''The Betty White Show'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series which aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

from September 12, 1977, to January 9, 1978. Fourteen episodes were broadcast. The series was produced by

MTM Enterprises MTM Enterprises (also known as MTM Productions) was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' for CBS. The name for the productio ...

. This program should not be confused with two earlier television programs that had the same title—a daytime talk show that ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

February 8, 1954 – December 31, 1954, and a prime-time comedy variety show that ran on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

February 5, 1958 – April 30, 1958.

Synopsis

Joyce Whitman (Betty White), a middle-aged

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

, lands the lead in a fictitious police

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

, ''Undercover Woman'', a parody of '' Police Woman''. Joyce is thrilled with the show, but less pleased to learn that the director is her ex-husband, John Elliot (John Hillerman), whom she unfondly refers to as "old pickle puss." He responds in kind, supplying his star with an oversized male double named Hugo (

Charles Cyphers Charles Cyphers (born July 28, 1939) is an American actor who is known in the horror movie community for his work in the films of John Carpenter, especially his role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Carpenter's 1978 movie ''Halloween''. He reprised ...

), a sexy, much younger onscreen sidekick (

Caren Kaye Caren Kaye is a retired American television and film actress who has appeared in dozens of films and guest-starred in many TV series. She attended Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Ph.D. in psychology. She is best known for her roles in t ...

), and dialogue not nearly as sharp as her tongue. Also on hand are Joyce's best friend, Mitzi Maloney (Georgia Engel), co-star actor Fletcher Huff (

Barney Phillips Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His most prominent roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet' ...

) and network penny-pincher Doug Porterfield (

Alex Henteloff Alex Henteloff (born May 23, 1942) is an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, Henteloff has appeared mostly on television in guest-starring roles. He portrayed the attorney Arnold Drake Ripner in a recurring role (in a total of 7 ep ...

Reception

The series was scheduled opposite ABC's ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' and ''

The NBC Monday Movie ''The NBC Monday Movie'' was a television anthology series of films that debuted on February 4, 1963 (in the middle of the 1962-63 season). It was referred to as ''Monday Night at the Movies'' prior to the mid-1980s. Contrary to popular contemp ...

'' and failed to generate viewers. The show was canceled after fourteen episodes.

Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET/Pac ...

and

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cla ...

briefly broadcast reruns of the show during the 1990s. The series aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1985.

Cast

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment indust ...

as Joyce Whitman, a sharp-tongued actress *

John Hillerman John Benedict Hillerman (December 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as ...

as John Elliot, Joyce's ex-husband and director of her show *

Georgia Engel Georgia Bright Engel (July 28, 1948 – April 12, 2019) was an American actress. She is best known for having played Georgette Franklin Baxter in the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' from 1972 to 1977, Pat MacDougall on ''Everybody Loves Ra ...

as Mitzi Maloney, Joyce's naive best friend/roommate

Recurring

as Tracy Garrett, Joyce's younger, sexier co-star *

as Hugo Muncy, Joyce's hunky stunt double, who is over-sized *

as Fletcher Huff, Joyce's co-star *

as Doug Porterfield, a network executive who oversees ''Undercover Woman''

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Betty White Show (1977 TV series) 1977 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms 1970s American workplace comedy television series English-language television shows Television series about television CBS original programming Television series by MTM Enterprises Television shows set in Los Angeles Betty White Television series about actors