Review of Episode Three of "Hot in Cleveland."

This week's episode of Hot in Cleveland saw the four women attempting to find the perfect man for each other via setting a blind date. Although Elka found her perfect match (played by Carl Reiner,) each of the other women were faced with some rather unfortunate dates. Joy found herself in a date with a man the other two thought was a murderer, Victoria found herself with a man with unfortunately large breasts, and Melanie found herself with a man unable to cope with his wife's death (a fact not helped by the fact that she bears a striking resemblance to said wife.)

Again, one of the strongest points of the series continues to be its razor-sharp comedy and the excellent timing and delivery by all four of the actresses. Although Betty White has some of the best timing in the business, I have to say that the other three are equally capable of delivering a zinger. Perhaps most importantly, the four women have an ability to mesh with one another in their delivery and in the jokes that make the audience feel as if they're watching women who are actually friends, rather than actresses portraying women who are friends.

It is precisely this chemistry that gives this show the power that it does, and that makes it bear such a striking resemblance to that other gem in Betty White's television crown, The Golden Girls. Again, what we have here are four women who, in the eyes of the broader world (especially the shallow world of Los Angeles,) are beyond their sexual prime and systematically devalued because of that. However, the show gives them opportunity to join together in a powerful bond of female friendship that has proven to be so rare among television offerings in the past few years. Even Elka, who has a waspish tongue and was originally rather cold toward her new charges, has come to be something of a matriarch, filling in the role occupied by Sophia in the show's predecessor The Golden Girls. Although these four women might bicker with one another about small issues, in the end they are able to find strength through their friendships with one another.

So, what can we expect from future episodes of this surprisingly popular new series? Rumor has it that Betty White has only signed up for the first season, and I very much fear that the series may struggle a bit if she doesn't come back for the second season. This is not to belittle the talent of the other three; it is merely to point out that part of what makes the series so appealing is the obvious chemistry between the four women. Removing one element of that chemistry may very well impact Hot in Cleveland the same way that Bea Arthur's departure negatively impacted The Golden Girls. However, it is still reasonably certain that the network will renew the series for a second season, if only because it has prove to be so popular. And who knows, this could be the beginning of a beautiful thing for TV Land.