PILOT REVIEW: Betty White's Off Their Rockers

BETTY WHITE'S OFF THEIR ROCKERS
 













Hosted by Betty White
Featuring Reatha Grey, Michael Yama, Nick DeMauro, Ann Benson, Michael Alaino, Richard Reicheg, Lou Beatty Jr.,
Directed by Guy Shalem and Tim Gibbons

Betty White's Off Their Rockers is a new hidden camera show with a twist - senior citizens prank unsuspecting young people with their antics. It then basically operates like Candid Camera as the victims of the prank watch in disbelief, shock, or horror at what is occurring.

THE GOOD: Well, first of all, who doesn't love Betty White? Even when the material she's given is below average, she is still fun to watch. America's Grandmother is always charming on camera and has good comedic timing. As is always the case with these hidden camera shows, some of the pranks are better than others. Some of the highlights were the woman talking about the "mile high club" and the woman at the hot dog stand.

THE BAD: Of course with the good comes the bad and some pranks fall flat. Another problem here is the writing for the interludes. While Betty White is sweet as always, she was given some pretty poor material for her parts. They need to get some better writers for her parts ASAP. Also I found myself wishing we sometimes saw the reaction of the people when they found out it was a prank. That is always a fun element to these shows and Off Their Rockers didn't have that.

BOTTOM LINE: This is a fun show but probably only in limited doses. It's a nice twist on a familiar style and the old people doing the pranks are quite funny with good timing. Basically, this is the kind of show I might have on in the background but it's not going to be a new cornerstone for NBC. And let's give the awesome Betty White some better material for her parts!