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Props to Betty White for Doing This Scene Without Cracking Up

An indoor kitchen scene with wooden cabinetry, a blue tablecloth, and various kitchen items like a microwave and copper pots hanging on the wall.

Golden Girls is comedy gold featuring four of the funniest ladies on television. Watch this hilarious clip of Betty White leaving her costars clutching their sides with laughter after her tale.

An older adult woman in a light blue, patterned blouse with ruffled shoulders and white undershirt, surrounded by books and floral-patterned decor in an indoor home office setting.

Betty White enters the kitchen where Rue McClanahan and Bea Arthur are arguing. White becomes distressed at the two ladies' squabble and sits them down for a chat at the kitchen table.

She said that their feud reminded her of the Great Herring War between two families in Norway who controlled the herring industry. McClanahan and Arthur smirk at this comment – it was not written in the script.

Three women in an indoor setting, possibly a diner or café. One wears a light blue blouse with a wristwatch and bracelet; another sports a brown jacket over white, accessorized similarly; the third dons a bright yellow jacket over pink. Furniture includes wooden chairs and a blue tablecloth.

White continues her story about how the two families could not work together because one wanted to pickle the herring, while the other wanted to train them for a herring circus.

Arthur inquired as to what herring would do in a circus. McClanahan suggested they shot them out of a cannon. With a straight face, White admitted that they had done that once.

Two middle-aged to older adult women in a kitchen setting, wearing light blue button-up shirts and bright yellow cardigans over pink tank tops. One holds a yellow cup and what appears to be a small pink box or package.

McClanahan and Arthur try hard to hold in their laughter. When White mentioned that the one poor herring that was shot from a cannon hit a tree, the two ladies completely lost it.

Pounding the table and howling with laughter, the three women became instant friends. It’s incredible to think that the entire Great Herring War anecdote was completely improvised by Betty White!