Betty White.

We know. We know. It can seem like most gay men can recite entire lines from memory from The Golden Girls. There's a good reason. From 1985 to 1992 the show took audiences into uncharted territory, occasionally shattering stereotypes about gay men and lesbians, living with HIV/AIDS, and coming out to family members.

The second season of The Golden Girls is set for release on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment May 17, and it features the comedic genius of Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty. An added bonus: George Clooney makes a guest appearance as a Miami cop.

Veteran actress White, who played the deliciously dippy Rose Nylund, spoke to The Advocate about the show's staying power and about another legendary sitcom character she brought to life, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Who are you more like in real life--Rose Nylund or Sue Ann Nivens?

They used to ask Allen [Ludden, the legendary Password host and White's late husband] to make the comparison between me and Sue Ann Nivens when I was doing The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Sue Ann was the perfect homemaker--she could fix anything, she could cook anything. She was also the neighborhood nymphomaniac. Allen would say, "They're the same person, but Betty can't cook." I would say Rose Nylund is a little bit closer to Betty.

They've recently found a group of gay penguins that live in a German zoo. Being a longtime animal rights supporter, are you surprised at the discovery of homosexuality in the animal kingdom?

I hadn't heard about them, but I guess if you dress that formally, then it's all right if you're gay.

What do you make of all the uproar that same-sex marriages have caused?

I have some longtime relationships that I'm very familiar with that are as close as many of the heterosexual marriages that I know. I think it's minding other people's business. So many people seem to have more to say about how other people should run their lives these days, and I don't think they're doing that good a job on their own.

Besides your role on Boston Legal, what else is going on in your life?

I'm a zoo commissioner at the L.A. Zoo, and I've been with the Morris Animal Foundation; we've been headquartered in Denver for 57 years. We fund health studies into specific health problems of dogs, cats, horses, and zoo [animals] and wildlife. I make six trips to Denver per year, so it's a pretty full-time job. I'm doing the two things that I love most--animals and show business--so I can't complain.