The Betty White skits you didn't see on 'SNL'

(Courtesy:  NBC.com)

If you caught Betty White's spirited hosting gig on "Saturday" Night Live" over the weekend, you know the spry, dicey, 88-year-old show biz legend "killed," as the comics say.

What you might not know is that White ("killed" means she did very well, by the way) was in three other "SNL" skits that were cut from the show before air time.

I was fortunate enough to be in the audience for "SNL" dress rehearsal a few years back.  Here's how it works.  The cast and guest host actually perform each show twice.

Once for the rehearsal audience, which is ushered out to make room for the live broadcast group (those lucky dogs!) lined up out in the hall at 30 Rock in midtown Manhattan.

Dress rehearsal, which begins at 8 p.m. (Eastern time), is very similar to what repeats for the live NBC feed at 11:30 (Eastern) with one notable exception.

There's usually an extra skit or two that the rehearsal crowd gets to see that never makes it to the aired show for reasons perhaps only co-creator and producer Lorne Michaels knows.

There were three Saturday night, and they all feature Betty White in one form or another.  My favorite is the one featuring former 'SNL' regular Rachel Dratch recreating her Debbie Downer character.  It'll take a while but White does show up in the skit.

Click here for a link to all three unaired Betty White skits.  They're posted on movieline.com.  You'll have to sit through a couple of short on-line commercials.  But it's well worth the wait.