I first saw Betty White on the Hoffman(n) my parents purchased in the early 50's on the Al Jarvis TV show (it had a different name). Her show, Life with Elizabeth was shown in the late afternoon. Two things I remember about LWE was there was a dog they owned who's name was Stormy ant the Thanksgiving show when the "first" turkey slipped off the platter and Elizabeth took it back into the kitchen and brought the "second" turkey to serve everyone. Everyone said it was really lucky that Elizabeth cooked two turkeys. I thought that was really funny because the previous Thanksgiving my grandmother dropped the turkey on the floor and my uncle's Doberman grabbed it and was out the door before anyone could stop him. Great memories of a simpler age. Probably not great television but not bad for then. A strong 7.5 for the era.
16 Reviews
Clever show
lisw6623 January 2014
Thankfully, episodes of this program are available on YouTube so I watched several of them. They exceeded expectations. Betty White and Del Moore had great chemistry; their banter was natural, almost seemed improvised at times. They navigated their scenes together with fine physical comedic skill and cleverly executed exchanges. White, as Elizabeth, was playfully funny, whether miming responses to the narrator (and on screen announcer, Jack Narz) or teasing Moore, who portrays her happily exasperated and expressive husband, Alvin. Writing wasn't bad, actually quite amusing at times, penned in part by veteran screenwriter George Tibbles (best known for his work on My Three Sons). This is clearly a lower budget program, which is to its advantage; there is more reliance on White and Moore to anchor the show. A lone harpist provides the theme music and cute soundtrack moments. Keep in mind that the show was broadcast in the early to mid-50's and has to be appreciated in the context of its time. But it holds up pretty well thanks in no small part to its stars.
Very good show
jashobeam530 January 2007
This is a classic sitcom. The characters are limited in number, and the plot is always simple, but the acting and writing are very good. Most of the episodes revolve around Elizabeth's sense of humor. Her husband is the straight man usually. It is worth watching, unlike many shows today. Some of the characters are never seen including:
* the nosy next door neighbor who watches Elizabeth and Alvin from over the fence.
* Elizabeth's obese mother.
Main characters: Elizabeth: Housewife who is almost always in a good mood. Alvin: Husband who puts up with his wife's constant practical jokes.
Some of the best skits:
Elizabeth buys a lobster, but doesn't have the heart to kill it. Together they release it back into the wild.
Elizabeth schemes to get a new vacuum. She convinces Alvin that the door to door salesman is afraid they are going to kill him, so he buys a vacuum.
Elizabeth agrees to babysit a neighborhood boy, sight unseen. When he arrives he is a college student with a serious crush on Elizabeth.
An old schoolmate drops by making Alvin jealous.
Alvin is out practicing his golf swing in his front yard. He accidentally hits it through a neighbor's car windshield.
Elizabeth makes the local gopher into her pet.
Elizabeth gives Alvin a women's magazine test only to find he fails it. She is worried she is married to a dunce. Turns out Alvin has a trick up his sleeve.
* the nosy next door neighbor who watches Elizabeth and Alvin from over the fence.
* Elizabeth's obese mother.
Main characters: Elizabeth: Housewife who is almost always in a good mood. Alvin: Husband who puts up with his wife's constant practical jokes.
Some of the best skits:
Elizabeth buys a lobster, but doesn't have the heart to kill it. Together they release it back into the wild.
Elizabeth schemes to get a new vacuum. She convinces Alvin that the door to door salesman is afraid they are going to kill him, so he buys a vacuum.
Elizabeth agrees to babysit a neighborhood boy, sight unseen. When he arrives he is a college student with a serious crush on Elizabeth.
An old schoolmate drops by making Alvin jealous.
Alvin is out practicing his golf swing in his front yard. He accidentally hits it through a neighbor's car windshield.
Elizabeth makes the local gopher into her pet.
Elizabeth gives Alvin a women's magazine test only to find he fails it. She is worried she is married to a dunce. Turns out Alvin has a trick up his sleeve.
A comedy of situations . . . and an overlooked gem
bigpurplebear-13 August 2003
Elizabeth appeared to be an ordinary, everyday housewife of her time(the early 50s), and so she was . . . er, aside from the fact that an off-camera announcer regularly led forays to check into the goings-on around her house, of course. And then, come to think of it, she wasn't exactly the docile, unassuming "little woman" that husband Alvin always hoped (against all reason) she'd turn out to be, either.
In a word, she was an imp. She delighted in puncturing Alvin's pomposity, always lovingly, but invariably disastrously.
