People who haven’t watched Saturday Night Live for years are raving about last weekend’s Betty White episode.  The masses took control.  They created a Facebook page demanding she get to host.  They promoted the show with reckless abandon through blogs and Twitter.  And then they watched, either live, on Hulu or YouTube.  The reviews were outstanding.  SNL had it’s highest rated show in 18 months.  All thanks to someone’s devotion to an 88 year old TV legend.

So that made me think about some other articles I’ve read recently.  SI had a nice piece on Hank Aaron.  The death of Ernie Harwell brought tributes from across the land.  CNBC continues to replay a great interview with Warren Buffet.  All of a sudden, being old is cool again.  

So what caused this?

It wasn’t long ago when old was synonymous with being almost dead.  An entire generation of new voters rushed to the polls to stop John Mc Cain from getting the keys to the White House.  Bob Dole looked impotent in his race vs Bill Clinton in 1996.  And we all have sheepishly wished bands like Kiss, The Eagles and other legends from the 60’s and 70’s would just stayed retired.

But look what happened when we put all our faith in the “young” generation.  We had a President busted for an affair with an intern.  Another President running around starting wars on a giant credit card.  Our young movie stars are dying of drug overdoses or ending up in jail.  All those hot shot 25 year old CEO’s in 2000 brought the economy to collapse, thanks in part to the 40 year old VC’s.  Then in 2008, the hot shot 35 year old Finance folks brought the economy back to its knees with a derivative debacle.  We put our faith in the young, and have learned the young are a lot like us.  And if we wanted someone like us running the show, well maybe we’d run the show ourselves.

So maybe there’s a new appreciation for the old.  Not ALL the old, but the old who have passed through the past decade with grace and aplomb.  Betty White never went on Celebrity Apprentice.  Hank Aaron didn’t try to regain spotlight during Barry Bonds’ Home Run chase.  Ernie Harwell never hosted Best Damn Sports Show, Cabo Edition.  The kept being classy, and now maybe, the mainstream is leaning back towards classy.

Perhaps, just perhaps, shows like Jersey Shore and the Hills have become tired.  Maybe we’ve grown weary of Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie types.  Could the Octomom and the crazy people from John and Kate plus 8 disgust us?  

So what does that leave us?  For the last 10 years we’ve shunned making stars of what would have been the “new” old to make stars of the young.  So with that void, what we have to fall back on now is the “old” old – at least those who are still alive.  Betty White, Carol Burnett, Dennis Hopper, Sir Alex Ferguson, Vin Scully, hell even Queen Elizabeth is back en vogue.

Anyway, while my data is arguable, my hypothesis is that Betty White on SNL is an indicator that “Old” has made a comeback.  In a world of confusion, we liek to look to those with historical knowledge – not theoretical suppositions – to show us the way.