Enlarge By Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images Actress Betty White, 88, will be the oldest host on NBC's long-running late-night show. MARCH TV CALENDAR MARCH TV CALENDAR WHAT'S ON TV TONIGHT? WHAT'S ON TV TONIGHT? Saturday Night Live. Facebook has gotten Betty White the gig she never asked for: host of The 88-year-old actress, beloved by generations of TV fans, will host NBC's late-night veteran May 8. The Mother's Day episode also will feature a reunion of six former female cast members, most of them moms: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch. SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels says he has "always wanted" White to host. "Years ago, I turned it down three times," White says. "It's so New York, and I'm not New York at all. "But my agent said he'd divorce me if I didn't do it, and I love my agent." (That agent, Jeff Witjas, says he was only joking, but "it's perfect timing for her career right now. I said, 'Do it now, or when you're 95.' ") But it wasn't the legacy of White's Emmy-winning roles as the cutting happy homemaker Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show or naive Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls that nabbed her the gig. Nor was it the lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in January, or last year's role as Ryan Reynolds' crazy grandma in The Proposal. It was her appearance in a Super Bowl candy commercial in which she's tackled in the mud by a football player. The spot topped USA TODAY's Ad Meter poll and lit a fuse on a Facebook campaign, where a "Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!" group — started in late December — has attracted nearly half a million members. "It took on a groundswell," Michaels says, loath to admit he was goaded into casting her. "It isn't something we would have said no to," but the campaign "validated that, 'Oh, that'd be fun.' ... It was the outpouring of affection from fans, and we feel the same way." The fan who started it, David Mathews, 29, of San Antonio says he has "never considered myself to be a super fan of anything, but if there was somebody to be a super fan of, it would be Betty White." He's not even a big SNL watcher, but the idea "came up over the holidays" and took hold. "She's been in most of your life, whether you're 70 years old or 17." Michaels says that as the live show's oldest host, she can perform "as much as she wants to do" but adds that the physical demands of the show led him to plan the cast reunion, though make no mistake: White is the solo host. She's flattered and flabbergasted by the attention: "It's lovely, and at my age it's certainly unexpected." And she's not worried about the workload: "I've got so much energy, it's ridiculous. I love working. My schedule is a feverish one, and I'm used to that." White has no children of her own, though she counts her golden retriever, Pontiac, as one. But, Michaels says, "she's the mother of us all in comedy, so it will be a celebration of Betty White." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more