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Via My Fox:

Let’s hope it’s just the beginning.

We haven’t covered this trend too much here at Big Hollywood on account of the fact that we’re not sure we get it. So, explain it to us. What do you think about the Betty White fad?

Also, don’t miss her “Happy Mother’s Day, Motherf****rs” sketch that we are unable to embed.

Betty White is a TV trailblazer and icon – popular actress on the groundbreaking Mary Tyler Moore Show and an hysterical off-beat widow on The Golden Girls.  Her work earned numerous Emmy Awards, the first coming in 1952 for a comedy White starred at her local TV station — a long an admirable career to say the least!

Now, this Golden Girl has entered the Twilight Zone.

Late, late night host Craig Ferguson apparently started making White a regular in recent years (it is not known whether anyone actually watches Ferguson’s show, but studies on YouTube has proven it exists).  The Betty White bit was simple:  sweet, half-cocked old lady says something shocking or offensive – like when she called Sarah Palin ‘one crazy bitch’ during the 2008 Presidential campaign.  Typical, sophomoric and forgettable late-night shenanigans.

But now Betty White’s snarky shtick has jumped the shark.  Take the “NPR, Delicious Dish” sketch on SNL last weekend – please!  In it, White was forced to repeat a sexual innuendo about her ‘muffin.’  The lazy SNL writers were ripping off an earlier show where Alec Baldwin talked about his ‘Schweddy Balls.’

Betty, sweetheart… you’re better than this!

The joke (and the tedious sketch) just went on and on.  Perhaps White should have just beat a dead horse. After the first 10 minutes of SNL, a dead horse beating might have been just what the doctor ordered — it certainly couldn’t have been any more uncomfortable or offensive.

In any case, 2010 adds an indelible asterisk to White’s long and accomplished resume.  It marks the time a beautiful and talented lady of comedy — who knew how to deliver a good joke – just became one instead.

Qualcomm’s combined leftist ideology and male bashing in its two ads featuring a guy who is “spineless” and a heavy political video montage by Obama idolater Will.i.am. I guess his stage name is supposed to be clever but it makes me think he was just raised on a little too much Dr. Seuss. Can you imagine the flack a company would get if it let Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck produce a video montage for its Super Bowl commercial? Watch the above clip for visuals of everything from Castro to Al Gore “winning” Florida.

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When Audi’s “Green Police” ad showing government environmental cops arresting people for violating the planet first came on I thought it was a PSA for the Obama administration EPA policies. It wasn’t. Seems as long as you are driving an Audi diesel you are on the right side of the environmental fascists, for now!

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Bud Light’s corporate image of the American male is almost as low as the tech world’s view of women. Guys are beer swilling lay-abouts who will do just about anything to down a few Buds. If their ads were close to being funny I could let it go for the joke, but they were not. Thanks for that uplifting picture of male behavior.

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Once again this year the people who run “Go Daddy” got their pole dancing girl friends a gig on national TV.  I am beginning to think that GoDaddy.com’s ad agency is run by Larry Flynt. Their banned “Lola” ad about an NFL player who comes out of the closet to design ladies lingerie was on the level of a bad SNL skit (like there’s any other kind). They weren’t the only advertiser to get in on the sophomoric heavy sexual overtones bandwagon.

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Monster.com’s ad entitled “Beavers” was perhaps the most shockingly bad outing of the evening. It ends with some inferred bestiality. Hey, it’s a “beaver,” get it. Ha-ha he said, “Beaver!” Cut to people who are unemployed and using Monster to search for a job rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. Maybe that’s why they’re unemployed. Why do these two web firms continue to run this type of advertising? Maybe they have research that shows only mouth-breathing troglodytes use their websites. Maybe all tech firms are run by really nerdy guys who have never lost their virginity. I am at a loss to explain this trend. 

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E Trade has been running its campaign of computer enhanced talking baby ads for a few years now and they had a couple of cute ads especially one where a boy baby was talking on a video link to his girl baby-friend. The whole concept is getting a little predictable although it still has a high “cute” factor. Still, I don’t know how many multimillion dollar investors move their accounts to E Trade because of the funny “milk-a-holic” line.

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The best single ad was a promo for “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Building on another ad Dave had done with Oprah Winfrey. The ad opens with Dave complaining that he is at the worst Super Bowl party ever. The camera pulls back to reveal Oprah sitting next to him trying to sooth his feelings and then pans to show Jay Leno sitting next to Oprah. Jay says’ “He’s just saying that ‘cause I’m here.”  Then Dave mocks Jay’s reply and an exasperated Oprah throws her hands in the air! Hilarious! It also shows that above all Jay and Dave are comics who put the funny about personal differences and even their own shows.

