Golden Girls: Classic or Dud?

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Of course Bea Arthur is the one gets all the hipster name-drops but Betty White is the true LIFE-FORCE of the show. Obviously.

Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 12 April 2003 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)

What about Rue McClanahan or whatever? That's totally going to be me when I'm like 90.

Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought that was you now.

*ducks*

jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 12 April 2003 01:54 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.mariasducktales.com/FaithBabiesParade.jpg

Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 12 April 2003 01:59 (twenty-two years ago)

What about Rue McClanahan or whatever? That's totally going to be me when I'm like 90.

No on both counts, 'cause she gets boring and icky when locked on earnest-mode.

Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 12 April 2003 02:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I don't like the earnest-mode, you're right. There's like this Hester Prynne syndrome going on all the time in sitcoms, the slutty characters always have to have big earnest-mode moments to make up for it. I say bring on the bawdiness, enough of this repentance.

Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 02:05 (twenty-two years ago)

i thought that was you now.
*ducks*

Well, now we know who would make a great Sophia

donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 03:34 (twenty-two years ago)

..except jess would have to morph his dirty metaphors into Sicilian cuisine...

donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 03:35 (twenty-two years ago)

BEA ARTHUR!!! (the usual disclaimers apply)

Douglas (Douglas), Saturday, 12 April 2003 03:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Are you nominating yourself as Bea Arthur? I hope so cos then we'd only need a Betty White to complete the ILxor Golden Girls.

Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 03:38 (twenty-two years ago)

nonono--my brush with stardom is that Bea Arthur is actually a second cousin of mine (grandmother's niece)!

Douglas (Douglas), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm amazed that rosemary has yet to post to this thread.

hstencil, Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

my mother got furious with me when i was twelve and i started using the word 'slut' in conversation. the source? sophia => "i'm not going to be seen talking to that ignorant slut!"

i love how betty white's (character's) husband had a heart attack during sex! i mean, what are the odds?

Dave M. (rotten03), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I love how you deliniated between Betty White and her character there! It made me larf.

Bea Arthur kicks ass. LITERALLY - I have shared my Bea Arthur story, yes? SHE KNOCKED ME ON MY ASS!

Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:17 (twenty-two years ago)

hstencil, I've only just seen this thread NOW.

The best episode ever was where Bea Arthur did Jerry Orbach.

rosemary (rosemary), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, Bea Arthur body slammed me on the street, she's my arch nemesis, she doesn't deserve Jerry Orbach.

Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Bea Arthur doing Jerry Orbach sounds to me like something bound to induce COMPLETE AND TOTAL rosemary SHUTDOWN. I mean, how could you even continue to function after knowing these two idols, nay, MODELS FOR LIVING got it on?

hstencil, Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Did they talk about the Threepenny Opera afterwards, I wonder.

What happened to the gay cook they had on the first epsiode? Did he run off to live with Chuck Cunningham or something?

rosemary (rosemary), Saturday, 12 April 2003 05:59 (twenty-two years ago)

bea arthur plus jerry orbach =

http://www.nexusdomain.org/pics/misc/BIG%20BANG!.jpg

Dave M. (rotten03), Saturday, 12 April 2003 06:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Bea Arthur on her fellow cast members: "One was lovely, one was wonderful, the other was a fucking cunt"

Said fucking cunt was Betty White. Bea apparently once shat in Betty's shoe - which is another reason WHY I LOVE HER

j0e (j0e), Saturday, 12 April 2003 11:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic. One of the most well crafted sitcoms ever and perfect comfort telly. Bea/Dorothy may have the anchor of the show, but Betty/Rose was the real star. Is anyone in a position to elaborate on the alleged feud between Bea and Betty?

Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Saturday, 12 April 2003 13:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I dunno if this show was a classic, but it was a lot closer to it than... er... Brighton Belles.

Those who have forgot/blanked it out or are outside the UK are quite privileged.

So Bea had *sex* with Jerry Orbach? Have I got that right? I didn't see that. I thought for a second 'did' meant she impersonated him... which I somehow didn't find remotely surprising...

ChristineSH (chrissie1068), Saturday, 12 April 2003 13:19 (twenty-two years ago)

It was classic except when it was being nice. Fortunately, when it did start getting sweet and sentimental, there were always characters to undercut it, so mostly real good.

Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 12 April 2003 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the common misconceptions re. The Golden Girls was that it was so "nice", anodyne and twee. In fact the repartee between the "girls" was often surprisingly spiky and sharp. I think my favourite episode was when an old friend of Dorothy came to stay, came out as a lesbian and fell in love with Rose.

Ben Mott (Ben Mott), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

"Not if you were hanging upside-down from a trapeze, Blanche!"

