(CNS) Posted Monday January 16, 2012– 9:00am

NBC will pay tribute to Betty White tonight on the eve of her 90th birthday with a 90-minute special, followed by a preview of her new hidden camera series, "Betty White's Off Their Rockers."

Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, Ray Romano, Carol Burnett and Jay Leno will be among those appearing on "Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl," along with her "Mary Tyler Moore" castmates Ed Asner, Valerie Harper and Gavin MacLeod and the co-stars of her Nick at Nite series "Hot in Cleveland," Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Mallick and Jane Leeves.

The special airing from 8-9:30 p.m. includes musical and comedy performances, White being saluted for her devotion to animals and sharing memories of a career that has brought her five prime-time Emmy Awards, most recently in 2010 for hosting "Saturday Night Live."

White said "everybody else is far more excited about the 90 than I am."

"I keep trying to explain, "Don't give me any credit," White said earlier this month during NBC's portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. "I didn't do anything to get to be 90. It just happened. I didn't accomplish anything. It just came up on me."

Born Jan. 17, 1922, in Oak Park, Ill., just outside Chicago, White moved with her family to Southern California as a child and graduated from Beverly Hills High School. She bypassed college to pursue a career in radio and went to television in the 1950s, co-hosting "The Al Jarvis Show," a 5 1/2-hour live daily program on what is now KCOP-TV Channel 13.

"Betty White's Off Their Rockers," which begins at 9:30 p.m., is based on the Belgian series "Benidorm Bastards," which has been adapted in more than 20 other countries. It consists of senior citizens playing pranks on the younger generation and does not have a spot on the NBC schedule.

White said she has asked the producers "to be sure that it's not mean- spirited."

"Things aren't funny if it's mean-spirited," she said.

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