The passing of Betty White has fans of the legendary actress all across the world in mourning. Just ahead of the Golden Girls star’s 100th birthday this month, it was reported that White had died peacefully in her sleep on New Year’s Eve. Ever since the news broke, tributes have been pouring in from fans and colleagues honoring the veteran performer. Now, Saturday Night Live becomes the latest to honor white.
For the Jan. 1, 2022 episode of SNL, NBC will air a rerun of the previous episode hosted by White, per Deadline. Back in 2010, White had hosted the show for her first and only time after an immensely popular fan campaign had pushed for it to happen. She hosted her episode on May 8, 2010, and at the age of 88, this made her the oldest person in history to host the program. As expected, White knocked it out of the park with her episode and earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
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“[Stage fright] is a lifesaver because the panic that sets in, you have to [counteract] and you have to get a handle on it in order to do what you’re doing,” White said of the experience years later in the PBS special Betty White: First Lady of Television. “So the stage fright is what puts the edge, I think, on a performance.”
Ryan Reynolds, who plays White’s grandson in The Proposal, said of White’s work on the show, “I can’t believe Betty did SNL and at that age. And not only did SNL at that age but took the ball and knocked it so far out of the park.”
“The world looks different now,” Reynolds would tweet more recently after learning of White’s death. “She was great at defying expectation. She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. We’ll miss you, Betty. Now you know the secret.”
Prior to her passing, White had been anticipating her 100th birthday on Jan. 17. That same day, Fathom Events will host a theatrical celebration for White by screening a documentary about her, 100 Years Young — A Birthday Celebration, for one day only. The doc features new footage of White along with clips of her greatest career moments. Many of her famous friends also share memories about White including Reynolds, Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Leno, Carol Burnett, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel, Valerie Bertinelli, James Corden, Wendy Malick, and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The Saturday Night Live episode with Betty White as host will air in the regular time slot at 11:30 p.m. and is not the usual rerun that airs at 10 p.m. To see more from White, you can watch The Golden Girls on Hulu where her spinoff series The Golden Palace will also start streaming on Jan. 10. CMT will also be airing an all-day marathon of The Golden Girls on Monday, Jan. 3, in honor of White. They’ll be airing episodes focusing on Rose Nylund’s most memorable moments.
