Date with the Angels

"A Date with the Angels" has nothing to do with either taking your best girl to the movies or the world of the hereafter. The star of the series is the lovely and talented Betty White, who carries this otherwise forgettable show on her back.

The premise is of the type...Vicki Angel (Betty White) is your seemingly average, everyday housewife. Her husband, Gus Angel (Bill Williams), is an insurance agent. For the most part, his role is limited to acting bewildered by the whacky situations and misunderstandings caused by his kooky wife. While derivitive of other such programs ("I Married Joan," "December Bride" and of course the heavyweight of 'em all, "I Love Lucy"),"Date with the Angels" at least has the delightful Betty White, who dares you to tune out when she's onscreen.

Side note: Bill Williams, whose Gus Angel is rather passive, was a rugged hero to the nation's kids in the weekly western series "The Adventures of Kit Carson" from 1951 - 54.

Betty White undertook this series after her first sitcom "Life With Elizabeth" folded. Betty herself, in her autobiography describes the extant episodes as "run-of-the-mill", but I think even she is underrating this funny show. The situations are funny, and it is obvious that the writers were striving to make the show a little bit different from the plethora of family sitcoms around at the time. Several shows are set in places other than the home to give the show some scope. There is a wonderful segment set entirely on a boardwalk amusement park with a rich list of character actors along for the ride. The finale of this segment has no dialouge, just pantomime and background music. It works well. Betty White sings in several of these shows on my DVD and my only question is why didn't she sing more on her other series? She has a beautiful singing voice that is one of the pleasant surprises of this fine series.

This woman has more television history than most women and her acting style is never burlesque or over the top. But man is she ever always believable. I caught this on-line or I might not have even known this show existed. With guest stars like Burt Mustin (whom I think was NEVER young) this show delivers in the subdued fifties style of the sitcom but never hits a proverbial home run (which is probably why I never heard of it before.) Still, it is a funny show and a good time capsule piece with silliness at a level 8 at least.

Also a very important side-note in that Bill Williams not only played Kit Carson, but is himself directly related to two other TV performers of note. His son i William Katt who was "The Greatest American Hero" and his wife is Barbara Hale whom is even more famous as Perry Mason's confidant, lover and all around girl Friday.

Betty White's second sitcom is about newlyweds, Gus and Vicki Angel, who live in Los Angeles, California. Unlike her first show, "Life with Elizabeth," this show has more interaction with outside characters. If you thought Betty White was a riot on Life with Elizabeth, you will love her as Vicki Angel here. The fifties' sitcoms were more light hearted and fair despite the obvious restraint during the time period. Betty White was still gorgeous and smart and affable here. Although her female characters tend to shy away from motherhood which I don't understand. Betty White would have been a terrific mother if she had given it a try. As the wife in both sitcoms, she was the equal to her husband's character even if not the breadwinner. She manages to convey comedy and intelligence into her performances. Betty White is a class act who is still acting on television and film. She should be honored with a Kennedy Center Honors and a National Medal of the Arts. She would have been awarded Damehood in England so it's time that she got the same recognition here in her country.