Customer Reviews

Here We Go Again: My Life in Television

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I had read another book "In Person" by Betty White a few years ago - and it was a side splitter. I have always been a big fan of hers anyway - and enjoy her immensely.

This book is no exception. She is talking about how her career and TV's career started about the same time. She gives insight into early television and her part in that whole genre. She talks about her "addiction" to work and her willingness to fill in whenever she is needed - and the break neck schedule she had in the beginning.

Have not gotten through the book yet - but have really enjoyed reading what I have. Betty in writing is as funny as Betty on TV.

Pick it up if you would like to see the infancy of TV from an insider's view - and if you want a good laugh!! This book supplies both very well.

Betty's book was great! It was easy to read & you felt like she was there talking to you. I would tell all my friends.

Now that she's a member of yet another successful sit-com cast, it might be fun to step back and learn more about this veteran performer. This autobiography was originally released in hardback in 1995. In it, Betty shares the full extent of her personal and professional history from her beginnings in the industry through the early 1990s. Included are the facets of her life that we are most familiar with: "Password," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Golden Girls," her devotion to third husband Allen Ludden, and her love of animals of all kinds.

Her memoir might be most valuable for its insights into the early days of television. Imagine cramming a five-hour program with interviews, skits, and commercials -- all performed live and in front of just one camera! Or working on holidays, just like regular days, in order to faithfully entertain the audiences at home. Over the decades, there were numerous opportunities to star in sit-coms, to host parades, and of course, to participate in game shows, one after another. The woman has had quite the busy life. We get the impression that she has always liked it that way.

Though it would be easy to accuse Betty of name-dropping on every page, the fact remains that she has worked with and has been friends with some of the most famous actors and producers in the history of the medium. She takes the high road here and does not dish much about any of them. And her career has been so jam-packed that she cannot dwell on any particular topic or any show for very long. As a result, her approach must by necessity be a tad shallow when it comes to chatting about some of our favorite people or enterprises. But she does offer somewhat generous detail about her family life: from holding a home base in California with her parents, to moving to NYC to be with Allen Ludden and his three children. Tons of black and white photographs accompany the narrative.

In the 15 years since this book was released, Betty White has added even more credits to her resume. She has been part of several short-lived sit-coms, has made guest appearances on a wide variety of shows, and has won yet another Emmy. Now TVLAND's "Hot in Cleveland" seems to be reinvigorating her popularity. "Here We Go Again," indeed! Read this book if you want to reminisce about the old days of the black and white broadcast. Revisit that magical world that created wonderful actresses like Betty White.

Betty White has been on television longer than pretty much anyone else (she even tested it in 1939!) and she has a lot to talk about. Unfortunately, she chooses to dwell on the early years of the medium, about which few readers will remember. Instead of devoting large sections to things she is best known for such as the Mary Tyler Moore Show, she spends the first 40% of the book on hear early 1950s series, then skips around to discuss game shows, her marriages, and a few stories about the series that she is most famous for. It's nice to hear some of it--but to be honest the book is very boring for a long time because there is too much unnecessary information about her early years on television. She also has very selective memory--she'll recall the specific outfit she wore on a program in 1953, but can't tell you the name of a show she was on or conveniently forgets details of her multiple early marriages. This would have been better if she would have been more forthcoming and had more stories about the shows she is most famous for.

Here We Go Again: My Life in Television

By: Betty White

If you are looking for dirty Hollywood gossip then this is not the book for you. It would also imply that you don't know Betty White very well. This surprisingly in-depth look back through her very long and impressive career is not only fascinating it is educational. Ms. White starts you at the beginning and walks you through every step, every TV show (including more The Betty White Show (s) than I ever thought possible), every game show, and every husband with an easy fluidity. She is candid about her history and doesn't mince words when discussing how cruel and heartbreaking a place Hollywood can be especially for a woman. You are never left feeling like it was all roses and puppies, although puppies are a theme in this book. It is incredible to discover the sheer volume of hours upon hours a week she was actually on television in her early days, how much she got paid and the complete lack of preparation or script with which she had to work. Even if you are not a Betty White fan (seems impossible) but have an interest in early television you would find this book amazing. The details of how a show was put on the air, recorded, performed, written and taken of the air is a far cry from today's reality. The constant travel between California and New York during a time before jets is mind- boggling. The photos throughout are a reminder of what a true treasure this amazing talent has been and for just how long she has shaped the female face of television. Ms. White has done it all from being a sidekick on Hollywood on Television, to eventually taking over the show, producing her own shows, to starring in Life with Elizabeth and A Date with the Angels, to her racy portrayal of the "friendly neighborhood nymphomaniac" on Mary Tyler Moore, to her innocent and lovable Rose Nylund, there is also her being the honorary Mayor of Hollywood, and First Lady of Game Shows. What is just as incredible is the constant use of the term "comeback" when describing her resurgence of popularity. Read the book (or check her IMdB) and you will never again consider this a "comeback"; she was never gone. The book is an easy read but not so much fluff that you are not drawn in. It was touching to read of her honest love for her friends throughout the years. I was surprised to discover just how close she really is with Mary Tyler Moore and how much she treasures and loves her other Golden Girls. When you are a fan of shows like that it is nice to know it isn't all just for the show, these people really care deeply for each other. There is something just incredible about Ms. White, her personality, her career, and her strength combined with her devotion to her late husband and how even after being so deeply a part of the Hollywood machine, how very real and relatable she still remains.

This book is light, easy reading, but really boring. Betty tells the story of her remarkable career but the book is lacking. Where is the dish? Where are the juicy parts? Betty writes as if it is one big happy press release. She likes everything and everybody. Everything is hunky-dorey. She never minded getting fired from jobs, she never minded being uprooted, she never minded long, tedious work hours. Betty drops names of some of the most famous people in the world and barely comments on them. She gives her meeting with the Queen Mother one sentence in the whole book! She was married to Allen Ludden for 18 years, but until she mentions this toward the end of the book, the reader doesn't even realize that all of their experiences took place over that length of time. She was best friends with Mary Tyler Moore and her husband Grant Tinker and although she tells of many anicdotes, nothing delves very deeply. Betty was on two classic TV shows of all times, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls", yet she glosses over these experiences and doesn't go into any details about any of it. Apparently Betty's life experience is not able to fit into one book and trying to fit it in one book makes it all seem like an outline rather than a story. Readers will look for some juicy "Mary Tyler Moore Show" stories and some backstage gossip about "The Golden Girls", but they will not find that. They will get Betty's ramblings and squeeky clean attitude about not saying anything if you dont have anything nice to say.... apparently she had nothing nice to say so she glossed over much of her life. I really would have loved to know how she truly felt about her coworkers and how they interacted on and off stage. Some funny "blooper" moments would have been great and some real life gossip would make her seem more human. I love Betty White, I just didn't get all I thought I would from this book. But Betty truly is a Golden Girl, she has done it all

I find Betty White's life very intersting, and her sense of timing and humor is wonderful. I only wish I could find this book on Cd and unabridged.