Betty White Show Canceled By NBC

The hidden-camera show, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, has been canceled by NBC for low ratings after two seasons.

Hosted by actress/comedienne Betty White, the series featured seniors pranking young people. NBC launched the show last year as part of White’s 90th birthday celebration. It had a 12-episode run in early 2012 and was renewed for 14 episodes, the last of which aired on Tuesday night.

Apparently the practical joke show simply “got old.”

Off Their Rockers started strong, but ratings began to decline, Deadline Hollywood reports: “When NBC unveiled the show in April 2012. the reality series clocked 12 million viewers and a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demo, though it quickly settled in lower than that. In its second season, the show averaged about 5.3 million viewers and a 1.5. On Tuesday, the season finale was down 33% in the demo compared with the year season before, though up 25% from July 2?s series low.” The Candid Camera send-up this year averaged only a 1.5 rating in the key 18-49 demo that is sought after by advertisers, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

In April, Betty White was named “America’s most appealing celebrity” by a marketing research firm.

White, who is currently starring on the successful TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, is currently in her seventh decade in show business. Her career began back in 1939 when she and a high-school classmate performed songs from The Merry Widow at a TV station in Los Angeles.

She is perhaps most recognizable for her roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls, but her career has recently gained steam once again thanks largely to cameo appearances in popular films and TV shows as well as her bawdy sense of humor, along with her Saturday Night Live hosting gig in 2010.

Variety notes that Off Their Rockers could conceivably be brought back by NBC for a special now and then, however.

Were you a fan of Off Their Rockers?