Betty White, furry friends star in 50-year-old TV show ‘Pet Set’
William Byron hadn’t even cracked the top 20 the first two weeks, but pulled away late to pick up his second career NASCAR Cup win in the Dixie Vodka 400 in Homestead.
On a TV show Betty White hosted 50 years ago, the perpetual charmer flirts with James Brolin, teases Della Reese and trades quips with Carol Burnett.
But White appears most delighted in the company of the real stars of “Betty White’s
Pet Set,” among them elephants, lions and snakes. And dogs – lots of dogs.
“All I can say is, Charlie Brown is right: Happiness is a warm puppy,” a beaming
White says in one episode, cuddling a pair of tiny brown pooches as she quotes the Peanuts comic strip character.
She and her husband, the late game show host Allen Ludden, produced the 39-episode series (originally titled “The Pet Set”) that aired in syndication in 1971 and was released recently on DVD and streaming and digital platforms after a laborious restoration process.
Making the show was strictly a labor of love for the Emmy-winning star of “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” who, at age 99, has retained her affection and compassion for animals.
“When Allen and I started our own production company so many years ago, the one show I wanted to do was ‘The Pet Set,’” White told the Associated Press. “Allen’s offices were the most exciting in the building because we were the only show pre-screening guests who were furry and four-legged.”
“What a time! It remains one of my favorite shows even 50 years later,” White said in a statement.
White, a longtime advocate for animal wellbeing and conservation, reveled in doing a show with her husband and friends that focused on her passion for animals, said TV producer and distributor Darren Wadyko, whose company shepherded the re-release.
Her celebrity pals were invited to bring their pets and get the chance to meet wild animals – sometimes to the guest’s dismay. Reese (“Touched By An Angel”) looked askance at White when she tried to coax her closer to a leopard, and Jim Nabors (“Gomer Pyle”) did likewise when a snake was involved.
Burnett initially hesitated when called on for the messy task of bottle-feeding a baby elephant, but then the formula and the quips flow. “These Playtex Nursers, you can’t beat ‘em,” she says.
White, however, was fearless, especially in
encounters filmed at a Southern California training compound that provided animals for TV and movies. At one point, she’s seen snuggling with a 500-pound lion.
Other guests include Doris Day, Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Reynolds, Michael Landon and game show host Peter Marshall, who was interviewed for a documentary about the series that’s part of the DVD set.
“It’s fun to look back that many years, and how pretty we all were,” Marshall said with a laugh.
The show’s revival began when White’s longtime agent, Jeff Witjas, asked Wadyko if he could locate the episodes. After what Wadyko termed “a virtual Indiana Jones expedition,” it turned out copies were housed at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills and in White’s own Los Angeles-area home.
The tapes were restored, digitized and color-corrected, with the final version cobbling together the best parts of each set to create a pristine version, Wadyko said, a process that took more than six months.
The series is available to stream on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play and Fandango Now, with more platforms expected to be added by distribution partners Darren Wadyko Media, White’s Albets Enterprises and the MPI Media Group.
Wadyko, who produced 2015’s “Betty White’s Smartest Animals in America,” said he’s eager to see her reaction to the reborn “Pet Set,” pandemic safety allowing.
He and Witjas are planning to “present her with the wonderful DVD and spend a little time watching it with her. But that event has not happened yet,” he said.
William Byron always here’s his crew chief Rudy Fugle repeat the phrase “Make it live.”
“It’s a Tony Hirschman thing for me,” Fugle explained. “It usually means you’re leading and you’re pulling away. You just ride beneath the tires and just deal with anything that comes your way.”
Byron did exactly that over the final 57 laps, steadily maintaining and increasing his lead until he crossed under the checkered flag by a comfortable margin to win Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Byron, who led a race-high 102 laps out of 267, took the lead for good after Lap 210 and toward the end cruised to his second victory in a NASCAR Cup Series race and his first at the Homestead track.
Byron’s only other win came in the regular-season finale at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 last year in Daytona.
“We just had to keep adjusting on the car,” Byron said. “We had a really good restart on the last one and the car was just good enough. It’s cool when you have cars like that and make moves like that. This track is really fun.”
A tight pack of four drivers crossed the finish line behind Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick
Motorsports Axalta Chevrolet led by runner-up Tyler Reddick, who just missed becoming the third consecutive first-time winner to open the Cup Series season — something that hasn’t happened since NASCAR’s inaugural season in 1949.
Reddick edged Martin Truex Jr., who was followed by Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick, who jockeyed for higher places over the final 10 laps. Michael McDowell, who won the Daytona 500 two weeks ago, finished sixth. Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 in that order.
Byron surged from his starting point at No. 31 all the way to victory just one week after a frustrating 33rd-place finish
at the Daytona road course and two weeks after placing 26th at the Daytona 500.
It was the 23-year-old from Charlotte’s first victory since Fugle became his crew chief.
“The work and the effort goes back a long way,” Byron said. “We really think the same way.
“It has a lot to do with offseason prep.”
Byron’s previous best finish on the Homestead track was ninth. His prior best finish on a 1.5-mile track was eighth.
It was Byron’s second Cup Series victory in 111 career starts.
Byron advanced up to second place by Lap 57 and, after restarting third at Lap 160, he capitalized and took the lead when Truex got caught up racing for the position with Denny Hamlin to pick up the Stage 2 victory — the fifth of his career.
After losing the lead briefly under caution at Lap 201, Byron recovered and reclaimed the lead for good nine laps later. His victory in Stage 2 was his fifth career stage win in a Cup race.
“I wasn’t concerned we were gonna struggle on 1.5-mile courses, and I wasn’t concerned that I hadn’t had the finishes here because I have had success here before with the trucks and in Cup,” Byron said.
Hamlin went from being the pole-sitter to dropping back to the rear to start due to a pre-race penalty after his No. 11 car was found to have unapproved adjustments after pre-race inspection.
Hamlin worked his way into the top 10 later in the race and was as high as sixth before committing a pit road speeding infraction that pushed him down the standings again. Hamlin finished 11th.
The race had 19 lead changes among nine drivers.
Joey Logano opened in front and led for the first 12 laps until Ford teammate Brad Keselowski overtook him. He led for 41 laps until Chris Buescher overtook him and held the advantage to
win Stage 1. It was Buescher’s second career stage win and surpassed his career-high for laps led in a Cup Series race. Buescher, driving the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, led for 21 laps over the first 80 and finished 20th.
Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, led briefly after Lap 89, but finished 14th. Christopher Bell, last week’s Daytona Road Course winner, finished 21st.
Daniel Suarez, the 29-year-old driver for Trackhouse Racing Team co-owned by Miami’s own Pitbull, finished 15th. For Suarez, who is of Mexican heritage, it was his best finish in a Cup Series race since he placed 14th at Homestead-Miami in November 2019 at the Ford EcoBoost 400. Suarez also finished 16th last week at the Daytona road course.