TV Land Signs the Hottest Woman in Town... Betty White to Star in the Network's New Sitcom Series 'Hot in Cleveland'

NEW YORK, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- TV Land announced today that it has signed Emmy® Award-winning and audience-adored actress Betty White to star in the highly-anticipated TV Land PRIME Original sitcom "Hot in Cleveland" scheduled to premiere in June.  Betty White will take on the role of the snarky but lovable Elka Ostrovsky, property caretaker of the home that co-stars - Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick - rent after their plane makes an emergency landing in Cleveland and they decide to stay.  "Hot in Cleveland" is written by Emmy® Award-winning Suzanne Martin ("Frasier," "Ellen") and is produced by Emmy® Award-winner Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace") and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions.  "Hot in Cleveland," a TV Land PRIME original production has been picked up for ten episodes and is the network's first venture into scripted comedy series.

"The talented Betty White is the finishing touch to this outstanding sitcom ensemble," states Larry W. Jones, president, TV Land. "Betty's illustrious career spans more than 60 years and makes her one of Hollywood's most iconic and sought after actresses in television today.  Her lively role as Elka in 'Hot in Cleveland' is what viewers love to see from her - an amazing sense of timing and fantastic comedy genius.  We are confident audiences will love her in this project, TV Land's first foray into scripted television."

One of television's most beloved and talented actresses, whose career has spanned over 60 years, Emmy® Award-winning actress Betty White is best known for her roles in the classic sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and the beloved series "The Golden Girls."  White won an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for the first season of "The Golden Girls" and was nominated every year of the show's run.  The series ran from 1985 to 1992 on NBC.  White has also guest-starred on a number of television programs including "Ally McBeal," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "That 70s Show" and won an Emmy® in 1996 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, appearing as herself on a memorable episode of "The John Laroquette Show."  White had a recurring role in ABC's "Boston Legal" from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on "The Practice" in 2004.  Most recently, White appeared in the 2009 major motion picture, "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. In January 2010, White was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

"Hot in Cleveland" revolves around three fabulous, LA women of a certain age and best friends (Bertinelli, Leeves and Malick).  Their lives are changed forever when their plane – headed for Paris – unexpectedly lands in Cleveland and they soon rediscover themselves in this new "promised land."  Loving their new home, the women find themselves living under one roof and battling the sassy caretaker of the property they have rented, played by Betty White.  

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SOURCE TV Land