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

"Not even if you were hanging upside-down from a trapeze, Blanche!"

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

classic. It's disturbing to realize I was possibly introduced to the concept of sex by four elderly nymphomaniacs.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Did you close your eyes and think of bunnies?

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't understand why bunnies would be preferable to elderly comediennes.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Bunnies aren't as leathery and giggle less.

Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 12 April 2003 16:53 (twenty-two years ago)

THAT'S QUITE ENOUGH

Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 12 April 2003 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Finally, a place where I can freely express my draw to the Bea Arthur mystique. Is there an E! True Hollywood Story about the Golden Girls? If not, there really should be. (arthur) heh heh...eh.

Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Saturday, 12 April 2003 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Jeanne, will this do?

rosemary (rosemary), Saturday, 12 April 2003 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Pictures you'd like to see:

Bea Arthur in drag---as a woman

Skottie, Sunday, 13 April 2003 06:00 (twenty-two years ago)

From The Glossary of Literary Terms:

"The Old Comedy of the Greeks had three stock characters whose interactions constituted the standard plot: the alazon, or imposter and self-deceiving braggart, the eiron, or self-derogatory and understating character, whose contest with the alazon is central to the comic plot; and the bomolochos, or buffoon, whose antics add an extra comic element....Northrop Frye has revived these old terms [and] added a fourth, the agroikos -- the rustic or easily deceived character."

Obviously: Alazon = Blanche; Eiron = Dorothy; Bomolochos = Sophia; Agroikos = Rose

jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 13 April 2003 07:02 (twenty-two years ago)

"Danny Thomas is a lesbian?!?"

Colin Meeder (Mert), Monday, 14 April 2003 09:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm sorry Bea Arthur battered Ally, but she still totally rocks my world!

Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 14 April 2003 12:05 (twenty-two years ago)

She threw me to the ground! She might as well have spit on me, the old bitty bitch!

Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 14 April 2003 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Why was she so enraged? Did you bring up the Star Wars xmas special?

Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 14 April 2003 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
More, please.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 August 2004 21:34 (twenty years ago)

Classic! Was this the first TV series to star older women exclusively? Has there been one ever since? Older actresses don't get that much respect, they're usually offered only the granny/matriarch roles, and they definitely don't get to talk about sex. As mainstream TV is concerned, Golden Girls was groundbreaking indeed.

Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 2 August 2004 21:48 (twenty years ago)

I already said classic on the Lifetime thread, but I'll say it again. In fact, I'm watching it right now.

AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 2 August 2004 21:50 (twenty years ago)

Someone at work yesterday made a hipster "Bea Arthur" reference and no one laughed. I informed the sad fellow that Rue McClanahan was the new Bea Arthur.

Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 2 August 2004 21:52 (twenty years ago)

"Golden Girls" was "Sex and the City" -- fifteen years ahead of its time. Think about it.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 00:35 (twenty years ago)

It says the same thing on the IMDb Golden Girls user comments, Barry. I call shenanigans.

AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 00:57 (twenty years ago)

Complete and utter CLASSIC!!! One of the few reasons to even get out of bed in the morning.

scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 01:18 (twenty years ago)

Golden. Sex and the City cannot hold a candle to it. Also one of the only funny things on SNL in the past x years was the golden girls skit.

artdamages (artdamages), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 01:53 (twenty years ago)

Ha, I hadn't seen the comments on IMDb, but I did figure that I couldn't hae been the first person to make that connection.

Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 04:10 (twenty years ago)

I liked watching it for Sophia, but also it was funny how they rarely left the house except to get the mail or something.

Joseph Pot (STINKOR™), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 14:20 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...
* *GOLDEN GIRLS Season 3 DVD*


The Girls Are Back!

Cast DVD Signing for the Emmy-Award Winning TV Series
at Barnes & Noble in NYC November 22nd

WHO: "Golden Girls" cast: Bea Arthur, Betty White, and Rue McClanhan

WHAT: America's favorite girls are together again to celebrate the
release of the GOLDEN GIRLS Season 3 on DVD with an in-store
signing. Fans can now enjoy another helping of laughter,
misadventures, and cheesecake with this laugh-filled season of
the Emmy-Award winning TV sitcom -- all 25 episodes in this new
complete DVD set. Included are the original and unedited
"Golden Moments" episode where the girls share fond memories of
their times together, plus hilarious bonus features that prove
good comedy never grows old.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 22, 12:30 - 2:30PM

WHERE: Barnes & Noble Booksellers
675 6th Avenue (6th and 22nd)
New York, NY 10010

Be4 4rhtur ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 21:03 (nineteen years ago)

And I don't think the murder mystery episode is anywhere near the best of the lot, but like I said, not a whole lot separates the great GG eps from the non-great ones.

a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Monday, 15 September 2014 19:52 (ten years ago)

six months pass...