Introduced each week by harp music, which gave a deceptively tranquil lead-in to what was to follow, "Life With Elizabeth" wasn't a 'situation comedy' -- indeed, that concept had barely been formed at the time; instead, it was a comedy of situations, usually two to each show, individual and unrelated, each of them introduced by the off-camera announcer who then just let events unfold. Once chaos had yet again been firmly established as the order of the day, his voice would be again heard, this time presumably as her conscience: "Elizabeth!" (pause) "Aren't you ashamed?"
She usually gave it a moment's thought before shaking her head impishly.
As with the harp music, the show itself was deceptive in its simplicity, the writing, production and, not least of all, the performances of Betty White and Del Moore who were letter-perfect. Produced by a local Los Angeles TV station (at which White and Moore had been staffers), "Life With Elizabeth" seems to have lived its entire life in syndication.
And Elizabeth kept life from ever becoming dull!
In a word, she was an imp. She delighted in puncturing Alvin's pomposity, always lovingly, but invariably disastrously.
Introduced each week by harp music, which gave a deceptively tranquil lead-in to what was to follow, "Life With Elizabeth" wasn't a 'situation comedy' -- indeed, that concept had barely been formed at the time; instead, it was a comedy of situations, usually two to each show, individual and unrelated, each of them introduced by the off-camera announcer who then just let events unfold. Once chaos had yet again been firmly established as the order of the day, his voice would be again heard, this time presumably as her conscience: "Elizabeth!" (pause) "Aren't you ashamed?"
She usually gave it a moment's thought before shaking her head impishly.
As with the harp music, the show itself was deceptive in its simplicity, the writing, production and, not least of all, the performances of Betty White and Del Moore who were letter-perfect. Produced by a local Los Angeles TV station (at which White and Moore had been staffers), "Life With Elizabeth" seems to have lived its entire life in syndication.
And Elizabeth kept life from ever becoming dull!
Betty was great right from the beginning
earlytalkie23 April 2011
I've been watching Betty White's first sitcom "Life With Elizabeth" and have been enjoying it. It differs from other sitcoms in that each half-hour episode is broken up into three distinct stories. The stories are referred to as "incidents" by Jack Narz, who was the show's announcer. Betty says in her autobiography that this show began as a live production shown locally in the Los Angeles area. It went to film as the series went into national syndication in 1953. The show has the look and sound of having been filmed in front of a studio audience, but, according to Betty, it was filmed like a motion picture in a studio, the finished film then being shown to an audience in a theater to record the laughs and applause. This system seems to have worked fine, as I see no missed timing by the principal players as to the laughs. And I love seeing Betty's little dog in a cameo in the lower screen during the closing credits.
180 Minutes Of My Life ... With "Elizabeth".
happipuppi1311 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
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.
I remember how each episode ended
Rdobrick2 June 2008
I was only a little kid, but this was one of my favorite shows. One device was used to end each episode. The last "vignette" or sketch in each show always degenerated into a big squabble in which all the characters were talking at the same time--nothing could be understood. At that point, Jack Narz, the announcer, would come on as a voice over, exclaiming something like, "Hey! Listen to me!" The squabbling would stop and the characters would look straight into the camera, breaking the "fourth wall." Narz would then say, "Say goodnight to the people." The cast would then say, "Goodnight everybody!" and resume their bickering until the scene dissolved. It was a trademark of the series.
My memories are not exact; after all it HAS been over 50 years.
My memories are not exact; after all it HAS been over 50 years.
Perhaps a little ahead of it's time
buttercup1812 January 2022
This show felt like it was just a step ahead of the times when it was filmed. A bit slow at times but Betty and Dels wit brings it up. With then breaking the fourth wall, something not seen in those days and her not acting like the nimrod some housewives did on tv back then, I feel like she was pushing boundaries. Not to mention she helped create and produce it like a true Maverick she was. And a respectful note to the person who said without her current icon status no one would know about Golden Girls; in 1985, that was the favorite show in our town in our childhood. And you must've missed Mary Tyler Moore show as well. She had a career most only dream of with non-stop fun and creative roles!
Betty White's first sitcom role!
Sylviastel14 February 2014
Betty White is a household name for a reason. In her first series, she played Elizabeth, a newlywed. Much like Lucille Ball's Lucy, Elizabeth gets into plenty of trouble but not like Lucy. Elizabeth is alone most of the time. She has no partner in crime. Except for her husband, Alvin played by Del Moore, the couple don't seem to have interference. The show is broken into three segments. There is an announcer that narrates the show. Betty does her best as with Del Moore with the writing. There just doesn't seem to be a point most of the time. Del's Alvin plays straight guy to Elizabeth. Betty White is charming and smart in this role but her Elizabeth needs something to do besides wait on her husband like a purpose.
