Here is a gem featuring the classic comedy of Betty White. She starred in a 50s show titled Life with Elizabeth and life with Elizabeth, from her husband Alvin’s (Del Moore) point of view, is to expect the unexpected. This 26-minute episode features three “incidents,” or storylines, which are Daylight Savings Time, Meteorite, and Anniversary.
In Daylight Savings Time, the episode starts off with Alvin getting ready for work and joking with his wife, speaking old English like they’re in a Shakespeare play. After they count three blessings, Elizabeth jokes, “We’re thrice blessed!” The newspaper didn’t land where it was supposed to and Alvin calls the newspaper boy “No-aim William.” But Elizabeth tells him due to the rain the previous night that William’s mom delivered the paper in his place.
The laughs continue when Alvin asks Elizabeth if she set the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time. There is some confusion or whether or not a power outage took place. “I can’t be late again,” declares Alvin. “The boss is thinking of tar and feathering me.” When a bit of time passes Elizabeth questions Alvin, “What time is it?” Frustrated, Alvin replies, “How do I know what time it is?” They contact a Phoenix radio station for the time but then afterwards they can’t remember if Phoenix is on Daylight Savings Time or no. The confusion-and laughs-continue throughout the episode.
In incident two, Meteorite, Alvin is working on his watch. Alvin jokes he needs “one of those things you put up here” (pointing to his eye). He’s referring to a contact lens but when he asks Elizabeth what it’s called, she replies, “An eye!” Elizabeth hears a noise and says it was a thud, followed by a hissing noise. Alvin jokes that maybe it was a heavy snake. When Elizabeth goes to check outside Alvin says, “Say, if it was a heavy snake, don’t get rattled!” (as in rattle snake). He laughs at his own joke.
The physical humor kicks in when Elizabeth brings in what looks to be a meteorite and sets it down, accidentally, on Alvin’s watch. They think they spot radium on it and wonder if it is valuable. Then Elizabeth daydreams that it will wind up in a museum in a glass case, with a card that calls the meteor the Elizabethicus! She calls the Museum of Natural History to find out if they’re interested. When she spots Alvin blowing on the meteorite she comments, “Stop that! It isn’t a bowl of soup!” But why is there a mist surrounding it, like it’s hot? She shows off some scientific dialect when Alvin is going to pour water on it, and she tells him not to, that it might disrupt the molecular structure. We won’t spoil it by telling you if it is a meteorite or not, but we will say there are plenty of laughs as this particular incident is solved.
Finally, we have the Anniversary. Elizabeth and Alvin are like big kids, and when Alvin hears that Elizabeth is secretly working on something on the porch, he wants to sneak out there to see if it’s his anniversary present. They both wind up giving each other a cocker spaniel, procured from a lady on the street corner. When a friend, Richard, drops by, he starts showing them how to train their dog and when Alvin and Elizabeth pat him on the face, he grumbles, “I should have bitten both of you!” Soon Richard brings his own cocker spaniel in, one he had gotten from the same lady on the corner but a year before. When Alvin and Elizabeth see how big Richard’s dog has become, their faces are hilarious.
This wholesome show easily meets the family-friendly criteria for Dove and has earned the Dove seal for All Ages.
The Dove Take:
For wholesome comedy and the comic timing of Betty White, this terrific show is remarkable as well as a fun and enjoyable watch.
