TVSquad

I knew I wasn't seeing things when I saw a promo for this during The Price is Right last week:

On Friday, Betty White will be starting a guest stint on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful, playing Ann Douglas, the long-lost mother of Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery). Yes, that Betty White; the Betty White of Golden Girls, Mary Tyler Moore, Match Game, Password, Boston Legal and many, many other shows throughout TV history.

Given her varied career, seeing her on a soap opera shouldn't be that much of a surprise... but it is. Yeah, soaps sometimes have some of the best acting out there, and it's a hell of a lot more demanding than even a weekly series. But there's still that perception that being on a soap is a career comedown (just ask Corbin Bernsen). Looking over White's IMDb profile, the only other soap she ever appeared in was when she played "Waitress" on Santa Barbara in the eighties (I'm guessing that was a surprise cameo of some sort), so this can likely be billed as her first major soap role.

It's not like White's career is in decline; despite the fact that she's almost 85, she's as busy as ever. My guess is that she wanted to see if she could do the everyday grind of a soap, even for a limited time, and it gives CBS a chance to promote her appearance on one of their signature soaps.

By the way, Alley Mills (the mom on The Wonder Years) will also start a limited role on Friday, playing Forrester's long-lost sister, Pamela Douglas. Looks like it'll be a busy day for Stephanie Forrester, huh? Too bad I don't watch soaps...