The Road to SNL?

My girl Betty is finally getting her due and hosting SNL. Think she'll be up to the task?



While young folks today seem to get the idea that she popped up out of nowhere as the new "Cool Nana," those of us who've grown up with her know that she's always been a sugar-coated firecracker.

In the '70s, the producers of the Mary Tyler Moore show capitalized on her sugary sweet delivery of jaw-dropping zingers:



Even back in the 80's the king of late night television got that Betty could and would do bawdy at the drop of a hat:



In the late '80s and early 90's, as Rose Nylund she could make even made up Swedish words sound not-so-vaguely naughty:

In the late '90s she more than held her own with the young, uber-hipsters of Ally McBeal:

And in the first nine years of the 21st century, she's done a string of turns on popular television, up to and including Boston Legal:

She's been a guest star for such cultural icons as Carol Burnett and the Jacksons,

She's beloved of daytime hosts over the decades from Merv Griffin to Bonnie Hunt to Ellen:

While she's been on Sajak, Leno and George Lopez...

... no late night host since Johnny Carson has used her more or better than Craig Ferguson:

So, while I'm grateful that Lorn Michaels finally got off his duff and invited her to host SNL, I really do wonder what in the heck took him so long??? (And I'm betting they get some of their best ratings ever when she does.)

You go, girlfriend!