Ridiculously wholesome
moonspinner5530 January 2005
Newlyweds Elizabeth and Alvin (Betty White and Del Moore) hardly seem like lovers...they're more like brother and sister. With these painfully low-budget shows, we see glimpses of their house (one episode divided into three "incidents", on one set apiece) and only one or two drops-in per show--these two have very few friends! Betty White is full of verbal shenanigans, cajoling and joshing, and though she's amiable as always, even the in-studio audience leaves some of the corny punchlines alone. This era didn't permit for passion, of course, but there's absolutely no romance in these too-tidy tales of a married twosome. The gimmicks with the announcer ("Hi Elizabeth, what are ya knitting there?") are funny, and White, as noted, is a reassuring presence, but Del Moore is entirely forgettable, as are many of the plots.
A long ago "Life..."
Truman-1120 February 2006
Not the funniest show I've ever seen, but pleasant enough. The scripts are often silly, so-so at best but the star of the show is what makes it shine--Betty White, a real "sweetheart" presented here as a young, newlywed, rather impish version of Gracie Allen. The announcer introduces each episode, even speaks directly to Betty, and at the end prompts the cast to say "Good night." (Attention game show fans: the announcer, who appears on camera a lot, is none other than legendary game show host Jack Narz of "Concentration" and "Now You See It" fame, at the dawn of his career.) At least one video dealer is selling this for a dollar apiece and marketing it as "The Betty White Show," with a synopsis on the back of her short-lived 1977 sitcom that has nothing to do with this 1953-55 first-run syndicated effort.
Betty's Beginnings
bkoganbing10 January 2011
When Betty White did Life With Elizabeth which first brought her to public attention she was 30 years old and the difference between this and her current series Hot In Cleveland where she's a grandmother figure are a Grand Canyon like chasm. I think Betty was lucky to have a career after this one. My first memory of her was as a semi-regular Password celebrity contestant where she eventually married host Allen Ludden. On that she was given a certain amount of freedom and let a nice gem of wit spill out every so often.
Betty certainly got better with age as Golden Girls attests. I confess I had never even heard of this show before seeing several episodes of it on a DVD. If Betty had never attained the icon status she did later on, this show would be still buried in some vault, the original kinescopes decaying away.
Life With Elizabeth one of many imitators of I Love Lucy which flooded Fifties television back in the day. The sets are pretty cheap and only a flash of Betty's personality shines through. She's an ever helpful wife to Del Moore even when he doesn't ask for it. Jack Narz was the announcer of the show and he functioned as a character himself with dialog between him and White going back and forth at the beginning. That's what seems to have set this particular TV comedy apart from the others, but personally I found it distracting.
Nothing special about Life With Elizabeth if it weren't for a future Golden Girl in it.
Betty certainly got better with age as Golden Girls attests. I confess I had never even heard of this show before seeing several episodes of it on a DVD. If Betty had never attained the icon status she did later on, this show would be still buried in some vault, the original kinescopes decaying away.
Life With Elizabeth one of many imitators of I Love Lucy which flooded Fifties television back in the day. The sets are pretty cheap and only a flash of Betty's personality shines through. She's an ever helpful wife to Del Moore even when he doesn't ask for it. Jack Narz was the announcer of the show and he functioned as a character himself with dialog between him and White going back and forth at the beginning. That's what seems to have set this particular TV comedy apart from the others, but personally I found it distracting.
Nothing special about Life With Elizabeth if it weren't for a future Golden Girl in it.
Vignette-style comedy
budikavlan7 March 2003
This was basically a sitcom, told in brief vignettes rather than a full regular sitcom style. There was some similarity to the Jack Benny Program, with an announcer and Betty White talking to the audience at the end of the show. The story was about Elizabeth (White), her husband Alvin, and a few friends and coworkers. The stories were simple, mostly domestic tales, but the tone was rather silly, with much of the comedy centered on certain characters' stupidity. If you see it now, you're unlikely to be bowled over by comedic genius, but it's nice to see a young Betty White.
