User:Shivertimbers433/bwjz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Shivertimbers433/bwjz"
Saturday Night Live episode
Episode no.Season 35
Episode 21
Directed byDon Roy King
Original air dateMay 8, 2010 (2010-05-08)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Gabourey Sidibe/MGMT" 		Next →
"Alec Baldwin/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers"
List of episodes

"Betty White/Jay-Z" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode episode of the thirty-fifth season of the television series Saturday Night Live. It was hosted by actress and comedian Betty White and featured Jay-Z as musical guest. It aired on NBC in the United States on May 8, 2010. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Alec Baldwin made guest appearances. The episode, which was the result of an online campaign on Facebook, has often been cited as one of the series' best episodes.

NBC re-aired the episode on January 1, 2022, following White's death the previous day.[1]

Segments[edit]

White appeared in every sketch, including the cold open and Weekend Update:[2]

Background[edit]

White hosted the show after a campaign on Facebook amassed nearly 500,000 supporters.

Betty White had been asked to host Saturday Nigh Live by producer Lorne Michaels three times between the 1970s and 1990s, but White rejected the offers. Michaels said, "After three rejections, I stopped asking".[3]

White saw a career resurgence beginning in 2009, following a supporting role in the hit romantic comedy The Proposal and appearing in a popular Snickers commercial that aired during Super Bowl XLIV in February 2010.[4] In late 2009, a fan started an online campaign on Facebook to get White to host Saturday Night Live. The group, named Betty White to Host SNL (please?), was inspired by an episode of The Golden Girls where White's character Rose Nylund recites the show's catchphrase, "Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night."[5] The group grew to over 40,000 members after it was mentioned in an article in USA Today.[4] After learning of the campaign, White was initially uninterested in hosting the show, but her agent convinced her to do it.[3] The group had amassed nearly 500,000 members by March 11, 2010, when it was announced that White would host the show.[6][7] White, at age 88, became the oldest person ever to host the show, surpassing Miskel Spillman, the winner of SNL's "Anyone Can Host" contest in 1977.[8]

Reception[edit]

Viewership[edit]

The episode averaged an 8.8 household rating and 21 share, the show's highest viewership in 18 months.[9]

Contemporary[edit]

Entertainment Weekly's review of the episode called the episode "funny, vulgar, and totally charming," and said, "While there’s a lot of adoration out there for White, there’s also a certain percentage of condescension to the fulsomeness, including within the media covering White. Over the past few weeks, the elements of 'isn’t she cute?' and 'aren’t we nice to be lavishing our love on an old person?' that account for some of White-mania had gotten irritating. Thankfully, these qualities didn’t emanate from the SNL cast last night... White surpassed so many of the past months’ SNL hosts by proving there’s no substitute for time-honed skills and professionalism."[10] The A.V. Club's review said, "It wasn’t perfect but it lived up to some very high expectations and left me feeling good about the world."[11] NPR's review said, "all in all, this was a good episode. It really was nice to see all those talented women back again, doing some of their signature characters".[12] Vulture's review said, "the 88-year-old was crude, crass, and damn funny in what was the best episode of this nearly over SNL season."[13]

The episode holds a 8.9 rating on IMDb, making it the highest rated episode of the series.[14] White won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the episode.

Retrospective[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gularte, Alejandra (2022-01-01). "Betty White's 2010 Episode of SNL Will Air Tonight". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  2. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (2010-05-09). "Betty White Helps Boost Ratings of 'SNL'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  3. ^ a b December 31, Tanner Stransky Updated; EST, 2021 at 05:46 PM. "Revisit one of Betty White's favorite photo shoots — surrounded by hunky pool boys". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b "A Hot Dog and a Martini: SNL's Historic Week With Betty White". Vanity Fair. 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  5. ^ Petski, Denise; Petski, Denise (2022-01-01). "'Saturday Night Live': NBC To Air 2010 Episode With Betty White Tonight In Tribute". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  6. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (March 11, 2010). "Betty White to Host Saturday Night Live May 8". People. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  7. ^ Romano, Tricia; Times, Special to the Los Angeles (2010-05-09). "Hipster culture is having a senior moment". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  8. ^ "Live, from New York, it's ... Betty White hosting 'SNL' - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  9. ^ "Betty White Scores! Saturday Night Live Sees Best Overnight Ratings In 18 Months". web.archive.org. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  10. ^ May 09, Ken Tucker Updated; EDT, 2010 at 05:18 AM. "'Saturday Night Live' recap: Betty White was funny, vulgar, and totally charming". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Saturday Night Live: "Betty White/Jay-Z"". The A.V. Club. 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  12. ^ Holmes, Linda (2010-05-09). "Betty White Gives 'Saturday Night Live' Its Money's Worth". NPR. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  13. ^ Raymond, Adam K. "Saturday Night Live Recap: There's Something About Betty - TV". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  14. ^ "With Saturday Night Live (1975) (Sorted by IMDb Rating Descending)". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-12-27.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Shivertimbers433/bwjz&oldid=1129802785"