throughline between Ms. White’s career and the women who have followed in her footsteps.

May her memory be a blessing and may she continue to make us laugh. Z”L.

Betty White: First Lady of Television Review

Hollywood is not known for being the most comforting of industries. This is especially true for women of a certain age. Betty White is one of the few actresses who has been able to not only survive, but thrive in this environment.

The 2018 documentary Betty White: First Lady of Television is the story of her career. Ms. White entered showbusiness when television was in its infancy. Since her first appearance seven decades ago, she has become an icon, a groundbreaker and a performer who has entertained multiple generations of fans. Using archival footage and interviews, the viewer is given a glimpse of the real woman behind the beloved character actress.

What I loved about this film is that it shows its subject as she is. There are some biographies that present a slick and polished image of perfection. What you see is what you get. She is a smart, salty, and extremely funny woman who at the age of 99, is as real as she ever was.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Betty White: First Lady of Television is available for streaming on Netflix.

P.S. The 2018 episode of Saturday Night Live that she hosted is for my money, one of the best in the past few years.

Happy 99th Birthday, Betty White!

When a woman reaches a certain age, she is expected to quietly retire and enjoy whatever years she has left.

Betty White, whose 99th birthday is today, has more than proven that a woman of certain years is just as capable and vibrant as she was when she was younger.

White is an icon of the television age. She has been on our screens for more than seventy years, entertaining audiences of multiple generations.

My favorite roles of hers are Sue Ann Nivens from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. I love the contrast between the characters. Sue Ann may appear to be sugary sweet, but she has a bite that is completely unexpected. Rose Nyland is one of the nicest people you would ever meet. That being said, she isn’t the brightest bulb in the box.

One of my favorite blessing of my faith is the following:

“May you live until 120.”

Though White is not quite there yet, the fact that she is 99 and still ticking is an inspiration to us. Happy Birthday.

The Golden Girls Character Review: Rose Nylund

*I apologize about the delay in posting. For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series The Golden Girls. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from The Golden Girls.  to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

The dumb blonde has been a reliable character trope for generations. But it takes a smart writer and a smarter actress to take that character trope into new directions. On The Golden Girls, Rose Nylund (Betty White) appears to be the stereotypical dumb blonde. But she is much more than that.

At first glance, Rose appears to be far from the brightest bulb in the box. She says and does things that only a naif would say and do. The stories of her youth often reference her hometown, St. Olaf and the Scandinavian-American family that she was raised in. While she may appear to be a dumb blonde, Rose is much more than the archetype.

A widow whose husband died while they were making love, it takes Rose a few years to get back into the dating world. She is employed in a series of jobs after losing her late husband’s pension. Though she did have a long term relationship with Miles Webber (Harold Gould), the relationship ended after they broke up and Miles married another woman.

To sum it up: It would be easy to characterize Rose as a dumb blonde. But she is so much deeper than the innocent that she appears to be. Rose is empathetic, kind, loving, sensitive and sometimes, not all there. But we love her still, regardless of her lack of intellectual abilities.

Happy Birthday, Betty White

There is an old Jewish saying:

“May you live until 120”

Betty White may not be 120, but she comes pretty close today, on her 95th birthday. Her career has lasted nearly a century. Starting her career in radio in the 1940’s, she made the transition to television in the 1950’s. Generations of television fans have grown up with her, laughed with her and adored her.

For my part, I remember watching The Golden Girls as a kid. Rose Nylund was not the sharpest tack in the box, but there was something endearing about. Maybe it was those crazy St. Olaf stories.

Before Golden Girls, there was Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Sue Ann was sweet as apple pie, when she needed or wanted to be. But behind the sweetness was the barbs.

Someone once said that age is nothing but number. Betty White proved that when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 2010, holding her own against performers decades younger than she.

She continues to inspire fans and fellow performers with her humor, her commitments to animals rights causes and proof that old age, especially in women is not a reason to sit back and let someone else enjoy life.

Happy Birthday, Betty White. May you actually live to 120.

Flashback Friday- TV Edition-The Golden Girls

This past Sunday marks the 29th anniversary of The Golden Girls.

Premiering on September 14th, 1985, The Golden Girls centered on four post menopausal  sixty something women sharing a house in Miami.

Substitute teacher Dorothy (Bea Arthur), her nursing home refugee mother, Sophia (Estelle Getty), Minnesota raised Rose (Betty White) all lived with their friend and landlady, Southern Belle Blanche (Rue McClanahan). Staying on the air until 1992, The Golden Girls was the first show that I remember where the protagonists were women of a certain age. It was honest, poignant and just plain funny. There was a truth about being a woman, whether she was 16 or 60. It was Sex and And City well before Sex and City.

I love this show and the reruns never fail to entertain me.