So, am I to buy my first LEGOs since I was 6?

Eric H., Wednesday, 8 April 2015 14:37 (ten years ago)

ten months pass...

Apparently the new Animal Collective song samples some GG dialogue, but I still don't want to listen to it.

pitchforkian at best (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 17 February 2016 20:45 (nine years ago)

two weeks pass...

Oral history.

rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Saturday, 5 March 2016 04:15 (nine years ago)

six months pass...

The Golden Girls puppet show runs through Dec. 11 at DR2 Theatre

PappaWheelie V, Friday, 30 September 2016 20:47 (eight years ago)

http://dlisted.com/2016/10/03/open-post-hosted-by-the-only-thing-i-want-for-christmas/

Οὖτις, Monday, 3 October 2016 21:36 (eight years ago)

two months pass...

maybe you want this for Christmas too

https://twitter.com/keithuhlich/status/811685290305789952

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 21 December 2016 21:54 (eight years ago)

four months pass...

Golden Girls Clue

some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Friday, 19 May 2017 14:15 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

Bea doll appears to be throwing the gaze she did after knocking over Allyzay

http://mentalfloss.com/article/551922/the-golden-girls-action-figures-neca-comic-con

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 7 August 2018 17:06 (six years ago)

two months pass...

Now in cereal form!

https://thetakeout.com/share-this-golden-girls-cereal-with-a-pal-or-a-confidan-1829974755

Timothée Charalambides (cryptosicko), Thursday, 25 October 2018 06:01 (six years ago)

I tasted a piece. It was dry and tasteless.

I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:05 (six years ago)

like ILX wit

You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:07 (six years ago)

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-09/1/10/enhanced/webdr08/anigif_enhanced-32687-1441116940-14.gif

I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:20 (six years ago)

https://media.giphy.com/media/tcXc0LOuZcGzK/giphy.gif

You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:22 (six years ago)

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tN2MCoJ9K0/WzTcT_rdTEI/AAAAAAAAjVY/qQFQ8zYPCacughpdEYSJVT9nAb557HWNQCLcBGAs/s400/giphy.gif

I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:34 (six years ago)

there's a whole bunch of them, here is the second roll out

https://www.funko.com/blog/article/coming-soon-funkos-cereal-wave-2

F# A# (∞), Thursday, 25 October 2018 16:24 (six years ago)

one year passes...

luv u Elaine Stritch

Stritch entered a room of black suits. “I hope you all don’t mind that I’ve rewritten some of these lines to fit me,” she told them. “I’m Catholic, so I don’t want to say, ‘oh God.’ I can’t stand that.” She tried a curse instead. The suits stared back at her, aghast.

“I’m just glad I got out of there alive,” Stritch said years later. “I hate that show. Who’d be crazy enough to live in Florida with two other women and their mother?”

“For me to work with Betty White every day would be like taking cyanide.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/theater/elaine-stritch-broadway-roles.html

https://variety.com/2002/film/columns/stritch-almost-a-golden-girl-1117860373/

a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 2 November 2019 10:08 (five years ago)

Classic. Both Stritch and the Golden Girls. I’m glad she botched that audition.

Pauline Male (Eric H.), Saturday, 2 November 2019 12:06 (five years ago)

seven months pass...

https://imgur.com/8eEhf3I

A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Monday, 29 June 2020 20:09 (four years ago)

just leaving this here

https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/the-real-mud-on-golden-girls.html

brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 2 July 2020 23:20 (four years ago)

It's really wild how the only difference between a "zoomer shocked to find piece of old media problematic" clickbait article and "Northwestern professor wrestles with TV show that's been off the air for 25 years" is peppering your piece with "As epidemiologist Julia Marcus explains"

The Mandymoorian (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 2 July 2020 23:33 (four years ago)

No surprise that a sitcom from the 80s would be full of questionable material. I think we even discussed some of its hypocritical queer affirmation above, so no need to re-litigate that; the racial stuff works much the same way (pleas for tolerance on one hand, scoring easy punchlines on the other) but Sophia's many racist/homo- and trans-phobic zings are generally shown to be embarrassing to her daughter (yes, I know, the audience still gets to laugh).

