At my local grocery store, a few years ago, which had within it a
music & entertainment section, it had a shelf full of low priced
DVD's. Mostly of deservedly forgotten movies, some classic but badly transferred classic movies & cartoons.
Now & then though I would find a jeweled needle in that messy haystack. "Life With Elizabeth" is definitely one and of course Betty White is, not only a jewel herself, but a national treasure who spent 76 years in show business. (1945 - 2021)
From her first short 1945 film, "Time To Kill" (no not a murder mystery.) ....to her voice over work in "Toy Story 4" (and 2 little projects after.)
Now I'm not saying "Elizabeth" is a flawless classic, but it does have some good qualities about it. First being that my DVD copy was 3 hours of shows for only $1. This being 6 episodes with 36 " vignettes" or as I call them "mini-stories". The first of which is, Alvin comes home grumpy from work and has still more to do at home.
Elizabeth tries to help but is mostly an annoyance to her already frustrated husband. This made me feel that the show was forgotten for a reason but it was just an outing showing that husbands don't always come home from work cheeerful.
Thankfully, the vignettes get a little better, Alvin shows he does have a sense of humor and Elizabeth stops clowning long enough to show other emotions. (An actress laughing at her own jokes in a show is a little unusual, but it's still fun .)
Some of the jokes spoken by Betty made me laugh because sometimes I like a good joke, some are like "Oh my gosh,that was a bad pun!" Del Moore rattles of a few litle jokes himself but,given his usual annoyance with Elizabeth, it's not too convincing. Like a TV husband, he wants his wife to be sort of docile & sweet all the time.
The other stories include, the couple coloring easter eggs & ending up in a "tiff" about how to decorate them (ending in Alvin accidentally drinking some dye thinking it's coffee.)
* A fairly funny segment where they attempt to put together and hang a seemingly "alive" curtain rod. Flashbacks to early in their marriage when they keep getting calls from friends of the former owners of the home they now live in.
The first time Alvin has to take an overnight business trip and Elizabeth's not taking it well. Alvin buys an inflatable pool for the back-yard but it's too small. The photography episode was very funny, as well as Alvin, his buddy & Elizabeth trying to change a tire together.
Their ditzy female neighbor who's more of a bird-brain than ditzy, she clips off the TV wire to their house thinking it's a vine! (I felt sorry for that woman having to play such a scatterbrain.)
Every segment ending with their announcer, "Elizabeth, aren't you ashemed?" And BettyWhite nods or shakes her head.
Overall, the positives are Betty White herself, Del Moore and a nice piece of nostalgia and best of all (despite maybe a lack of emotional chemistry) a look at a couple actually having differences of opinion.
In the 1950's,network shows rarely gave a woman the upper hand but the fact that this is not a network show and that White herself was writer & co-producer helped this be at least a bit more like life in marriage.
Somewhat negative is,i t's too bad this can't be cleaned up & edited better and put out in a full collection. I don't know if a complete collection exists, as I see several online.
I wont condemn the show for being a product of it's time. Television had good shows to be sure,but it was still a young medium. Betty White's,"Life With Elizabeth" was like,"I Love Lucy",a step in the right direction for how women were perceived not only "on" TV but how much say they had behind the scenes.
For a show as simple as this, it's good enough to be noted for Betty White herself and that she was able to be in charge at a time when most women were not.
NINE stars for a significant early accomplishment of it's star.
Rest In Peace Betty...you are greatly missed.
Now & then though I would find a jeweled needle in that messy haystack. "Life With Elizabeth" is definitely one and of course Betty White is, not only a jewel herself, but a national treasure who spent 76 years in show business. (1945 - 2021)
From her first short 1945 film, "Time To Kill" (no not a murder mystery.) ....to her voice over work in "Toy Story 4" (and 2 little projects after.)
Now I'm not saying "Elizabeth" is a flawless classic, but it does have some good qualities about it. First being that my DVD copy was 3 hours of shows for only $1. This being 6 episodes with 36 " vignettes" or as I call them "mini-stories". The first of which is, Alvin comes home grumpy from work and has still more to do at home.
Elizabeth tries to help but is mostly an annoyance to her already frustrated husband. This made me feel that the show was forgotten for a reason but it was just an outing showing that husbands don't always come home from work cheeerful.
Thankfully, the vignettes get a little better, Alvin shows he does have a sense of humor and Elizabeth stops clowning long enough to show other emotions. (An actress laughing at her own jokes in a show is a little unusual, but it's still fun .)
Some of the jokes spoken by Betty made me laugh because sometimes I like a good joke, some are like "Oh my gosh,that was a bad pun!" Del Moore rattles of a few litle jokes himself but,given his usual annoyance with Elizabeth, it's not too convincing. Like a TV husband, he wants his wife to be sort of docile & sweet all the time.
The other stories include, the couple coloring easter eggs & ending up in a "tiff" about how to decorate them (ending in Alvin accidentally drinking some dye thinking it's coffee.)
* A fairly funny segment where they attempt to put together and hang a seemingly "alive" curtain rod. Flashbacks to early in their marriage when they keep getting calls from friends of the former owners of the home they now live in.
The first time Alvin has to take an overnight business trip and Elizabeth's not taking it well. Alvin buys an inflatable pool for the back-yard but it's too small. The photography episode was very funny, as well as Alvin, his buddy & Elizabeth trying to change a tire together.
Their ditzy female neighbor who's more of a bird-brain than ditzy, she clips off the TV wire to their house thinking it's a vine! (I felt sorry for that woman having to play such a scatterbrain.)
Every segment ending with their announcer, "Elizabeth, aren't you ashemed?" And BettyWhite nods or shakes her head.
Overall, the positives are Betty White herself, Del Moore and a nice piece of nostalgia and best of all (despite maybe a lack of emotional chemistry) a look at a couple actually having differences of opinion.
In the 1950's,network shows rarely gave a woman the upper hand but the fact that this is not a network show and that White herself was writer & co-producer helped this be at least a bit more like life in marriage.
Somewhat negative is,i t's too bad this can't be cleaned up & edited better and put out in a full collection. I don't know if a complete collection exists, as I see several online.
I wont condemn the show for being a product of it's time. Television had good shows to be sure,but it was still a young medium. Betty White's,"Life With Elizabeth" was like,"I Love Lucy",a step in the right direction for how women were perceived not only "on" TV but how much say they had behind the scenes.
For a show as simple as this, it's good enough to be noted for Betty White herself and that she was able to be in charge at a time when most women were not.
NINE stars for a significant early accomplishment of it's star.
Rest In Peace Betty...you are greatly missed.