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Author Topic: Betty White's estate up for auction  (Read 3306 times)


BrandonFG

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2022, 08:12:41 PM »
I'm guessing Hollywood Talkabout eventually became Hollywood's Talking, but with Geoff Edwards?
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Neumms

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2022, 11:41:53 PM »
And what was Look Who's Talking?

Adam Nedeff

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2022, 01:43:56 AM »
And what was Look Who's Talking?
Look Who's Talking was a game show pilot created by Allen, likely under the Elltee Productions banner that he formed with Grant Tinker. Two of the celebrities booked were Burt Reynolds and Johnny Carson's ex-wife Joanne Carson. The taping of the pilot ended up in gossip columns at the time because Reynolds, a friend of Johnny, took multiple opportunities to needle Joanne during the game, and she got so annoyed that she nearly walked off the set.

calliaume

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2022, 01:16:32 PM »
I'm guessing Hollywood Talkabout eventually became Hollywood's Talking, but with Geoff Edwards?
I think Betty was quoted in a book (Come On Down?) that she shot a pilot and so did a male host with hers testing higher, but the execs said a woman would never be accepted as host, so they went with the male host.

Probably just as well; the show probably would have flopped either way and she was free to play Sue Ann Nivens later that year.

Neumms

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2022, 05:18:00 PM »
Thanks, Adam! Grant Tinker was a pretty good guy to form a production company with.

Probably just as well; the show probably would have flopped either way and she was free to play Sue Ann Nivens later that year.

I just watched her first Mary Tyler Moore episode in which she has an affair with Phyllis' husband Lars. Sue Ann was her masterwork. Indeed, thank heavens she didn't get the hosting gig.

Matt Ottinger

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2022, 11:18:25 AM »
And what was Look Who's Talking?
Look Who's Talking was a game show pilot created by Allen, likely under the Elltee Productions banner that he formed with Grant Tinker. Two of the celebrities booked were Burt Reynolds and Johnny Carson's ex-wife Joanne Carson. The taping of the pilot ended up in gossip columns at the time because Reynolds, a friend of Johnny, took multiple opportunities to needle Joanne during the game, and she got so annoyed that she nearly walked off the set.

I am amused by the idea of Sander Vanocur as a game show panelist.  Edwin Newman, sure.  But Sander Vanocur?
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calliaume

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Re: Betty White's estate up for auction
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2022, 06:45:08 PM »
I am amused by the idea of Sander Vanocur as a game show panelist.  Edwin Newman, sure.  But Sander Vanocur?
If Wikipedia is accurate (I know, that's a leap of faith), he may have been in between jobs or close to it when this pilot taped, which based on the ticket date was 1976. He went to PBS in 1971, which didn't have a major news presence at the time, and over to ABC News in 1977, which was around the time was enlarging its news department considerably. ABC was my primary news source in the 1980s, but Vanocur was not a huge name among the network's correspondents by that point. I'm more surprised by the presence of Burt Reynolds, who was a top 10 box office draw at the time, and Joanne Carson (why tick Johnny off?).

I also note the Just Men ticket lists ten male celebrities--I guess they cut it down between the pilot and the series.