Re: the rape--the show's notorious inconsistency complicates things a little bit, I think, in that we are given so many versions of Michael's conception that it is hard to take any one of them as definitive. In the case of "he must have slipped me something," I'm willing to read this variant on the story--which generally sets up a joke about Stan's lack of sexual prowess and/or Dorothy's insecurity--as a convenient set up to a punchline ("Apparently!"). More to the point, the kind of date rape scenario proposed in this scene likely would not have been uncommon mid-twentieth-century, and would have resulted in a young woman marrying her abuser and carrying around the "shame" of it (I once had a similar combination re: Biff's attempted rape of Lorraine in Back to the Future). If it is shitty of the series to make light of this, I'd argue that there is enough pathos in Dorothy's character (and Bea Arthur's performance) that the viewer isn't unconscious of it.

A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Thursday, 2 July 2020 23:41 (four years ago)

i find contemporary culture full of questionable material

brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Friday, 3 July 2020 01:03 (four years ago)

Good calls, crypto. (Also, the series has tons of fat jokes and low blows about Dorothy's looks that are impossible to overlook. Still my favorite sitcom.)

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Friday, 3 July 2020 12:16 (four years ago)

the series has tons of fat jokes

Have Oliver Hardy and Jackie Gleason been cancelled yet?

brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 July 2020 13:03 (four years ago)

Fatty Arbuckle sure was.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 July 2020 13:12 (four years ago)

never found guilty in 3 trials

brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 July 2020 13:14 (four years ago)

A prince of a man, then.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 13:42 (four years ago)

But thanks for willfully overlooking the point.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 13:48 (four years ago)

Really good piece.

xyzzzz__, Thursday, 16 July 2020 14:15 (four years ago)

Saw a couple of episodes of this the other day and they were not very good. One of the storylines was about the possibility that Estelle Getty was not Bea Arthur's real mother and that's when I realized they're supposed to be Italian - the fear of having actual Jewish characters writ large.

The Fields o' Fat Henry (Tom D.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 14:18 (four years ago)

designing women is better anyway

clouds, Thursday, 16 July 2020 14:21 (four years ago)

You take that back!

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 14:23 (four years ago)

XD

clouds, Thursday, 16 July 2020 14:26 (four years ago)

One of the storylines was about the possibility that Estelle Getty was not Bea Arthur's real mother

IIRC that's a later season episode. Even a lot of die-hard fans have their issues with the last couple seasons.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:24 (four years ago)

That episode sucks.

Some gems in the later seasons: I love the murder mystery weekend, Dorothy singing "What'll I Do," and Alan King as Mel Bushman. But yeah, it was definitely where the show's famously sloppy writing got even more ridiculous.

A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:29 (four years ago)

On a GG recap podcast I used to listen to until I realized I couldn't stand one of the hosts anymore, one of their guests made the bold assertion that he preferred the later seasons for their "more flexible sense of reality." Which I took to mean, yes, sloppiness.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:31 (four years ago)

But yes, the "What'll I Do" ep is top 3.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:31 (four years ago)

That's the same reaction some fans have about the last couple Rosanne episodes

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:34 (four years ago)

Yes, but which series had more indefensible fat jokes?

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 19:45 (four years ago)

The Cosby Show.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 July 2020 20:04 (four years ago)

At the same time, Golden Girls had more punchlines about The Cosby Show than The Cosby Show had indefensible fat jokes.

Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Thursday, 16 July 2020 20:13 (four years ago)

I prefer the latter seasons of Seinfeld because of their more flexible sense of reality.

Evans on Hammond (evol j), Thursday, 16 July 2020 23:52 (four years ago)

btw all silent film buffs now call Fatty Arbuckle "Roscoe" (as his colleagues did)

brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 July 2020 01:16 (four years ago)

I wish that more film buffs were silent.

pplains, Friday, 17 July 2020 01:29 (four years ago)

disappointed that a ctrl+f for "rattan" yields zero (0) results itt

the burrito that defined a generation, Friday, 17 July 2020 01:44 (four years ago)

we're all disappointed in life from time to time, but we find the hope to carry on.

the unappreciated charisma of cows (Aimless), Friday, 17 July 2020 02:43 (four years ago)

Oh please, it’s wicker.

A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Friday, 17 July 2020 06:04 (four years ago)

two years pass...

I saw a bumper sticker for “St. Olaf College”; took a pic and sent it to my wife, thinking it was a GG joke… she was like, “Yeah, that’s a real school.”

unknown blues singer (morrisp), Sunday, 19 February 2023 01:18 (two years ago)

eight months pass...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/theater/tituss-burgess-moulin-rouge.html

Those four ladies and the writers together made television magic. It’s like a fine wine: The jokes somehow are even funnier now, or I’m just getting older and maybe I understand the references a little more. On some level, every creator can reference it as a source of inspiration. For me, TV’s never been funnier.

Dwigt Rortugal (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 15:27 (one year ago)


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