(Thumbnail image: Saturday Night Live)

“And now I’m here tonight because you wanted me to be.  I really just want to say I feel so loved. Thank you. If I could I would take you all on a big hay ride.  Starting with you sir.  No not you…you.”

After half a million fans campaigned on Facebook to have the comedy legend grace the SNL stage, their wish was granted — Betty White hosted SNL.

CBS's Richard Schlessinger says the hosting gig catapulted her to new heights — while reaching a new generation of adoring fans.

 
CAST - “Live from New York.  It’s Saturday Night.”

SCHLESINGER - “And with those words three generations agreed on one thing.  One woman, 88 years old, is the 'it' girl du jour.  Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live, a show invented by people young enough to be her children but still enjoyed by people who could be her grandchildren.”
 
But a writer for USA Today was less than impressed with the highly anticipated appearance saying it was Betty White overload.
 
“Surely after the first dozen times she says 'lesbian' or makes some sexual reference or gets bleeped out for cursing, the routine begins to lose some of its punch.”
 

A writer for BuzzTab agrees — sort of.  The entertainment site blames the show, not the "Golden Girl" herself.

 
“It was a mediocre 90 minute show that can be made a little better with careful choice of the material accompanied to 88 years old forever young 'Golden Girl'…Betty White was not meant for blue jokes and again blue jokes.”

Betty White pokes fun at Facebook in her opening skit, but an anchor on Fox News points out it's the social media site that got her on the SNL stage.
 
WHITE: “But I really have to thank Facebook.  When I first heard about the campaign to get me to host Saturday Night Live, I didn’t know what Facebook was and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.”

Anchor: “Facebook was really behind the whole wave of Betty White support.  She had that Superbowl commercial and it kind of launched her back into superstardom, not that she’s ever gone away, but she really resurged.”
 
But in the end, a correspondent on MSNBC says White could do no wrong — the laughs just kept on coming.

 
“She killed it.  She was amazing, she really gave young Hollywood a run for its money, I mean she’s 88 and a half years old and she was in every scene, she didn’t flub one line, and she was hysterical throughout.”
 
So what do you think?  Was Betty White’s performance worth all the hype?  Or did it fall flat?  We'll leave you with a montage of some Betty White's SNL moments.

GASTEYER: "Young woman you get that fish out of my parlor, what has gotten into you?"
WHITE: "She's a lesbian"

FEY: "How many people live at this residence?"
WHITE: "Uh...zero"
FEY: "You don't live here?"
WHITE: "Oh including me?...three."