Betty White’s 99th birthday is on Sunday, January 17th, and the comedic icon has revealed just how she plans to spend it, in quarantine, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. As Betty White told ET, “You probably didn’t ask, but I’ll tell you anyway. What am I doing for my birthday? Running a mile each morning has been curtailed by COVID, so I am working on getting The Pet Set re-released, and feeding the two ducks who come to visit me every day.” Not only is White making a joke there – she’s also doing some sly marketing for one of her old TV shows!
The Pet Set was a 1970s TV series that Betty White created, in which celebrities would drop by with their pets, for discussions about animal-related subjects like pet care and wildlife preservation. It had icons like Mary Tyler Moor, Carol Burnett, and Burt Reynolds all drop by. Oh, and The Pet Set also just so happens to be coming up for re-released on DVD and streaming platforms, on February 23rd. So there you go: Betty White turned a question about her 99th birthday into a free marketing opportunity that is probably making us all more aware of The Pet Set‘s re-release.
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So if you’re wondering if Betty White has lost a step being a Megadon of the entertainment biz, at age 99… the answer is not. A. Step.
Betty White has slowed down a bit as she approaches 100, in terms of performances. Her last big scripted series was Hot In Cleveland in the mid-2010s, while she lent her voice to a character in Toy Story 4 in 2019. White still does appear as herself in segments for shows like Entertainment Tonight, and commercials that make use of her razor-sharp wit. She’s pretty much cemented her legacy as both an icon, and a bonafide American treasure, so the rest is just kind of a victory lap. A victory lap with some sweet new residuals from The Pet Set.
