Review of Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Betty White

The 1977 roast of Betty White can be said to be routine, with the usual cast of regulars seen that year, such as Red Buttons, Jimmie Walker, Charlie Callas, La Wanda Page, Orson Welles, Milton Berle, and the always hilarious Foster Brooks. Only Georgia Engel appeared from THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, while John Hillerman was currently co-starring on THE BETTY WHITE SHOW, which lasted just two seasons. The newcomers include Bonnie Franklin, from ONE DAY AT A TIME, and Peter Marshall, who mentions being a recent roastee himself. Dan Haggerty, the star of GRIZZLY ADAMS, makes fun of Betty's cooking, Rich Little mentions her famous dimples (looking good at age 55), while Abe Vigoda, TV's tired FISH, talks about being mistaken for a real cop, walking into a singles bar only to see all the young girls rush out: "that's why I went in there in the first place!" Even Phyllis Diller actually looks great (at 60), after her recent plastic surgery: "if the knot ever comes loose!" Betty's love of animals is skewered, even by her husband, Allen Ludden (who died in 1981), famous as the host of the popular game show PASSWORD, claiming he had to sit up and beg before she would marry him: "then on our honeymoon, she rolled over and played dead!"