Betty White and Ed Helms: Silly and sweet

It's always a treat to open up the newspaper and see Betty White's smiling face.

Susan King did a very nice profile of Betty for the Los Angeles Times, tied to her role in "The Proposal," and it features a fantastic photo that captures Betty's joie de vivre. (It looks great in color online.) As readers of this blog know, the mere sight of Betty White makes me happy -- and I'm not alone. America loves Betty White. Long may she reign....

... A performer who is cut from the same cloth as Betty (friends say he's nice, normal, utterly decent and very talented) is starting to get his due as a comedy comer with the success of "The Hangover."

Ed Helms spared a few minutes for me on the phone last week in between his promo blitz in London for "Hangover" to talk about that pic, as well as his own backstory, from his youth in Atlanta to becoming a "Daily Show" correspondent to landing a plum job on "The Office."

The Nard-dog rules!

(Pictured right, Ed Helms mugs at the "Hangover" premiere with co-stars Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper and Heather Graham)