Friday, April 13, 2012

White-Hot


Betty White. Need I say more?

A woman who’s been around the block a few times in the land of sitcom, White woos us yet again in the TV Land comedy Hot in Cleveland. Although the show features other spunky sitcom actresses—Valerie Bertinelli (One Day at a Time), Jane Leeves (Fraiser), and Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me)—it is White who we can’t help but laugh at.

Promoted from her dumb blonde persona as Rose in the late 1980s comedy The Golden Girls, White transforms into the snarky, quick-witted Elka Ostrovsky, caretaker of a house in the burbs of Cleveland. And when three forty-something women from L.A. move in, Elka can’t help but ask the realtor, “Why are you renting to prostitutes?”

White gets much applause for her ongoing acting career (she turned 90 last week), however, the show itself could use a bit of a tune-up. Although worthy of a good laugh, Hot in Cleveland disappointingly stereotypes forty-something women as desperate and self-loathing. The main reason Bertinelli, Leeves, and Malick’s characters even make the move to the Midwest is because the men there are ruggedly handsome, pull out their chairs, and appreciate their beauty, unlike the self-absorbed, metrosexual men of Los Angeles.

Oddly enough, like any TV series really, it’s these exaggerated stereotypes that keep me coming back for more. Melanie (Bertinelli) is a recently divorced writer, whose naivety not only makes her lovable but gets her into trouble (“I’m gonna staple my mouth shut…as soon as I fix this”). Victoria (Malick) is a bigheaded TV soap opera actress who thinks every person on earth is her biggest fan. After her show gets cancelled, however, she struggles to accept the fact that she is only wanted for mother/grandmother roles and becomes the spokesperson for “Mrs. Lady Pants,” Japanese adult diaper pants for women that will make you “feel as fresh as Mount Fuji.” And Joy (Leeves) is the bitter beautician who was left at the altar, gave her son up for adoption, and is the butt of jokes for Elka. The upside? She’s the artistic genius behind Oprah’s perfectly shaped brows.

As TV Land’s first original scripted series, the show is doing well for itself. In 2011, White won the Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series,” and the cast won “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.” The show also won the 2012 People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Cable TV Comedy.”
Hot in Cleveland isn’t going to get cold any time soon. In fact, the comedy is only five episodes into season three and they have already signed on for a fourth season. So try it out—if not for your own enjoyment, then for documenting Betty White’s last hoorah as an actress (and I’m sure she’ll go out with a bang).

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