''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'' is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series launched in 2012 that was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

for its first two seasons and Lifetime for its third. The series is hosted by

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

, and is based on the Belgian television format '' Benidorm Bastards''.

Production

A sneak preview was released on January 16, 2012, in tribute to

's 90th birthday. The show officially premiered April 4, 2012. White hosts the series, and also serves as an executive producer for the show. On May 13, 2012, NBC renewed the series for a second season in the mid-season schedule. On July 11, 2013, ''The Hollywood Reporter'' reported that NBC had canceled the series, citing a drop-off in ratings and low DVR viewership. It was announced on October 18, 2013, that Lifetime had revived the series for a twenty episode third season. Season 3 premiered on February 28, 2014, and was confirmed for 20 episodes, but in mid-season, the series took a three-year hiatus and resumed broadcast in September 2017.

Premise

The elderly play pranks on members of the younger generation, in the manner of ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is an American hidden camera and practical joke reality television series. The show was created, developed, and presented by Allen Funt. Various versions of the show have appeared on television from 1948 to 2014. The program ...

'', '' Trigger Happy TV'', or ''

Punk'd ''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both ...

''. It is based on the Belgian television format '' Benidorm Bastards''.

Episodes

International broadcasts

In Canada, the series began broadcasting on CTV on January 16, 2012, in the Monday 8:00 p.m. timeslot, as a special preview, but moved to Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. on the CTV Two television system on April 4, 2012, after airing the first special preview episode. Since 2017, the series has run on CHCH. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, it started running on

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adv ...

on July 4, 2012. In Germany, it started running on

Prosieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

. In Australia, the program airs on the Comedy Channel, with a local version that premiered in 2012. In

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, the program aired on TVNZ 2 Sundays at 7.30pm, later shifted to Saturdays at 6pm. In

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, the program airs on TV5. In the United Kingdom, ITV announced its own adaptation of the show. Following the American adaptation, it was also entitled '' Off Their Rockers'' but with different characters. The first episode aired April 7, 2013. The UKTV channel

Watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

began airing the US version on 13 August 2014. In

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, the program airs on Prva Plus. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, the program airs on RTL4 but is renamed ''Benidorm Bastards USA''. In

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the program airs on TV3. In

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, the original show airs on paid channel

Multishow Multishow is an entertainment channel owned by Canais Globo, Grupo Globo's cable and satellite television channel operator. It was launched in 1991, as one of the company's first four channels (with Telecine, Top Sport – now SporTV – and GNT ...

from Mondays to Fridays, and the local version airs on Sundays by SBT. In

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the original show was aired on 10 September 2015 on Comedy Central India on Monday to Friday at 10:00 p.m.

Online media

In the United States, users could watch full episodes of the

season on the network's official website. In Canada, people could watch full episodes on the CTV official website.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Lifetime Shows 2010s American comedy television series 2012 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings American English-language television shows American television series revived after cancellation American hidden camera television series Lifetime (TV channel) original programming NBC original programming American television series based on Belgian television series Betty White