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I loved the Abe Vigoda/Betty White spot for Snickers but my award for the best corporate spots goes to Doritos. For the past several years the folks at Doritos have not hired a big dollar ad firm but have run a national video competition which has produced a steady stream of funny innovative commercials. By unleashing the unfettered creative power of 300 million Americans to get their Super Bowl ads, the Frito-Lay Corporation has been one of the top rated Super Bowl advertisers and has richly rewarded those willing to do the work. Perhaps the Obama Administration should take notice.

Well, maybe she’s found some.

On paper, “The Proposal” sounds like more of the same; another concept-driven, fish-out-of-water romantic comedy. And that it is, but thanks to a solid script and winning performances from Bullock and co-star Ryan Reynolds, this coming weekend offers one of the better romantic comedies of the last few years.

“The Proposal” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but built around the expected are a number of entertaining, very well written and performed scenes which create a believable central relationship you root for. The laughs are consistent, and though some are milked from contrived situations, most are earned honestly through realistic reactions from well-developed characters. Beneath it all beats a heart of the best kind; the kind that sneaks up on you in the end as if to say, “Who knew I cared this much?”

Sandra Bullock is Margaret Tate, the editor-in-chief of a high-end, New York publishing firm. She’s also a stone cold witch who intimidates and bullies her assistant associate secretary, Andrew (Reynolds), to the point that not once during the three long years he’s worked for her has he been able to lower his guard in her presence. She’s brittle, demanding and impossible to please even when he accomplishes the impossible, anticipating her every want and need.

Margaret is Canadian and the combination of her arrogance and ambition has suddenly put her on the fast-track to deportation. Out of legal options, the only way to keep her job and stay in the country is to marry a U.S. citizen. Enter Andrew, who pops his head in the door and finds himself the only available male in the room.

Obviously Andrew’s doesn’t want to marry Margaret, but the reality is that if she’s deported her replacement’s sure to fire him making the years of hell under her all for nothing. She’ll be in Canada and he’ll be out on the street starting from scratch. With their fates tied and a suspicious immigration official sniffing around, they have only a few days to get to know each other well enough to pass muster as a married couple. So it’s off to Sitka, Alaska, and a weekend with Andrew’s family and a whole lot of deception.

First off, I want to warn our entitled Leftist friends used to fifteen years of Hollywood catering to their mean-spiritedness that there are no Sarah Palin jokes. *so sorry* Secondly, Thank God there are no Sarah Palin jokes. Not one. She’s never mentioned or even hinted at.  Whether this was the product of rare Hollywood restraint or having the film in the can before the election, who knows, but Thank God there are no Sarah Palin jokes because my wife would’ve walked out and then there’s no review.

Another pleasant surprise is how generous the film is in portraying the citizens of Alaska. Audience expectations and those of Margaret are constantly played for laughs as, one by one, tired stereotypes of small town Americans falls by the wayside. In other words, unless you’re one of those entitled Leftists, no spell-breaking sucker punches await.

The plot and situations are boilerplate. If you’ve seen Bullock’s 1995 “While You Were Sleeping,” you’ve pretty much seen second and third act of this. But Bullock’s charm and some excellent dialogue really make things soar over the seen-it-all-before spots. The biggest revelation, however, is Ryan Reynolds who’s absolutely marvelous, perfectly underplaying every moment for maximum laughs. Other than as Chris O’Donnell’s replacement, Reynolds has never hit my radar before, but this may well be remembered as his breakout performance.

“Office” fans will recognize Oscar Nunez, who has a few choice scenes as Ramone, Sitka’s storekeeper and exotic dancer, Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen aren’t given enough to do as Andrew’s parents but still manage to make an impression, but in the film’s more tiresome scenes – even the great Betty White can’t add much to the played-out earthy old grandmother character.

As a quick aside, I want to mention an impressive and marvelously crafted subplot involving Andrew’s former girlfriend Gertrude, who’s played by Malin Akerman. Without a moment of melodrama or word of exposition, screenwriter Peter Chiarelli creates a very real and poignant choice for Andrew. There’s even a moment when he clearly has this choice to make but never once is it played the way you expect or have seen so many times before. And there are at least three beautifully crafted, memorable scenes; poignant, funny, heartfelt…

Chiarelli had to work within the necessary conventions of a marketable genre, but still a real talent shines through.