Betty White Starred In Over 100 Episodes Of A Sitcom That Made TV Land History
Betty White was an iconic performer with a legendary resume, so it makes complete sense she would have starred in over 100 episodes of a sitcom that made history for its network. That show was 2010's "Hot in Cleveland," which was ordered to series in March and debuted by June of that year. The sitcom followed a group of middle-aged friends from Los Angeles who end up moving to Cleveland after their plane gets stuck there en route to Paris.
The late White played Elka, the caretaker of the property the group end up renting after being drawn to the town and its down-to-earth residents. "Hot in Cleveland" — which was created by "Frasier" writer, Suzanne Martin, and executive produced by fellow sitcom icon and "Will & Grace" alum, Sean Hayes — ended up being a major success for TV Land. They saw their highest rated broadcast in the network's entire history at the time with the show's premiere, going on to run for six seasons and 128 episodes before ending in June 2015.
Betty White wasn't supposed to be a lead on Hot in Cleveland
Betty White appeared in every episode of TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland" — which is a stark contrast to how the show's creatives originally saw her role. White was slated to simply be a guest star in the pilot, but her part was an absolute hit. Naturally, that led to the early decision to fold her into the show's main cast.
The iconic actress was 88 years old when the series began in 2010, but no matter how old she was, her performance was as spunky and full of life as ever. In fact, White's Elka is totally different to the role she famously played on the show that helped redefine sitcoms, "Golden Girls." Elka is a bit abrasive, unabashedly flirty, and a wild child at heart, while White's Rose Nylund was more of a spacey and sweet storyteller on the classic 1985 series.
Despite the differences in characters, "Hot in Cleveland" was still positively compared to "Golden Girls" by some critics who felt the newer show was able to tap into the tropes that made the nostalgic '80s series thrive thrive.