Another solid '50s "ditzy" wife sit-com
mlevans10 December 2017
When I noticed this show on Betty White's IMDb filmography, I had to see it. Even though I've never been a huge Betty White fan, I've always had to admire her range. I was surprised to find Life With Elizabeth available from Netflix, so I watched three episodes on a DVD. While those three were plenty – at least for one setting, I did get some enjoyment out of the show. Everyone seemed to be eager to follow the I Love Lucy formula for success in the 1950s: A kooky, mildly attractive housewife, her buddy next door and an ever-suffering husband to shake his head knowingly when the wife's schemes inevitably backfired. It worked for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez and for George Burns and Gracie Allen. Joan Davis and Jim Backus also had some success with the formula in I Married Joan. Here, too, it proved effective. Like Burns and Allen, the narrator (Jack Narz) stepped through the "fourth wall" and discussed the "plot" with the characters. While this may seem very disconcerting to modern audiences, it was not at all unusual for the 1950s. White, who turned 30 the show's first season, was a lovable enough young wife, who sometimes used her devilish sense of humor to jab husband Del Moore. Moore and White made a believable and likable young couple, grappling with ordinary everyday situations like whether to plant a tree on the patio, going to a drive-in movie, buying a new vacuum, entertaining an old college friend, etc. I see that she also starred in another, similar sitcom, Date With the Angels, a few years later. I'll have to see if I can find it, too. For anyone interested in the history of the American sitcom or for any big Betty White fans, Life With Elizabeth is a must-see. Just don't expect I Love Lucy.
Sold In Dollar Stores On DVD As "The Betty White Show"
Blooeyz200127 January 2005
I purchased this DVD at The Dollar Store. It has three episodes on it (#'s 4, 6, & 8), & it's digitally remastered & "sound enhanced". Although there's an appropriate 1950's, black & white photo of Betty White on the cover, it says "The Betty White Show" & it gives a synopsis for her short lived 1970's sitcom which also starred ditzy Georgia Engle. So I was expecting "The Betty White Show" from the 70's. Instead I got "Life With Elizabeth" which I never even knew existed. I must admit the picture & sound quality are excellent for a $1.00 DVD! But the shows themselves are corny, forced, & not very funny. They're interesting for nostalgic, pioneering sitcom purposes only, & to see a young, dark-haired Betty White.
So wholesome, you'll barf.
xavrush8920 December 2004
With apologies to the two viewers here who liked the show, I just bought a bare-bones DVD with three episodes at a dollar store, and had the hardest time sitting through them.
Watching these vignettes, I came to have an even greater respect for terrific pioneering shows like "Our Miss Brooks" and especially "The Honeymooners". While the repartee in those shows was fresh and snappy (and still is), LWE's is as stiff and contrived as Betty White's 1950's hairdo. This show tried to portray the title character as a loose cannon, but in fact she didn't stray too far from the Happy Homemaker mold. Even "My Little Margie" was more edgy!
Betty White's appearance was so polished in every episode, I got the feeling her character would look the other way if Alice Kramden came walking past her on the street. (This was an era when as soon as you became a legal adult, you had to dress and act like you were forty.) With her sprayed on smile and oh-so-sweet lilting voice, thank goodness she broke out of it to play the conniving Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" twenty years later. Maybe at the time Betty wanted to appear as pure as possible, after having posed nude for a naughty deck of cards before her acting career took off. Del Moore played the husband, and even though he primarily worked as an announcer in his career, the show still felt the need to have another blandly handsome person introduce the scenes. Go figure.
There was hardly a full laugh in any of the three episodes I watched (#'s 4, 8, and 12), but I was glad I got to see them anyway. One thing I learned is that from the very beginning of her career, White's hair has never moved. It only cost me a buck to find that out.
Watching these vignettes, I came to have an even greater respect for terrific pioneering shows like "Our Miss Brooks" and especially "The Honeymooners". While the repartee in those shows was fresh and snappy (and still is), LWE's is as stiff and contrived as Betty White's 1950's hairdo. This show tried to portray the title character as a loose cannon, but in fact she didn't stray too far from the Happy Homemaker mold. Even "My Little Margie" was more edgy!
Betty White's appearance was so polished in every episode, I got the feeling her character would look the other way if Alice Kramden came walking past her on the street. (This was an era when as soon as you became a legal adult, you had to dress and act like you were forty.) With her sprayed on smile and oh-so-sweet lilting voice, thank goodness she broke out of it to play the conniving Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" twenty years later. Maybe at the time Betty wanted to appear as pure as possible, after having posed nude for a naughty deck of cards before her acting career took off. Del Moore played the husband, and even though he primarily worked as an announcer in his career, the show still felt the need to have another blandly handsome person introduce the scenes. Go figure.
There was hardly a full laugh in any of the three episodes I watched (#'s 4, 8, and 12), but I was glad I got to see them anyway. One thing I learned is that from the very beginning of her career, White's hair has never moved. It only cost me a buck to find that out.
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