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As occurs with most things in life, the new series Betty White’s Off Their Rockers brought to mind a quote from The Simpsons.
Homer, speaking to his father (universally known as Grandpa), adopted a sugary sweet tone as he said: “Dad, you’ve done a lot of great things. But you’re a very old man, and old people are useless.”
Betty White is counting on all you whippersnappers THINKING that. Then, bam.
Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, which debuts Monday, Jan. 16, on NBC and CTV, is a hidden-camera prank show where, for a change, seniors are the perpetrators rather than the victims.
“(The seniors) are just hip enough and maybe mean enough to want to get even” – White said at the Television Critics Association tour. “It’s just kind of a reverse psychology of the poor old senior. It’s, ‘Hey, we’ve got a sense of humour, too, warped as it may be.’ ”
White, continuing her media omnipresence of the past few years, is featured alongside a team of sassy seniors who find ways to shock the younger generation.
“I can take no credit for (finding the senior pranksters), but it’s a little posse that we have, a little team” – White said. “My only function really in the production is to be sure that it’s not mean-spirited. Things aren’t funny if they’re mean-spirited.
“It’s just a silly, fun show, and I think one that will appeal to all ages. Younger people might get a kick out of seeing the oldsters get a jump on somebody, and oldsters might see it and say, ‘Hey, go get ‘em!’ ”

Betty White.

From stately oaks and broad magnolias to a hit Web series and hobnobbing with Betty White, actor and University alumnus Nathan Frizzell has come a long way.
The actor recently received word that “Bloomers,” a Web series in which he played a main character, will shoot a second season. The series was well received, and one of Frizzell’s
colleagues, as well as the directors, was nominated for Indie Soap Awards in December.
Frizzell describes “Bloomers” as a modern version of “Friends” meets “The Office.” He compares his character, Ross Buchanan, to Jim Halpert from “The Office,” as they are both “all-American doofuses.” Frizzell said the show’s cast, which includes students from an acting class he takes in Los Angeles, is excited to shoot another season of the show — especially with the prospect of a higher budget.
Beyond “Bloomers,” Frizzell has appeared in episodes of “Veronica Mars” and “CSI: New York.” He recently finished taping a guest spot on TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland,” in which he got to perform with famed actress Betty White.
“She’s everything you expect Betty White to be” – Frizzell said. “The woman’s 90 years old with a razor-sharp wit.”
Frizzell also takes pride in appearing in a currently running Coors Light commercial.
“It ran during a Saints game this year, and I had friends and family calling me to verify that they’d seen me in the commercial” – Frizzell said.
The acting bug bit Frizzell early — he started doing community theater at age 7. But he did not consider acting as a serious career path until attending LSU.
“I was originally a political science major as a freshman” – Frizzell said.
The 29-year-old said his perspective on acting was altered when he was cast in a lead role in a play at the University during his freshman year. The director of the play, John Dennis, pulled Frizzell into his office shortly after the casting process to question him on his major.

TV veteran Betty White has a big reason to celebrate on Tuesday – America’s favourite Golden Girl turns 90.
Known for her comedic chops and charming wit on U.S. hit shows like Hot in Cleveland, The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, White boasts a successful career, which now spans seven decades.
And she doesn’t appear to be slowing down with age – on Monday night bosses at U.S. network NBC paid tribute to the legend’s career by airing a star-studded TV special, which featured Hugh Jackman and Carol Burnett, among others, paying tribute to the birthday girl – and she is just about to premiere a new senior citizen hidden camera show, titled Off Their Rockers.
Because the funnywoman has already celebrated her birthday with her best celebrity pals, White tells WENN she plans on spending the day working on crossword puzzles and hanging out with her longtime companion – a Golden Retriever named Pontiac.
And in honour of the spunky star’s landmark birthday, we’ve compiled 10 fascinating facts about the beloved actress to mark the occasion. Happy Birthday, Betty White!
1 – The actress was born in Illinois during America’s Great Depression but her parents moved the family to Los Angeles when she was just two years old.
2 – She attended the Horace Mann School in Beverly Hills, California – the same middle school as Angelina Jolie, Nicolas Cage and Lenny Kravitz.
3 – Unlike a number of celebrities, the actress never changed her name before entering the entertainment industry. She was born Betty – not Elizabeth – because her parents didn’t want her to be bogged down by nick names.
4 – White has been married three times – briefly to Army Air Corps pilot Dick Barker in 1945, Hollywood agent Lane Bryant from 1947 to 1949 and TV host Allen Ludden, from 1963 until his death in 1981.
5 – She has won a total of seven Emmy Awards throughout the course of her career – her first was a 1975 Best Actress honour for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and her most recent was in 2010, for Outstanding Guest Actress on A Comedy Series for her hosting turn on U.S. sketch show Saturday Night Live.
6 – White has been a life-long animal advocate. She received the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Humane Award in 1987 for her charitable work, and the Los Angeles Zoo recognised the comedian with a bronze plaque near the Gorilla Exhibit in 2006, when she was officially named the tourist attraction’s Ambassador to the Animals.
7 – She turned down the chance to play Helen Hunt’s mum in the 1997 film As Good As It Gets because she objected to a scene in which Jack Nicholson’s character pushes a dog down a trash chute.
8 – She has already cemented her place in television and movie history – White was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and she was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to her late husband Ludden’s in 1998.
9 – White is the last surviving member of the cast of hit TV show The Golden Girls, which premiered in America in 1985. Estelle Getty died in 2008, Bea Arthur passed away in 2009, and Rue McClanahan followed in 2010. Industry insiders feared White might succumb last year (11) after a mysterious annual pattern of co-star deaths was discovered.
10 – She is also a highly-successful author – White has written a total of six books. Her last one, If you Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t), is currently a New York Times Bestseller.