The Betty White Show

1 9 7 7 - 1 9 7 8 (USA)
14 x 30 minute episodes

Another CBS spin off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, although here the lead character had a new name. In that earlier series Betty White had played Sue Ann Nivens, host of the Happy Homemaker Show at WJM, the TV station where Mary worked. Maneuvering and catty, Nivens was determined to climb the ladder of success any which way she could. 

Here, in her own series, White played Joyce Whitman, a witty and sharp-tongued film actress who, although not admitting so, has perhaps realized that she's a mite beyond her prime and so bows to the inevitable and consents to work on television. That she is cast in a typical mid-1970s downmarket all-action cop show, Undercover Woman, is only the start of her problems, however, for behind the scenes lies the real trouble (and humor): the director turns out to be her sarcastic ex-husband John Elliot. 

Tracy Garrett, her supporting actress, is ruthlessly ambitious and prepared to sleep her way to star billing, Fletcher Huff, who plays the police chief, is timid, her brawny stunt double Hugo Muncy is a pain in the proverbial, and Doug Porterfield, the series' network executive (like this sitcom, Undercover Woman was said to be a CBS show), is a feeble, interfering busybody.

Also appearing in The Betty White Show was another face familiar from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, that of Georgia Engel, who had been Ted Baxter's girlfriend, Georgette. There she had been a bit of a dumbelle (and so perfectly suited to Ted); here she was similarly cast, as Joyce Whitman's best pal and flat-sharer Mitzi. 

EPISODES

Undercover Police Woman John's Mother Mitzi's Cousin Make Yourself at Home - Steal Something

Doug Gets Fired Mitzi's Jealousy Joyce, the Matchmaker Joyce's Wedding Play Misty for John

Fletcher's Decision The Stunt Woman We're Not Divorced (Part 1) We're Not Divorced (Part 2) Good Night, Sweet Fletch