If it weren't for the groundbreaking nature of Betty White's hosting role, "Just Men" would be completely forgotten today.

But it did, as you say, give her the opportunity to become the first woman to win an Emmy for hosting a game show, and so the short-lived show entered the history books.

By most accounts it didn't deserve to.

It lasted only three months before being canceled in early 1983, and it was pretty poorly reviewed while it was on. The Washington Post was particularly vicious, calling it "the litmus test for people who think the TV show that can make them physically ill hasn't been invented."

Yes, the show deserves some praise for breaking one particular gender barrier, but it didn't do feminism any other favors.

It was (as you can guess by the title) a battle-of-the-sexes sort of show -- two female contestants competed to guess at questions about the lives of a panel of seven male celebrities. (One very dated question, posed to "WKRP in Cincinnati" star Tim Reid: "Tim, is your mother a swinger?")

Indeed, though she went on to win an Emmy for it, the Post argued that White was "terribly demeaned by this role."

Fortunately, she would go on to fill her awards shelf with more statues for other roles, so she clearly deserves her place in the history books.

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