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To call Betty White a veteran actor is no exaggeration. She has been involved in the entertainment industry from the time television was experimental, in the late 1930s.

Since that time, White, born in 1922, has been a television fixture.

The Golden Girls star revealed her favorite television program in a recent interview. When someone who’s practically a founding mother of television talks about her favorite show, we’re listening.

Betty White
Betty White | Vincent Sandoval/WireImage

White’s favorite program is a game show

Betty White, far left contestant podium, as Rose Nylund on 'Jeopardy!' in an episode of 'The Golden Girls'
Betty White, far left contestant podium, as Rose Nylund on ‘Jeopardy!’
in an episode of ‘The Golden Girls’ |
Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

In a Sept. 2020 conversation with Variety, the Hot in Cleveland star shared that her preferred television program isn’t a soap opera, drama, or even a comedy. It’s a game show.

“I’m an avid Jeopardy! fan. I try to watch as often as I can!,” she told Variety in Sept. 2020 via email. 

It helps that she happens to find the show’s host, Alex Trebek, easy on the eyes. White, who was married to game show host Allen Ludden until his death in 1981, told The New York Post in 2018 of her friendship – and fondness for – Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.

“I watch Jeopardy! First, it’s such a good game and second, I happen to have a huge crush on the host, Alex Trebek. But I don’t watch much TV.”

And Betty White is Alex Trebek’s pick for his replacement on ‘Jeopardy!’

Betty White (left) and Alex Trebek in 1986
Betty White (left) and Alex Trebek in 1986 | Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Alex Trebek reciprocates Betty White’s affection for him and his program. The two have been good friends for years.

“When people ask me who I’d like to see replace me, I say, ‘Well, it’s probably going to be a woman, and she’ll have to be bright, she’ll have to have a good sense of humor…’ Uhhh, let’s see… Betty White! Betty White is my choice,” Trebek said at a Television Critics Association tour in January 2020.

He repeated his recommendation in a conversation with Good Morning America in July 2020 saying, “I say Betty White. They want somebody younger, somebody funnier, she checks all those boxes. Betty and I have been friends for a long, long time.”

Betty White was a game show star throughout her career

From left to right: Betty White; her husband and host of 'Password,' Allen Ludden; and Frank Gifford on 'Password' in 1967
From left to right: Betty White; her husband and host of ‘Password,’ Allen Ludden; and Frank Gifford on ‘Password’ in 1967 | CBS via Getty Images
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Betty White’s notable television career has featured several standard-setting series including Life With Elizabeth, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and of course, The Golden Girls alongside Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty.

Her game show experience is nearly as impressive as her acting resume, with appearances throughout the years on shows including Hollywood Squares, Password, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, What’s My Line?, and I’ve Got A Secret.

“I started out as an actress in the business,” White told the Archive of American Television in 1997, “but then I did game shows and talk shows. I became a ‘television personality.’ So everybody was so surprised. ‘Why, Betty can act, isn’t that amazing?’”

In her 1995 book Here We Go Again, the animal rights activist explained that her love for game shows got started in 1949 with her appearance on a program called Grab Your Phone.

“It was my first and served as the precursor to countless TV games I would be playing through the years,” she wrote. “You name it, I’ve played it. Not just because I was hired to do so, but because it was so much fun. Still is.”

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